Hang by the Neck Until Dead

April 10, 2024EpisodeAlaska Crime and Justice, Alaska History, Alaska Podcast, Alaska Statehood, Alaska True Crime, Capital Punishment, Capital Punishment in Alaska, Death Penalty, Fred Hardy, Murder Podcast, Mystery Podcast, Robin Barefield, Territory of Alaska, True Crimemurder-in-the-last-frontier

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As a state, Alaska has never had the death penalty. It was abolished in 1957, two years before Alaska became the 49^th state in the union. However, from 1869 until 1957, twelve male felons were hanged for murder, robbery, and other crimes. This is the story about the unequal application of the death penalty in Alaska and why capital punishment was abolished in the state.

Sources:

Heaton, John W. Outlaw Tales of Alaska. “Fred Hardy.”2015. Guilford, CT. Rowman & Littlefield.

Green, Melissa S. “A History of the Death Penalty in Alaska.” July 20, 2001. UAA Justice Center Website.

Green, Melissa S. “The Death Penalty in Alaska.” Winter, 2009. Alaska Justice Forum.

Kiffer, Dave. “Abolition of Alaska’s Death Penalty.” October 15, 2005. Sitnews.

Lerman, Averil. “The Trial and Hanging of Nelson Charles.” Spring, 1996. Alaska Justice Forum.

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Robin Barefield is the author of five Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, and Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge. She has also written two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Sign up to subscribe to her free monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

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The Bizarre Murder of a Bush Plane Pilot

March 27, 2024EpisodeAlaska Podcast, Alaska True Crime, Floatplane, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Murder Podcast, Mystery Podcast, Robert Feather, Robin Barefield, True Crime, William Duryeamurder-in-the-last-frontier

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Anchorage, Alaska, is the small plane capital of the world, and flying in Alaska is a thrilling experience where you can view spectacular scenery and reach remote lakes, rivers, and stretches of wilderness that are inaccessible by road. For the commercial pilots who fly these small planes, though, the job can be stressful at times, and they must depend on their skills and common sense. Commercial pilots in Alaska have a tough job, but near the bottom of a pilot’s list of concerns is the fear he will be murdered on the job. After all, who would want to kill his pilot?

Sources:

“Duryea v. State.” Court of Appeals No. A-6964. Court of Appeals of Alaska. Any Law.

Rinehart, Steve. “Sniper fire kills pilot man who called plane in custody.” May 18, 1983. Anchorage Daily News.

Sullivan, Patty. “Judge sentences killer to 50 years.” January 14, 1998. Anchorage Daily News.

“William Duryea v. State of Alaska, Department of Corrections, and Joseph Schmidt, Commissioner of the Department of Corrections.” July 16, 2012. THE SUPERIOR COURT FOR THE STATE OF ALASKA THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT AT PALMER.

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The Disappearance of British Spy Ian Mackintosh

March 13, 2024EpisodeAlaska Podcast, British Spy, Cold War, Espionage, Ian Mackintosh, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Murder Podcast, Mystery Podcast, Robin Barefieldmurder-in-the-last-frontier

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On the evening of July 7^th, 1979, a plane disappeared near Kodiak Island in fair weather and moderate seas. News agencies in Alaska reported little about the missing plane and its occupants. Although reports of the apparent fatal crash made more of a splash in Great Britain, official sources offered no comment about the loss of a man who had done so much to protect Britain against the USSR during the Cold War. Even now, the disappearance of Ian Mackintosh is cloaked in secrecy, and many wonder if he died in the plane crash or if the accident was a cover story, allowing Mackintosh to disappear. The 2012 book, The Life and Mysterious Death of Ian Mackintosh by Robert G. Folsom explores everything the author could uncover about a brilliant man’s secret life and mysterious disappearance.

Sources

Folsom, Robert G. The Life and Mysterious Death of Ian Mackintosh.2012. Washington, D.C. Potomac Books, Inc.

Mackintosh, Lawrie. “My brother, Ian Mackintosh.” OpsRoom.Org.

MacLeod, Calum. “Did spy writer’s disappearance mirror his fiction?” January 3, 2013. John O’Groat Journal and Caithness Courier.

Ian Mackintosh. Check-Six.Com.

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FTA: The Tanana Tragedy

February 28, 2024EpisodeAlaska Podcast, Alaska State Troopers, Alaska True Crime, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Murder Podcast, Mystery Podcast, Robin Barefield, Trooper Murders, True Crime, True Crime Podcastmurder-in-the-last-frontier

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You might be familiar with the recent National Geographic documentary series, Alaska State Troopers. The show followed several troopers from different areas of the state as they made their daily rounds. Two of the troopers featured on the show were Sergeant Patrick “Scott” Johnson and Gabriel “Gabe” Rich. Both men worked out of the Alaska State Troopers’ Fairbanks Rural Service Unit. A camera crew was not with the men on the fateful day of May 1^st, 2014.

