On Thursday, a grand jury indicted Smith onmurder and evidence tampering charges in Abouchuk's death. Police said the body was found near milepost 108 of Seward Highway on Oct. 2. According to Hansen, he had first attempted to placate Eklutna Annie as he restrained her, falsely claiming he did not intend to harm her, although she responded: "You are! But they point out the majority of them were either involved in risky behavior or killed by someone they knew. 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. "We haven't found evidence that anyone other than Ritchie is involved.". 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. The three cases police still considerunsolved are the deaths of Marcus Cosby Jr., 24, Elijah Zeller, 18, and Ian Bobich, 29. Other images showed the woman covered in a white sheet, being moved through a parking lot to a truck. [8] He died in prison in August 2014. Smith appeared in court Wednesday, where a judge said he'd be appointed a public defender. 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. Schauer shot Moren several times, police say, though they have not said why. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Smith is charged with first-degree murder. Doubek and Gardner shared a home in a Wasilla neighborhood off of Snowshoe Lane. Jorge Rea-Villa, a handsome tattoo artist who went to a Fourth of July barbecue and ended up dead. "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. He was returning to Anchorage, where he lives, Thim said. "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. 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. He had then stabbed her once in the back with a black-handled Buck knife as she lay face-down. Smith had registered a room at the TownePlace Suites by Marriott the night the video was taken, according to the affidavit. The same year, Ritchie was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, an honor society for two-year colleges, and graduated from Blue Mountain Community College with an associate degree in science, according to his diploma. The . An economic thing happening? Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. APD provided a recent photograph of Ritchie. Another factor no one could have predicted: James Dale Ritchie, who could prove to bethe most prolific killer in AnchoragesinceJoshua Wade, though APD is not ready to call him that. McKinnon said police are still trying to piece together what Ritchie did on a daily basis during the months he is believed to have been back in Anchorage. He moved back to Alaska in the spring of 2016. Moody, the Alaska Public Defender Agency supervisor, said there are currently 11 vacant attorney positions out of 98 statewide. The victim has. 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. The callertold police the memory card was found layingin the middle of the street in the Fairview neighborhood of Anchorage. The Department of Law asked that Smith'sbond be set at $2 million. He told Anchorage District Court Judge Brian Clark that he had about $2,000 in total saved. It's not that clear-cut, said McKinnon. She championed any child she met that needed a second chance for success, her obituary said. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The woman attempted to fight back, the affidavit said. Brehmer agreed to commit the murder for him.. 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. Man arrested for murder after SD card with video of crime found on street. ThatFriday, she dropped him off for an evening out downtown. Smith remained in jail on Wednesday where he is being held on an outstanding warrant. Suzi Pearson, executive director for the Abused Womens Aid in Crisis shelter in Anchorage, said the decision to split up or leave a relationship can be a particularly dangerous time in the life of a woman experiencing domestic violence. [4][7][n 1], Eklutna Annie's body was markedly decomposed, indicating her death had occurred months prior. But APD isnot ready to close the cases. 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. Police were able to identify Smith, a native of South Africa, from the video after recognizing him from a separate, unspecified investigation, in part because of his accent. Police say the majority of the deaths fall into the same tragic but predictable circumstances that thread through homicides every year: domestic violence, personal disputes escalated by a weapon, robberies gone bad. Thats going to escalate things tremendously because when were talking about misuse of substances, that inhibition is gone. Authorities were expected to announce charges on the case on Thursday. After Mr. Mackay and the pilot's sister, Muriel . Hansen specifically stated she was his first murder victim. MacDonalds order and decision are part of the ongoing effort to hold a criminal trial in Fairbanks for Walters, who was 34 when troopers arrested him Oct. 5, 2017, in Mountain Village on charges of murder, assault and evidence tampering. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A corrections officer told the court Doubek was on suicide protocols and unable to participate. Police recognized the man in the videos as Brian Smith, an immigrant from South Africa police knew of from a previous investigation," according to the affidavit. The Alaska teens are being represented by the public defenders office, which has a policy of not commenting on cases. Passengers told CBS News that a "murder mystery" theme dinner had been taking place when the incident occurred, and several passengers first confused the crime for a hoax. Copyright 2021 KTUU. According to online court records, no new trial date has been set in the killing of Gertrude Queenie. You're going to kill me!" 