Hoffman, 19, died from a gunshot wound to the. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. 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. The . With the SD card, one of the first questions that detectives had to answer was, Was this staged, or did this really happen? All rights reserved. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. 2019, on charges of murder in Anchorage, Alaska. Market data provided by Factset. Online court records did not list an attorney for Schilmiller. MacDonalds ruling addresses some of the most urgent problems facing Alaskas criminal justice system, where policymakers and the public have increasingly turned their focus in recent years. 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. Legal Statement. [9][12] She stood between 4 ft 11 in and 5 ft 3 in, and her hair color ranged from light brown to strawberry-blond. Officers arrested Brian Steven Smith, 48, Tuesday afternoon, an Anchorage Police Department statement said. Brian Steven Smith during his arraignment Wednesday. On that day, close to midnight, 48-year-old Charles Doubek called 911 and told dispatchers his wife had been shot, according to a version of events relayed in an affidavit by Alaska State Trooper investigator Jason Fieser. Armando Velador Padilla, 46, was taken into custody after the. Many of the victims were young. The district attorney's office also decided not to pursue criminal charges in the shooting death ofAaron Syvinski, 30, which was found to be in self-defense. I'll stand behind him, beside him, while he's going through this," Bissland added. Anchorage police think the human remains belong to the woman seen on the memory card, and the medical examiner is working to confirm the connection and the cause of death. Early on Christmas Eve, James "Lucas" Moren became Anchorage homicide victimNo. Witness memories fade, Skidmore said. The millionaires only demand for the payout was either photos or video of the slaying, according to court documents laying out first-degree murder and other charges against six people in the June 2 death of 19-year-old Cynthia Hoffman. Market data provided by Factset. Slawomir Markiewicz, the Anchorage Police Department's top detective. ANCHORAGE, Alaska A woman pleaded guilty to murder after an Indiana man allegedly offered her $9 million to "rape and murder someone in Alaska." According to the Alaska Department of Law, 22-year-old Denali Brehmer admitting to killing 19-year-old Cynthia Hoffman on June 29, 2019, near Thunderbird Falls in Chugiak, Alaska. 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. Don't kill me!" 2022 Anchorage Daily News. Princess Cruises said 39-year-old Kristy Manzanares of Utah. Anchorage police identified the second victim as Veronica Abouchuk. "Clearance" means police have either made an arrest, prosecutors have declined to file charges due to self-defense or some other reason, or the suspect died. I said to his mother how cool he looked like a prizefighter about to enter the arena.". This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, An affidavit filed with the criminal complaint against him details a strange chain of events that led police to a trove of gruesome videos and photos. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Shannon Duke. [9] A box of Salem matches were found in a pocket of her jacket, indicating she may have been a smoker. What science tells us about the afterlife. At 41, he was a bachelor. He always committed his murders at night, often around midnight or a short time after. I don't believe it.". Tracy Hansen and her dog, Gunner, were walking on the sidewalk in Anchorage, Alaska, when she was suddenly knocked to the ground, she told NBC . About three weeks before Hoffman was killed, Brehmer and Schilmiller began discussing a plan to rape and murder someone in Alaska, according to court documents. Public records show that he lives in a home in the Geneva Woods neighborhood, and a social media profile that appears to belong to him says he married an Anchorage woman in 2014. Officials said there was no indication Hoffman was sexually assaulted. Zaz Hollander is a veteran journalist based in the Mat-Su and is currently an ADN local news editor and reporter. Kyle Hopkins and Nat Herz, Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Public Media. TODAY - Anna Kaplan 18h. Anchorage police say they've arrested a man for the murder of a woman whose body had been dumped a week ago on the Seward Highway south of Anchorage. [n 2], The remains of Eklutna Annie are interred at the Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery, under a marker reading "Jane Doe / Died 1980".[21][22]. Man arrested for murder after SD card with video of crime found on street. ", Autumn Smith. In a lot of ways I think it is generational," McKinnon said. