The judges order describes a disparity in the next phase of the criminal justice system the one that begins after a suspect is arrested and the clock starts ticking toward a timely resolution for defendant and victim. Judges appoint public defenders for defendants who cant afford to hire their own lawyers. Pilot Projects Launched to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous (Bill Roth / ADN). Detectives saythey have a "good understanding" of what happened and who was involved in each of those cases. More officers on the streets as with arecently addeddowntown foot patrol,members of which made an arrest in Moren's murder onChristmas Eve make streets safer. According to police, the arrest came after someone reported finding a digital storage device containing video of the killing. In June, U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr declared a public safety emergency in the state, announcing $10.5 million in funding for village police, equipment and public safety buildings. In the Lower 48, gangs are more organized and act as outside-the-law businesses, pushing drugs and weapons in defined territories. An Alaskan murder mystery has been solved thanks to a SD card found laying in the street. AnAlaska man accused of brutally assaulting and murdering a woman who was seen strangled in videos found ona digital memory cardhasbeen charged with another death, authorities said Thursday. A 48-year-old Anchorage man was charged with murder after someone found a digital card containing dozens of videos and photos that authorities say show him beating and killing a woman in a Midtown hotel room. But he added that those specific failures were symptoms of broader dysfunction, like public defender and prosecutor jobs going unfilled because of obstacles to recruitment and retention, as well as travel restrictions. Smith is charged with first-degree murder. The graphic videos show a woman being strangled and a mans voice saying justdie, the Associated Press reported. Alaska cops charged an Anchorage man with murder Tuesday after shocking videos found on a mysterious memory card allegedly captured the suspect assaulting and killing a woman whose remains. Eklutna Annie is still unidentified, despite her face being reconstructed in both 3-D and 2-D.[4][23] Several missing women are believed to have also been murdered by Hansen. Alaska Public Media 2022. In that case, her father was charged with the killing. At 41, he was a bachelor. Smith originally pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, sexual assault and tampering in the death of his first victim, 30-year-old Kathleen Henry, before admitting to the crime. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! All rights reserved. Smith was taken into custody on an arrest warrant for first-degree murder Tuesday afternoon at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, police said in an online release announcing the arrest Wednesday. Some people have speculated gangs are to blame for the bloodshed. The public defender representing Walters was juggling 200 cases and resigned due to mental exhaustion a week before the trial was to begin in July, according to the order. The Department of Law asked that Smith'sbond be set at $2 million. Many questions remain unanswered Wednesday, including the identity of the woman. Her eldest daughter Chloe was killed with her. Smith remained in jail on Wednesday where he is being held on an outstanding warrant. Born in Montana but raised in Alaska, Duke married, raised three children and worked jobs including as a teachers aide. Officials said there was no indication Hoffman was sexually assaulted. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. [4][7][n 1], Eklutna Annie's body was markedly decomposed, indicating her death had occurred months prior. The organization had previously released a digital reconstruction, and a clay bust of Eklutna Annie had also been created in the past. Moody, the Alaska Public Defender Agency supervisor, said there are currently 11 vacant attorney positions out of 98 statewide. In a lot of ways I think it is generational," McKinnon said. Or are people just angrier?" The race is on: What to know about the 2023 Iditarod, No injuries in downtown Anchorage commercial building collapse. He had started Friday night with two of the people closest to him: family friend Ronda Marcy and his mother, Elann "Lennie" Moren. The victim was also wearing several pieces of jewelry, including an apparently handmade metal bracelet containing three turquoise stones,[2][8] a copper necklace containing shell beads, a pendant heart, a Timex metal wristwatch consisting of circular links and with a brown watch face, a ring carved from shell jewelry, and gold-plated, twisted metal hoop earrings. All rights reserved. But APD isnot ready to close the cases. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, In 2011 and 2012, Ritchie was named to the President's List at Blue Mountain Community College in Weyers Cave, in western Virginia, according to school documents obtained by Alaska Dispatch News. The FBI is investigating the death because it occurred in US waters. She championed any child she met that needed a second chance for success, her obituary said. He moved back to Alaska in the spring of 2016. Read about our approach to external linking. ALASKAN MURDER: ENIGMA WITHIN AN ENIGMA - The New York Times Without a doubt, the new director will get this order for a variety of reasons, and will be thinking about how we can do things more efficiently, Moody said. The caller later told officers the card a small memory card used in portable digital devices was discarded on the street at the corner of Fairbanks Street and 13th Avenue in Fairview, near the Gambell Carrs store. or redistributed. She was aged between 16 and 25 at the time of her death, and her body was discovered several months after her murder. Ritchie grew up in Anchorage and was a standout athlete at East High School in the mid-1990s before involvement in drugs led to a felony record that derailed his life. James Dale Ritchie - Wikipedia (Bob Hallinen / Alaska Dispatch News). (In addition to the 75 criminal attorneys, about 25 more work on appeals and childrens cases.) Thim declined to say anything about the other investigation, or whether Smith is a suspect in other crimes. Among those charged is Darin Schilmiller, whom authorities say presented himself as the millionaire Tyler from Kansas, using a fake photograph. Brehmer ultimately admitted to being solicited by Schilmiller to commit the murder and that the murder was planned once she realized she had been catfished by Schilmiller, the documents say. Published: Jan. 27, 2022 at 4:27 PM PST. In response, he chased after her, grabbed her by the hair and tripped her to the ground. You're going to kill me!" He had then stabbed her once in the back with a black-handled Buck knife as she lay face-down. He told Anchorage District Court Judge Brian Clark that he had about $2,000 in total saved. Thim said the arrest hinged on two aspects of the investigation: the citizen who chose to call police when they found that card, and the coordination between law enforcement agencies handling the separate cases of the videos and the body. Anchorage