Sources

Chomicz, Dorothy. “Kangas found guilty of evidence tampering in Alaska State Trooper deaths.” April 23, 2015. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Chomicz, Dorothy. Arvin Kangas sentenced in case related to Alaska StateTrooper killings.” September 3, 2015. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Chomicz, Dorothy. “Courtroom tenses as Nathanial Kangas murder trial gets underway.” May 9, 2016. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Chomicz, Dorothy. “Pilot describes scene in Tanana minutes after troopers killed.” May 10, 2016. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Edge, Josh. “Man convicted in Tanana trooper killings sentenced to 203 years in prison.” November 3, 2016. Alaska Public Media.

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Deadly Affair

February 14, 2024EpisodeAlaska, Andy Teuber, Helicopter Crash, Helicopter Crash in Alaska, Mystery Podcast, Robin Barefieldmurder-in-the-last-frontier

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This story has all the elements of a Greek tragedy or a Shakespearean play, and it could easily inspire the plot of a movie or a mystery novel. Unfortunately, this is a true drama, and the outcome deprived children of their father and a wife of her new husband. We will never know how this event truly ended. The last few moments aboard the R66 helicopter and the pilot’s mindset will remain a mystery.

Did Andy Teuber’s helicopter crash into the Gulf of Alaska because he purposely flew it into the ocean, sparing his family and himself the embarrassment of a tawdry, drawn-out court case that could land him in prison? Or was Teuber distracted and perhaps taking chances he wouldn’t usually take because he was rushing to get home to his family in Kodiak before the news media broke the story about his messy affair? Some people believe the Anchorage Daily News, the largest newspaper in Alaska, bears a portion of the blame for Teuber’s tragic death. If the paper hadn’t rushed to print a story about Teuber before carefully fact-checking it, perhaps Andy Teuber would still be alive.

Sources

Downing, Suzanne. “‘He said, she said’: Was this a case of journalistic murder?” March 3, 2021. Must Read Alaska.

Hopkins, Kyle and Boots, Michelle T. “ANTHC boss resigned after employee accused him of ‘unrelenting’ abuse.” March 2, 2021. Anchorage Daily News.

Herz, Nathaniel. “Alaska’s top tribal health executive, Andy Teuber, has resigned. February 23, 2021. Alaska Public Media – Anchorage.

Hollander, Zac. “Alaska health executive’s helicopter crashed during flight to reach family before report on allegations of sexual misconduct, pilot tells NTSB.” March 23, 2021. Anchorage Daily News.

Hollander, Zac. “Missing Alaska health executive’s ‘death by accident’ verdict leaves questions surrounding helicopter crash.” April 28, 2021. Anchorage Daily News.

Medred, Craig. “Speed kills.” March 24, 2021. Craig Medred News.

Rivera, Daniella. “NTSB: Investigation into missing helicopter might not include examination of wreckage.” March 3, 2021. KTUU.

Simard, Dylan. “Mask burning ceremony held in honor of Andy Teuber.” June 1, 2022. KMXT.

Smith, Valerie. “Never found: the disappearance and presumed death of Alaska’s Andy Teuber and everything that led up to his Robinson R66 crash on March 2, 2021.” September 26, 2022. Writing by Valerie.

Accident Number: ANC21LA020. National Transportation Safety Board Aviation Accident Final Report.

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FTA: Serial Murderer Gary Zieger

January 31, 2024EpisodeAlaska Podcast, Alaska True Crime, Beth van Zanten, Gary Zieger, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Murder Podcast, Mystery Podcast, Robin Barefield, Serial Killer, Serial Killer Podcast, True Crime, True Crime Podcastmurder-in-the-last-frontier

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Gary Zieger, a brutal serial killer, stalked the streets of Anchorage in the early 1970s. We’ll never know how many people Zieger killed, but eventually, the psychopath made a fatal mistake.

Sources

Brennan, Tom. Cold Crime. Chapter 8: “Alaska’s Billy the Kid.” 2005. Kenmore, WA: Epicenter Press.

Gordon, Mike. “The hired gun.” March 26, 2014. Turnagain Currents.

Hale, Leland. “The lonesome death of Beth van Zanten: The killer is killed.” October 17, 2018. Butcher Baker.

Hale, Leland. “Lonesome death of Beth van Zanten: Whodunnit.” October 18, 2018. Butcher Baker.

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Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge Audiobook Narrated by

Beth Chaplin

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The Secrets of Mendeltna Lodge

January 17, 2024EpisodeAlaska Podcast, Alaska True Crime, Elmer Haab, Medeltna Lodge, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Murder Podcast, Mystery Podcast, Robin Barefield, Violence Against Womenmurder-in-the-last-frontier

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Neighbors suspected Elmer Haab was up to no good, and when his wife, Bonnie, mysteriously disappeared, they feared Elmer had done something to her. Alaska State Troopers also found the disappearance of Bonnie Haab suspicious, but with no body, there was little they could do.

Sources:

Anderson, Dianne. “Haab leads troopers to pyre where he burned wife’s body.” July 17, 1969. Anchorage Daily Times.

Anderson, Diane. “Man admits he cremated body of his wife.” July 16, 1969. Anchorage Daily Times.

Anderson, Dianne. “The last time he saw Bonnie, her face was bruised and bleeding.” July 7, 19, 1969. Anchorage Daily Times.

