A Deadly Custody Battle

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Muriel Pfeil

Neil Mackay was ruthless in both his personal and business dealings, and associates learned not to cross him. When a car bomb instantly killed his ex-wife, Muriel Pfeil, police knew Mackay had planned her murder, but they could not find enough evidence to charge him with the crime. Muriel’s brother, Bob, believed Mackay murdered his sister, and he fought Mackay for custody over Neil and Muriel’s son. Mackay became enraged and obsessed with Bob Pfeil and plotted how to destroy his nemesis.

Bob Pfeil

 

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I have a special treat for you this week. My friend and fellow author and podcaster, Mary Ann Poll, and I are doing cross-over podcasts. Mary Ann hosts the popular podcast, Real Ghost Chatter, and I am a guest on her podcast this week.

In this episode of Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier, I tell you the story about the brutal murder of a woman in downtown Anchorage. Then, on Real Ghost Chatter, Mary Ann and I discuss the ghost of this woman who reportedly haunts the Anchorage café where she once had her travel agency. Mary Ann and I also explore some other Anchorage hauntings.

You can find Real Ghost Chatter with Mary Ann Poll at https://anchor.fm/mary-ann-poll

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Sources

An Angry Man. Cold Crime: Brennan, Tom. 2005. Cold Crime. Epicenter Press. https://www.amazon.com/Cold-Crime-Detectives-Alaskas-Sensational/dp/0974501441/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Cold+Crime%2C+Tom+Brennan&qid=1574108038&s=books&sr=1-1

10-19-1976. Dynamite Expected in Car Bomb Killing. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=17887295&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjMxODI2MDE1LCJpYXQiOjE1ODczNDQzNjEsImV4cCI6MTU4NzQzMDc2MX0.mlirb-0MYcf3fN2U6TKpbTm4O59gtNdcfb0BNvDMFYY

Jenkins, Paul. 11-12-1985. Alleged Contract Shooting Victim Dies. AP Press.
https://apnews.com/31a0160ee34f2987548f678d7358cb99

Turner, Walace. 6-30-1987.Alaskan Murder: Enigma Within an Enigma. New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/30/us/alaskan-murder-enigma-within-an-enigma.html

2-7-1988. Jury Acquits MacKay of Murder. AP Press.
https://apnews.com/3a33ee9d7d1837d298e5930405c7d10d

Mroch, Courtney. 10-27-2019. The Ghost of the Snow City Café. Haunt Jaunts.
https://www.hauntjaunts.net/the-ghost-of-the-snow-city-cafe/

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· Behind the scenes glimpses of life and wildlife in the Kodiak wilderness.
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Robin Barefield is the author of four Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, and Karluk Bones. Sign up to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

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I am excited to have my novel, Karluk Bones included in the Battle of the Books. Enter the Battle of the Books, and you could win a  $500 Amazon Gift Card!

Double Murder at a Kodiak Fish Site

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During the summer of 1988, I remember the whispers spreading across the island, first about two missing brothers who were fishermen in Uganik Bay, and later, about the mother of those two men discovering their bodies buried in a shallow grave near their fish site. It was the first double homicide in recorded history on Kodiak Island. Uganik Bay, where the murders occurred, is only 30 air miles from where I live, but it’s fifty miles by boat, a world away on Kodiak Island.

Forty-four fishermen died at sea near Kodiak, Alaska in 1988; it is the deadliest fishing year on record. 1988 was also the year fishermen earned $2.40 per pound for sockeye salmon; the highest price ever paid for sockeyes before or since; commercial fishing proved lucrative but dangerous in 1988.
Alaska fishermen know their jobs involve risk. They work on the North Pacific, often in big seas and brutal weather, but no fisherman expects to be murdered by his crewman.

Sources

Sullivan, Toby. 2016. Sea Stories: Missing brothers turn up dead in Uganik. Kodiak Daily Mirror.
http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/community/article_37f0be0c-485a-11e6-a26e-6ba696185b1e.html

Shepard v. State (2/19/93) ap-1283
http://touchngo.com/ap/html/ap-1283.htm

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Would you like to help support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join The Last Frontier Club.

Each month I will provide one or more of the following to club members.
· An extra episode of Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier 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 or discounts on MMLF merchandise or handmade glass jewelry
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Robin Barefield is the author of four Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, and Karluk Bones. Sign up to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

I am excited to have my novel, Karluk Bones included in the Battle of the Books. Enter the Battle of the Books, and you could win a win a $500 Amazon Gift Card!

The Teen Who Ordered a Hit on Her Mother

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Craig, Alaska

Most teenagers fight with their parents, and during a heated argument, some kids might even scream, “I hate you” at their mother or father, but such disagreements signal normal growing pains. Few teens order a hit on a parent, simply because the child feels the parent is too strict.