Police Chief Justin Doll told reporters Abouchuk's family reported her missing in February, but he said she had last been seen by them in July 2018. James Dale Ritchie was a senior at East High School in 1994. ", "DNA Match IDs Alaska Serial Killer's Victim After 37 Years", https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14666142/?ref_=ttep_ep3, https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2020/09/22/do-you-know-this-woman/, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murder_of_Eklutna_Annie&oldid=1140185336, Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery, Anchorage, Alaska. Michelle Theriault Boots is a reporter who covers news and features about life in Alaska, and has been focusing on corrections and psychiatric care issues in the state. He also told them hehad shot another woman and revealed where he dumped her body. He has since been released, now in the custody of authorities, and is charged with first- and second-degree murder. I'll stand behind him, beside him, while he's going through this," Bissland added. "They are engaging in this behavior where maybe a mature person would say, 'I'd never do that,' but to the people involved this is real stuff to them disrespect. Videos and photos show brutal attack of woman in Anchorage hotel room Michelle Theriault Boots is a reporter who covers news and features about life in Alaska, and has been focusing on corrections and psychiatric care issues in the state. The show Very Scary People profiled Robert Hansen in "The Butcher Baker". There wasSelena Mullenax, a young mother studying for her GEDfound shotin a public park on a winter morning. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? Police point at recent hiring of new officers as an effort to make the city safer. The Alaska teens are being represented by the public defenders office, which has a policy of not commenting on cases. MacDonald declined to be interviewed, saying that Walters case is still open. Together, the homicides pose a question for Anchorage: What made 2016 so deadly? When troopers arrived, they found Doubek lying just inside the front door. Putting names to archive photos, China looks at reforms to deepen Xi's control, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, In photos: India's disappearing single-screen cinemas. [sic] A manwith some sort of English accent can be heard in the video as well. Doubek and Gardner shared a home in a Wasilla neighborhood off of Snowshoe Lane. She was aged between 16 and 25 at the time of her death, and her body was discovered several months after her murder. The year's final tally surpasses even the 29 deathsthat occurred in 1995, at the time attributed by officials to gang and drug activity. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. It appeared that Smith recorded them himself, according to the affidavit. Police immediately suspected John Newman's nephew, 23-year-old Kirby Anthoney. "That's our plan to create a better police presence," McKinnon said. People were shot to death at a gas station, in a beloved park in the heart of the city, on a scenic beach where people go to look at the mountains. After the death, the ship was diverted to the city of Juneau, in Alaska, and passengers were forced by investigators to remain on board for more than eight hours. Murder of Eklutna Annie - Wikipedia And he blamed the dysfunction not on managers but on spending plans and policy decisions made by Alaska governors and lawmakers over the years, and continuing to this day. Born in Montana but raised in Alaska, Duke married, raised three children and worked jobs including as a teacher's aide. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Alaskas public defenders have argued for the past two years that rising caseloads and tight budgets are straining their ability to fulfill their constitutional obligation to represent their clients. On Christmas Day, the people who loved Lucas Moren gathered in the alley behind the Gaslight. Resources: If you are facing threatened or actual domestic violence, please discreetly call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or Abused Womens Aid in Crisis in Anchorage at 907-272-0100. Our salaries up here used to be the draw, an attorney for the agency said. The district covers an enormous and geographically diverse swath of Alaska, from the woodsy Alaska-Canada border in the Interior to the Bering Sea coast. (Image from East High School 1994 yearbook and APD handout). Such delays typically benefit defendants and make it harder for prosecutors to secure convictions, said Alaska Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore. Schauer shot Moren several times, police say, though they have not said why. Troopers: Wasilla woman killed, husband charged with her murder, 2023 Iditarod pre-race coverage and Ceremonial Start, Melissa Fry has the forecast for the Iditarod restart in Willow, Animal rights group PETA continues targeting Iditarod sponsors. Market data provided by Factset. [10], As Eklutna Annie struggled against his efforts to overpower her, she had screamed, "Don't kill me! A man accused of killing a woman and recording it on an SD card later found in the street has been indicted in the murder of a second woman in Alaska, authorities announced Thursday. Police and a crime scene investigation unit spent much of Tuesday afternoon and evening at the home where Smith lived with his wife, hauling away a black pickup, neighbors said. The SD card also contained images of the womans body being removed from a hotel room and transported in a black truck, according to charging documents. State lawmakers this year held the public defenders base budget effectively flat, though they included some $1.3 million, or a roughly 5 percent boost, in separate criminal justice legislation that was expected to generate more prosecutions. All rights reserved. ANCHORAGE - Following a three-week trial in U.S. District Court, a federal jury convicted an Anchorage man on charges of murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise, using a firearm to commit murder in a drug trafficking crime, drug conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. A woman in Alaska was walking her dog when a moose charged her from behind and kicked her in the head, according to shocking video captured by a bystander. 28, 2020 at 10:10 AM PDT. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The Newman Family Murders. Who brutally assaulted and killed Nancy All but one of the victims in those cases were female. The three cases police still considerunsolved are the deaths of Marcus Cosby Jr., 24, Elijah Zeller, 18, and Ian Bobich, 29. This page was last edited on 18 February 2023, at 21:52. [2][4], Serial killer Robert Hansen admitted responsibility for Eklutna Annie's murder in 1984. McKinnon pointed out that in the same year Anchorage set a homicide record, it also set a record for thenumber of touristsvisiting the city. According to the bail memo, Alaska State Troopers earlier this year recovered a skull with a gunshot wound in an area near the location Smith later provided. And so somebody who might have been using emotional abuse and threats and that sort of thing may escalate into more physical violence, Pearson said.