Brennan, Tom. Cold Crime. Chapter 2: “Mystery of Mendeltna Lodge.” 2005. Kenmore, WA. Epicenter Press.

Drebert, Richard. “Ashes on the Mendeltna.” Cache of Grace.

Maguire, Sean. “The Mendeltna Creek Lodge near Glenallen has burned down.” KTUU News.

Webster, Dave. “Police crack theft ring; three sought.” February 22, 1968. Anchorage Daily Times.

Webster, Dave. “Suspect in theft ring is arrested.” February 23, 1968. Anchorage Daily Times.

“Elmer Haab nabbed by Arizona Sheriff.” April 10, 1968. Anchorage Daily Times.

“Haab sent to Arizona.” September 4, 1969. Anchorage Daily Times.

“Police jail theft suspect.” March 15, 1968. Anchorage Daily Times.

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Karluk Bones Audiobook Narrated by Beth Chaplin

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FTA: The Boggs/Begich Mystery: The Disappearance of Cessna N1812H

January 3, 2024UncategorizedAlaska Plane Disappearances, Alaska Podcast, Congressmen Hale Boggs and Nick Baggage, Conspiracy Theories, Hale Boggs, Mystery Podcast, Nick Begich, Plane Crash, Robin Barefieldmurder-in-the-last-frontier

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Plane crashes are far too common in Alaska, and many of these accidents are due, at least in part, to poor weather conditions. If commercial pilots refused to fly in marginal weather, though, they would not make money because the weather is often bad in Alaska. For those of us who live or work in remote areas, we must fly in small planes, and we can’t always pick our weather. Mysteries abound in Alaska about airplanes that took off and were never seen again. The following is a story of one of the most famous airplane disappearances in the history of the state.

Sources:

Alpert, Bruce. “Author writes about disappearance of plane carrying Hale Boggs 43 years ago over Alaska.” June 16, 2015. Nola.com.
Glass, Andrew. “Hale Boggs’ plane vanishes in Alaska.” October 16, 1972.

Politico. https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/hale-boggs-plane vanishes-in-alaska-oct-16-1972-229692

Liefer, Gregory P. 2011. Aviation Mysteries of the North. Chapter 16: “Accident or conspiracy?” Publication Consultants: Anchorage.

“New podcast Missing in Alaska takes on 50-year-old mysterious plane disappearance.” May 21, 2020. Inside Radio.

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Karluk Bones Audiobook Narrated by Beth Chaplin

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The Mystery of the First Broken Arrow

December 20, 2023UncategorizedAlaska Podcast, Broken Arrow, Fat Man Atomic Bomb, Mark IV Atomic Bomb, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier, Mystery Podcast, Robin Barefieldmurder-in-the-last-frontier

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The U.S. military defines a “Broken Arrow” as an “unexpected event involving nuclear weapons that result in the accidental launching, firing, detonating, theft, or loss of the weapon.” The first Broken Arrow event occurred in 1950 during a mission from Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, Alaska. Questions still surround this event and the mystery of what happened to the B-36 aircraft and the Mark IV atomic bomb it carried.

Map Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada

Sources

Adams, Sharon. “The lost nuke of British Columbia.” January 26, 2022. Legion.

Clearwater, John M. “The first one to get away.” November/December 2004. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

Liefer, Gregory P. Chapter 12: “Broken Arrow.” 2011. Anchorage, AK. Publication Consultants.

Roos, Dave. “’Broken Arrow’: When the first U.S. atomic bomb went missing.” January 13, 2020. History.

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Karluk Bones Audiobook Narrated by Beth Chaplin

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FTA: Murder at the North Pole

December 6, 2023EpisodeAlaska Podcast, Fairbanks Serial Killer, FBI Profile, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Murder Podcast, Mystery Podcast, North Pole Alaska, North Pole Serial Killer, Robin Barefield, Serial Killer, Thomas Richard Bunday, True Crime Podcastmurder-in-the-last-frontier

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After a string of murders of young women near Fairbanks in the late 1970s and early ’80s, the abductions and murders mysteriously stopped. Troopers didn’t believe the vicious killer had suddenly halted his murder spree, but they feared the predator had moved somewhere else. Unfortunately, at the time, they had no database to track the killer’s movements beyond Alaska. Only the deductive reasoning and hard work of seasoned investigators traced the monster to his new hunting grounds, four thousand miles away.

Sources:

Brennan, Tom. Murder at 40 Below. Chapter 9: “Having trouble with girls.” 2001. Kenmore, WA: Epicenter Press.

Capps, Kris. “Bunday never denied he was killer, trooper recalls.” March 17, 1983. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Capps, Kris. “Bunday was suspect in 1980.” March 17, 1983. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Fisher, Susan. “Authorities were awaiting more facts.” March 17, 1983. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Ice Cold Killers. Season 1, episode 5: “North Pole slay ride.”

“Troopers release summary of Thomas Bunday murder case.” April 29, 1983. Fairbanks Pioneer All Alaska Weekly.

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Karluk Bones Audiobook Narrated by Beth Chaplin

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