Matricide, the killing of one’s mother, is uncommon, and matricide by a girl under the age of 18 is extremely rare. Of the few cases in recent history where a girl under the age of 18 killed her mother, the offender either had been abused by her mother, or the killer exhibited extremely antisocial behavior. Despite what she told her friends, Rachelle Waterman was neither abused nor antisocial. She appeared to be a normal, high-achieving junior in high school. Rachelle sang in the school choir and played on the volleyball team. Residents of Craig, Alaska adored Rachelle’s mother, Lauri, who was active in her church, worked as a teacher’s aide and was always the first to volunteer to help with any community function. Rachelle’s father, Carl “Doc” Waterman, was a well-liked, successful real estate agent in Craig.

Not only was Lauri Waterman an unlikely murder victim, but Craig, Alaska seemed like the last place such a crime would occur. Craig, with a population of 1500 residents, is the largest town on Prince of Wales Island in Southeastern Alaska. Craig is a small, close-knit community in an idyllic setting, but like every other town on the planet, Craig is not immune to violent crime. In 1982, the worst mass murder in Alaska occurred on the FV Investor, a 58-ft. commercial fishing boat tied to the dock in Craig. The massacre still haunts the residents of Craig because no one was ever convicted of the crime, and now again in 2004, a second horrible murder impacted this small town.

Rachelle Waterman

 

 

Sources:

Fleeman, Michael. 2011. Love You Madly: The True Story of a Small-town Girl, the Young Men She Seduced, and the Murder of her Mother. St. Martin’s True Crime.

Larson, John. Teen Blogger Murder Trial. How could Rachelle Waterman’s fantasies spiral into her mom’s murder? Dateline. NBC. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/13962555/ns/dateline_nbc/t/teen-blogger-murder-trial/#.XmQ-QEBFweE

Demer, Lisa. 2011. Convicted killer testifies at Waterman trial. Anchorage Daily News. https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/article/convicted-killer-testifies-waterman-trial/2011/01/27/

Kheiry, Leila. 2015. Alaska Court of Appeals Denies Rachelle Waterman Appeal. Alaska Public Media. https://www.alaskapublic.org/2015/02/06/supreme-court-denies-rachelle-waterman-appeal/

American teenage girl charged with murder of her mother. 2004. Wikinews. https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/American_teenage_girl_charged_with_murder_of_her_mother

Would you like to help support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join the Last Frontier Club.

Each month I will provide one or more of the following to club members.

· An extra episode of Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier 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 or discounts on MMLF merchandise or handmade glass jewelry

Follow the link and join the club now!
Become a Patron!

Become a Patron!

Subscribe to my Murder and Mystery Newsletter

Join me on:
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Visit my website at http://robinbarefield.com

Robin Barefield is the author of four Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, and Karluk Bones. Sign up to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

 

The Machete Killer

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We’ve all seen the horror movie where a stranger towers over his unsuspecting victim while she sleeps, and she awakes just in time to see him swing the machete toward her head. Imagine if this is no horror movie but a terrible, true event, happening as you struggle to clear your mind from sleep and attempt to focus on your survival instincts. Now, what if you know the maniac wielding the machete, and he is someone close to you? Can you fathom anything so horrible? Elann Moren had no choice; she had to grapple with the situation and spring into action. In one moment, her beautiful, new life turned into a horrible nightmare.

Elann awoke in the middle of the night to see a shadowy figure walk into her bedroom. It was too dark to make out the individual’s features, but she could see the person holding something long and slender in his hand. She thought the object was a stick, and when the shadow began hitting her sleeping boyfriend with the stick, she reached over to grab the offending object and stop the beating. After two of her fingertips fell from her hand, she realized the attacker gripped a machete, not a stick.

 

 

Erin Rogers

 

 

 

Erin Rogers

 

 

 

Bear

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources

Another 189 years for Alaska machete murderer. Daily News Miner. http://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska_news/another-years-for-alaska-machete-murderer/article_04ea3828-f472-523f-bed3-d5b2ceae7e02.html

Man charged with killing father with machete. MSNBC. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/22101555/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/man-charged-killing-father-machete/#.XlGWEEBFweE

Palmer machete killer’s sentences now total 498 years https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/article/palmer-machete-killers-sentences-now-total-498-years/2010/01/11/

Rogers V State. Find Law. https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ak-court-of-appeals/1607160.html

Hero dog done in by tumor https://www.frontiersman.com/news/hero-dog-done-in-by-tumor/article_7bc08a86-a809-569c-91f3-aa23c18e0fc5.html

___________________________________________________________________

Would you like to help support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join the Last Frontier Club.