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen). Police said the body was found near milepost 108 of Seward Highway on Oct. 2. If you are considering suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or Stop Suicide Alaska at 1-877-266-HELP. It was first broadcast on May 9th, 2021. He isnow charged with murder. At the scene, troopers found the door handle to Gardners bedroom door had been broken off, with damage marks matching the blade of a broken maul found nearby. Her eldest daughter Chloe was killed with her. She wore several articles of clothing, including a brown leather hip-length jacket, a light-colored knitted sleeveless shirt (possibly white, beige, or light gray in color), blue jeans, and red, knee-high, high-heeled, zip-up boots. 2023 BBC. 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. IE 11 is not supported. Police said the body was found near milepost 108 of Seward Highway on Oct. 2. The department is also trying to directly ask the public for help more often. Last Monday, Sept. 30, a woman called police dispatch to report that shed found an SD card containing a video of a homicide on the ground, police said. shut down anelementary school and a middle school, don't attribute 2016's increase in homicides to any one cause, mother accused of suffocating her infant daughter, killed in a downtown shootout with police, Here are the most-read Alaska Dispatch News stories of 2016. (The motion argued that the judge misunderstood the limits on public defenders, who do not choose which charges are filed.). ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A Utah couple was celebrating their wedding anniversary aboard an Alaska cruise when the husband was found covered in blood next to his wife's lifeless body, a frenzy of . All rights reserved. In that case, her father was charged with the killing. Fiesers account supports a complaint filed by prosecutors charging Doubek with the murder of his wife, 54-year-old Marjorie Gardner. The victim has been identified as 39-year-old Kristy Manzanares, from the US state of Utah. In a separate federal investigation rising from the investigation, Schilmiller and Brehmer were indicted Tuesday on federal child pornography charges, including production and coercion and enticement of a minor. That puts APD at a more than 90 percent "clearance" rate for homicide cases. Upon examining the card, police said it"contained several videos which appeared to show the assault and subsequent homicide of an adult female" and an investigation was opened. One man, James Dale Ritchie, is the prime suspect in five deaths. MacDonald denied the request, saying his findings are not an indictment of the Alaska Public Defender Agency nor its attorneys. (Anchorage, AK) - On April 22, 2021, thirty-one year-old Randall Igou was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Eric Aarseth for Murder in the First Degree. A Snapchat video showed two of the teens accused of killing 19-year-old Cynthia Hoffman near the Thunderbird Falls trailhead in June apparently discussing the crime. The trial has been delayed at least 15 times at the request of the defense, according to MacDonalds order. He said Eklutna Annie was either an exotic dancer from a local bar or a prostitute and that she was his first murder victim,[15] adding that she had been murdered in the fall or early winter of 1979. Schauer shot Moren several times, police say, though they have not said why. After human remains were found along a highway just south of Anchorage two days after the memory card was found, police were able to start putting pieces together. Many questions remain unanswered Wednesday, including the identity of the woman. It took 26 days after Merrian's disappearance for her to be reported as a missing person and for the search for her to start. [17], To date, Roxane Easland, Karen Evan, Megan Emerick, and Teresa Davis have been ruled out as being Eklutna Annie. 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. A man has been arrested in connection to the murder of a woman aboard a cruise ship off the coast of Alaska, police say, in what has been described as a "domestic disturbance". It appeared that Smith recorded them himself, according to the affidavit. The race is on: What to know about the 2023 Iditarod, No injuries in downtown Anchorage commercial building collapse. 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. Its just really incredibly disheartening, Pearson said. Thim declined to say anything about the other investigation, or whether Smith is a suspect in other crimes. Police have not yet pointed to any known motive in the cases where Ritchie is identified as a suspect. She was aged between 16 and 25 at the time of her death, and her body was discovered several months after her murder. (Google). The Anchorage Police Department has identified the victim as Kathleen J. Henry, 30, according to a statement released Thursday afternoon. The case remains open, and numerous efforts have been made to determine the identity of the decedent, including several forensic facial reconstructions of how she may have appeared in life. A man has been arrested in connection to the murder of a woman aboard a cruise ship off the coast of Alaska, police say, in what has been described as a "domestic disturbance". [7] He further recollected: "I picked her up downtown and told her I was going to take her to my home". Police immediately suspected John Newman's nephew, 23-year-old Kirby Anthoney. Hoffman was allegedly best friends with Brehmer, and she was chosen by the group as the victim, the documents say. There has been some suggestion by family members out-of-state that he had recently showed signs of mental illness, McKinnon confirmed, but added, "I don't think we have any concrete evidence to support that.". 