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. Eklutna Annie is the name given to an unidentified murder victim whose body was discovered in a wooded area, one mile south of South Eklutna Lake Road in Eklutna, Anchorage, Alaska, in July 1980. She was aged between 16 and 25 at the time of her death, and her body was discovered several months after her murder. Schilmiller admitted to federal agents and Indiana State Police his role in the plot, saying he chose Hoffman as the victim and he told Brehmer to kill her, according to the court documents. He was unable to "remember whether she was a prostitute or [a] dancer", although he did state he believed she was from Kodiak, Alaska. Contact her at zhollander@adn.com. 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. Many questions remain unanswered Wednesday, including the identity of the woman. Police said the body was found near milepost 108 of Seward Highway on Oct. 2. 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. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. 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. 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. The Public Defender Agencys budget, meanwhile, has grown by 9 percent in the past two years. Two days later, both Brehmer and McIntosh were interviewed. There wasSelena Mullenax, a young mother studying for her GEDfound shotin a public park on a winter morning. "She championed any child. Police solved an Alaskan murder with a memory card found along road. (Bill Roth / ADN). The case marks the second killing in less than six months involving a video. When they were able to determine that this was an actual crime, then the investigation started to quickly speed up.. (Bob Hallinen / Alaska Dispatch News). 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. [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. Time stamps on the images at the hotel showed they were taken in the early hours of Sept. 4, the affidavit said. Smith, 48, appeared in Anchorage Superior Court on Wednesday afternoon. Her eldest daughter Chloe was killed with her. But at one of the many stops along the way, a grizzly discovery is made when crew membersfind the widower's body crammed into her own suitcase. CLICK TO VISIT THE ALL-NEW FOXBUSINESS.COM. They were all going to spend Christmas together the next day. When troopers arrived, they found Doubek lying just inside the front door. Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore dies at 61, Alex Murdaugh's legal troubles are far from over, 'The nurses wanted me to feel guilty about my abortion, From Afghan TV fame to a US factory floor. Warming water may be to blame. In that case, her father was charged with the killing. Veronica Abouchuck, left, and Kathleen Henry. Anchorage police investigate a fatal shooting at the Holiday Gas Station located on Abbott Road on Wednesday evening, May 25, 2016. Together, the homicides pose a question for Anchorage: What made 2016 so deadly? The woman, who has not yet been identified, is described as having long dark hair and possibly being Alaska Native. Alaska emergency officials issued an AMBER Alert for 8-month-old boy Ahmiri Chaney on Feb. 17, 2023. . The FBI is investigating the death because it occurred in US waters. Published: Jan. 27, 2022 at 4:27 PM PST. On Sept. 30, police received a report from someone saying they had found an SD card containing several videos of an assault and murder. Police have only definitively named him as the gunman in one killing, that of Treyveon Thompson on July 29. 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. All the white people are getting done first while the Natives get pushed to the back burner, Bill wrote in a Facebook message, when asked about the case. 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. Anchorage police identified thesecond victim as Veronica Abouchuk. 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. According to the affidavit, the couple had separate bedrooms. Rodgers went on to kill another man in Anchorage and shoot two others who survived before his 26-hour rampage ended. The SD card was labeled Homicide at midtown Marriott, according to the affidavit. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen). 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. According to the affidavit, Doubek, who had reportedly struggled with substance abuse, had been growing increasingly paranoid that his wife was having an affair, and because of his behavior, Gardner had considered divorcing him. Ritchie was killed during a shootout with police officers in downtown Anchorage on November 12, 2016. Schilmiller offered Brehmer nine or more million dollars to carry out the murder and to have photographs and/or videos of the murder sent to him, the documents say. This week, Brian Smith, 48, was charged with first-degree murder in the case, the Anchorage Police Department said in a Wednesday statement. All rights reserved. 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. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. MacDonald, who was appointed by then-Gov. In the years since, he'd helped her live with lasting injuries. Such delays typically benefit defendants and make it harder for prosecutors to secure convictions, said Alaska Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore.
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