Monthly Archives: July 2026

Murder in Ruby

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When someone brutally murdered the postmistress of Ruby, Alaska, a small village on the Yukon River, the Alaska State Troopers believed they had a ‘locked-room” mystery on their hands. They suspected one of the villagers of killing Agnes Wright. After all, there are only two ways into and out of Ruby: either by boat on the Yukon River or by air travel on a small bush plane. Neither method of transportation is inconspicuous to or from a village where everyone knows everyone else, and a stranger’s presence warrants stares and whispers. Since the troopers heard no credible accounts of a stranger in town on the day of the murder, they began with the premise that one of the villagers committed the crime. But who in this small village hated Agnes Wright enough to beat her savagely and then shoot her?

Sources

1996 Postmaster. Behind the Badge. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Smithsonian U.S. Postal Museum.

Murphy, Kim. 8-2-1996. Murder in a Town Full of Suspects. Los Angeles Times.

More Details Emerge in Killing of Postmaster. 7-19-1996. Daily Sitka Senitinel.

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Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.

Subscribe to Robin’s free, monthly Murder and Mystery Newsletter for more stories about true crime and mystery from Alaska.
Join her on:
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Visit her website at http://robinbarefield.com
Check out her books at Amazon

Send me an email: robinbarefield76@gmail.com

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Would you like to support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join The Last Frontier Club.
Each month, Robin will provide one or more of the following to club members.
· An extra episode of Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier is available only for club members.
Behind-the-scenes glimpses of life and wildlife in the Kodiak wilderness.
· Breaking news about ongoing murder cases and new crimes in Alaska

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Failed Justice: The Murder of Eunice Whitman

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Eunice Whitman and her boyfriend, Justine Paul, argued on a busy foot path crisscrossing the tundra in Bethel, Alaska. A few hours later, four teenagers stumbled upon Eunice’s naked body stretched out on the ground. Someone had stabbed her multiple times and slashed her throat. Then, they’d folded her clothes and left them a short distance from her body. The police quickly arrested Justine Paul for Eunice’s murder. When they found a backpack full of bloody clothes in his home, and footprints in the mud near Eunice’s body resembling the tread on Paul’s shoes, the prosecutors raced the case to the grand jury, which indicted Paul on first-degree murder.  Unfortunately, this was the only time anything was ever done quickly in this case. When the blood test results from Paul’s stained clothes came back from the lab, they surprised the police and the prosecution, but the state refused to drop charges, and Paul languished in jail for seven years waiting for his case to go to trial.

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Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.

Subscribe to Robin’s free, monthly Murder and Mystery Newsletter for more stories about true crime and mystery from Alaska.
Join her on:
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
LinkedIn
Visit her website at http://robinbarefield.com
Check out her books at Amazon

Send me an email: robinbarefield76@gmail.com

___________________________________________

Would you like to support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join The Last Frontier Club.
Each month, Robin will provide one or more of the following to club members.
· An extra episode of Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier is available only for club members.
Behind-the-scenes glimpses of life and wildlife in the Kodiak wilderness.
· Breaking news about ongoing murder cases and new crimes in Alaska

_______________________________________________________________

Merchandise! Visit the Store

 

 

 

 

What Caused the SS Clara Nevada to Sink?

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Superstitions swirl around boats, and some captains believe bizarre myths. Renaming a vessel remains foremost among the maritime harbingers of bad luck, and if you dare change the name of your boat, you must follow a strict protocol to avoid certain doom. The Clara Nevada did not even complete her maiden voyage under her new name. Is this boat the case study to prove the truth of the old mariner’s superstition, or did her captain plot her demise?

On February 5, 1898, the SS Clara Nevada departed Skagway, Alaska, headed for Juneau and then Seattle. Hurricane-force winds of 90 knots (100 mph 161 km/h) pummeled the vessel with following seas of twelve to fifteen feet (4-5 m) as the helmsman attempted to navigate the infamous Lynn Canal of Alaska’s Inside Passage. When the decrepit old ship reportedly struck a rock and sank, the news surprised no one. Searchers found the body of only one man, the ship’s purser, but news reports stated that no one survived such a horrific accident.

The loss of the Clara Nevada at first seemed a tragic but foreseeable accident, and no one doubted the negligence of the ship’s owners and captain. Before long, though, folks began asking questions, and the Seattle newspapers speculated wildly about the disaster. Crewmen believed to have died in the wreck turned up alive and well. Even the captain materialized and wasted little time beginning his next venture to ferry prospectors to the goldfields.

Sources:

Levi, Steven C. The Clara Nevada; Gold, Greed, Murder and Alaska’s Inside Passage. 2011. History Press.  This book was my main source for this article.  It covers the sinking of the Clara Nevada and the exploits of Captain C.H. Lewis in much more detail than I’ve included here. The author also describes the challenges involved in trying to research a maritime disaster in Alaska in the late 1800s. I highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn more about the Clara Nevada or get a feel for the atmosphere in both Seattle and Skagway during the Klondike gold rush.

Gold on the Clara Nevada: Cold Case Gets Hot. National Underwater and Marine Agency.

Eldred Rock Lighthouse, Alaska. Lighthousefriends.com.

The Clara Nevada’s sinking may always remain a mystery. 08-26-2012.James, David. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

The 2007 Hassler Expedition; The Hassler’s last days and the wreck of the Clara Nevada. National Marine Sanctuaries. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.

Dihle, Bjorn. Haunted Inside Passage: Ghosts, Legends, and Mysteries of Southeast Alaska.  2017. Alaska Northwest Books.

__________

Now Available!

Thirty-Three Stories of Murder and Mystery in Alaska

Check it out at Amazon

Join the Last Frontier Club’s Free Tier

and receive updates, bonus episodes, and more.

______

Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.

Subscribe to Robin’s free, monthly Murder and Mystery Newsletter for more stories about true crime and mystery from Alaska.
Join her on:
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
LinkedIn
Visit her website at http://robinbarefield.com
Check out her books at Amazon

Send me an email: robinbarefield76@gmail.com

___________________________________________

Would you like to support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join The Last Frontier Club.
Each month, Robin will provide one or more of the following to club members.
· An extra episode of Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier is available only for club members.
Behind-the-scenes glimpses of life and wildlife in the Kodiak wilderness.
· Breaking news about ongoing murder cases and new crimes in Alaska

_______________________________________________________________

Merchandise! Visit the Store