2022 Anchorage Daily News. ' said APD communications director MJ Thim. 1 language. A 22-year-old Alaska woman pleaded guilty to murdering her 19-year-old "best friend" in 2019 after a man who was allegedly catfishing her offered her $9 million to kill someone. Just two years ago, in 2014, Anchorage ended the year with 13 homicides on the books the lowest in two decades. 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. The majority of victims were killed by someone they knew. 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. McIntosh was arrested, but Brehmer denied any involvement in the death. Nearly a week prior, on Sept. 30, someone called Anchorage Policeclaiming to have "an SD card containing a video of a homicide," according to a press release from authorities. Doubek and Gardner shared a home in a Wasilla neighborhood off of Snowshoe Lane. He was returning to Anchorage, where he lives, Thim said. Police did not say why the SD card was in the street, but they believe Smith recorded the images himself, according to the AP. "One of the little girls from that room came running out, calling for help, that her parents had been in a fight," one passenger told CBS News. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. We learned sometimes the hard way in the past.". Each of the three men died from gunshot wounds. She was aged between 16 and 25 at the time of her death, and her body was discovered several months after her murder. But APD isnot ready to close the cases. Market data provided by Factset. According to police, the arrest came after someone reported finding a digital storage device containing video of the killing. 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. 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. At the sentencing hearing, the State presented video . ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) Alaska teens hoping to cash in on a $9 million offer from a Midwest millionaire brutally killed a developmentally disabled woman on a popular trail outside Anchorage, shooting her in the back of the head and dumping her body in a river, authorities allege. 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 at least two cases, a person believed to be breaking into a home was killed in what prosecutors determinedto be self-defense, and no charges were filed.The deaths ofLoren Douglas, 30, andAllen Raymond, 19, are still considered homicides by APD. Police had found Henrys remains on the side of a highway on Oct. 2. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! (Image from East High School 1994 yearbook and APD handout). Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. She covers breaking news, the Mat-Su region, aviation and general assignments. A millionaire widower and her teenaged daughter take a fivestar cruise together. In some villages, city and tribal leaders say they have no choice but to hire convicted criminals as cops. An economic thing happening? "That's what's been fascinating.". Then, on Wednesday, Oct. 2, the womans body was found along Turnagain Arm, near the Rainbow trailhead. She has not been identified. 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 record in this case should reflect that, as a result of the policy and budget choices made by the legislative and executive branches the people of Alaska must tolerate long delays in the prosecution of the type of crimes charged in this case crimes against women, crimes fueled by substance abuse, crimes against law enforcement officers, crimes against rural Alaskans, the judge wrote. Do you know this baby? According to the Violence Policy Center, Alaska ranked number one in murder of women by men in incidents where there were one victim and one offender from 2014 through 2018. Her eldest daughter Chloe was killed with her. Mar 6th 600p DARLA Recently retired newly weds embark on their third tropical cruise in less than year. Officials allege they destroyed some of Hoffmans clothing, purse and cellphone, and Brehmer texted Hoffmans family to let them know they dropped her off at Polar Bear Park in Anchorage. On Sept. 30, police received a report from someone saying they had found an SD card containing several videos of an assault and murder. All rights reserved. The images showed a naked woman being beaten on the floor of a hotel room, according to the affidavit. Throughout 2016, Ritchie murdered upwards of five individuals in and around Anchorage, Alaska, most of whom were in parks or along bike paths. The organization had previously released a digital reconstruction, and a clay bust of Eklutna Annie had also been created in the past. According to Hansen, he persuaded Eklutna Annie to help him winch his pickup free from the mud, although when he began to drive his vehicle free, Eklutna Annie attempted to run. A man charged with murder is accused of fatally stabbing his 23-year-old daughter Friday in Anchorage's Fairview neighborhood. She is the only victim of Robert Hansen to remain unidentified. Alaska Public Media 2022. He also told them hehad shot another woman and revealed where he dumped her body. According to the Violence Policy Center, Alaska ranked number one in murder of women by men in incidents where there were one victim and one offender from 2014 through 2018. The woman, who has not yet been identified, is described as having long dark hair and possibly being Alaska Native. ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Clayton Andrew Charlie, who pleaded guilty in 2019 to second-degree murder in the stabbing death of a groundskeeper at the Alaska Zoo, has been sentenced to 55 years in prison. High winds cause damage, power outages across central Indiana . The victim has. For many, it was the year the city's violence hit home,even if they didn't personally know any of the victims. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. An Alaska resident found a stray SD card lying on the street in late September and discovered gruesome content inside: images and video of a woman appearing to be assaulted and murdered. An Alaskan murder mystery has been solved thanks to a SD card found laying in the street. (Loren Holmes / Alaska Dispatch News). Igou pleaded guilty on November 5, 2020 to the September 10, 2017 murder of Aurora Paint Company co-owner Gregory Gill. [8] He died in prison in August 2014. In 2007, she had been severely injured when her fiance's son,Christopher Erin Rodgers, attacked the couple with a machete at their Palmer home. But the same weapon found on Ritchie at the time of his death an uncommon, vintage Colt Python .357 was used to kill four other people in a two-month span: Brianna Foisy, 20, and Jason Netter Sr., 41, on the Ship Creek Trail July 3, and Bryant "Brie" De Husson, 25, and Kevin Turner, 34, at Valley of the Moon Park on Aug. 28. McIntosh, who is being tried as an adult in the case, was the gunman, prosecutors say. At one June hearing, shortly before she resigned, the public defender noted she was working a double case load. TENNESSEE COLLEGE STUDENT ACCUSED OF FATAL SHOOTING IN DORM. But they are working to build a case meeting the evidence threshold that would allow for prosecution, Markiewicz said. It's unclear who the woman is, but authorities are working to identify her and determine how she died. Jorge Rea-Villa, a handsome tattoo artist who went to a Fourth of July barbecue and ended up dead. Brian Steven Smith, a 48-year-old reportedly from South Africa, was arrested at Ted Stevens International Airport after investigators linked him to the crime. He told Anchorage District Court Judge Brian Clark that he had about $2,000 in total saved. Around 2010, he left Alaska and spent time in Las Vegas before moving to Virginia, where his parents now live. Last year, Steiner, who was then the agencys director, warned that his attorneys were at their limit and would have to start refusing to handle new cases without a $1 million boost to their $26 million budget. Some people have speculated gangs are to blame for the bloodshed. But its workload is growing more quickly just between the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years, it saw a 16 percent increase in felony cases statewide, according to data the agency has presented to the Legislature. "He had a leather jacket on and blue jeans, with a hoodie. Smith had registered a room at the TownePlace Suites by Marriott the night the video was taken, according to the affidavit. The memory card found along road shows an Anchorage man assaulting and killing woman. But they point out the majority of them were either involved in risky behavior or killed by someone they knew. Homicide detectives began combing through the 39 images and 12 videos on the card, all documenting a horrifying scene of violence against an unknown woman. Could a bigger prize and more races boost interest? All rights reserved. The remarks by the veteran judge came in a 37-page order to delay the murder trial of Alexie Walters, a man accused of beating his girlfriend, Gertrude Queenie, to death in 2017 in Mountain Village, on the Yukon River in Southwest Alaska. 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. "That tells us other people believe it is a good place," he said. Kristy Manzanares had been travelling with a large group, including her children, according to witnesses. LOUISIANA MAN ARRESTED IN 1989 MURDER CASE: POLICE. Such delays typically benefit defendants and make it harder for prosecutors to secure convictions, said Alaska Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore. More than three dozenimages and 12 videos were stored on the card, according to the charging documents.