Each month I will provide one or more of the following to club members.

· An extra episode of Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier available only to 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 or discounts on MMLF merchandise or handmade glass jewelry

Follow the link and join the club now!

Become a Patron!

Subscribe to my Murder and Mystery Newsletter

Join me on:
Facebook
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LinkedIn

Visit my website at http://robinbarefield.com

Robin Barefield is the author of four Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, and Karluk Bones. Sign up to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alaska Serial Killer Joshua Wade

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Joshua Wade

In my last episode, I profiled Israel Keyes, a serial killer who moved to Anchorage in 2007. Many serial-killer experts consider Keyes to be one of the most intelligent, organized serial killers of all time. He randomly chose victims who lived thousands of miles from his home, and he stashed murder kits around the country, planning to access them at some future date. It is easy to understand why Israel Keyes wasn’t captured sooner than he was. He methodically planned his crimes and always had an exit strategy. He only began making mistakes when his murderous impulses grew too strong for him to control, and these mistakes led to his apprehension.

Around the same time Israel Keyes was active, another serial killer stalked the residents of Anchorage, but the story of Joshua Wade and his crimes is far different than that of Israel Keyes. Investigators consider Wade intelligent, but he did not stalk his victims or plan his crimes. His crimes were sloppy, happened on the spur of the moment, and usually were the result of him losing his temper. The legal system should have stopped Joshua Wade long before it did.

Della Brown

Mindy Schloss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

Francis, Monte. 4-16-2016. Ice and Bone. Tracking an Alaskan Serial Killer. WildBlue Press.

Joshua Wade – I Am Not a Serial Killer – Confesses to 5 Murders. https://wickedwe.com/joshua-wade-killer-confesses-murders/

Jerzy Shedlock, Jill Burke. 6-20-2014. Authorities: Joshua Wade admits to 3 additional killings. https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/article/authorities-joshua-wade-admits-3-additional-killings-0/2014/06/20/

U.S. Attorney’s Office. 6-20-2014. Convicted Killer Joshua Wade Claims Responsibility for Additional Murders. https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/anchorage/news/press-releases/convicted-killer-joshua-wade-claims-responsibilty-for-additional-murders

Modern, possibly still active serial killers, part 6: Joshua Wade. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/serialkillers/comments/8rjssa/modern_possibly_still_active_serial_killers_part/

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Robin Barefield is the author of four Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, and Karluk Bones. Sign up to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

A Monster Moved To Anchorage: Serial Killer Israel Keyes

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“I’ll tell you everything you want to know. I’ll give it blow by blow if you want. I have lots more stories to tell.”

Israel Keyes

A monster moved to Anchorage in 2007. Israel Keyes didn’t look evil; he appeared normal. To those who crossed his path, he seemed like a dedicated businessman, a doting father, and a loving boyfriend. No one could see the darkness lurking inside him, but by the time he moved to Alaska, Israel Keyes was already a thief, an arsonist, a rapist, and a serial killer. He did not give up these hobbies when he arrived in Anchorage.

Israel Keyes had been planning to burglarize the Common Grounds stand for several days, and on the snowy night of February 1st, he pulled a ski mask over his face, parked his car down the road, and walked to the stand. He hadn’t decided what he would do when he reached the stand. He planned to rob the shop, and if conditions were right, he would kidnap the barista. Keyes arrived at the stand at 7:55 and calmly ordered a large Americano. Eighteen-year-old Samantha Koenig prepared the drink, but when she turned around to hand it to him, she gasped at the .22 Taurus handgun Keyes pointed at her. He told her to turn out the lights and then hoisted himself through the window and inside the coffee stand. Samantha apparently was so terrified by the intruder and his gun, she forgot to push the panic button.

Sources:

Seeking Information Regarding Serial Killer Case – FBI
https://www.fbi.gov/video-repository/newss-seeking-info-serial-killer/view

Israel Keyes. Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Keyes

Callahan, Maureen. 2019. American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century.

FBI Requests the Public’s Assistance in Case of Serial Killer Israel Keyes
https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/portland/press-releases/2013/fbi-requests-the-publics-assistance-in-case-of-serial-killer-israel-keyes

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Subscribe to my Murder and Mystery Newsletter with links to all my podcast episodes.

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Robin Barefield is the author of four Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, and Karluk Bones. Sign up to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

 

Murder North of the Arctic Circle

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Bitter cold, a clash of cultures, and a language barrier all played a part in this crime, but the primary cause, sadly, was something we see every day in all cultures. A father gave his son a gift he believed would make his son more of a man and help him find his way in the world. Unfortunately, the father did not understand his son and his son’s problems, and his well-meaning present ended up causing his son great harm and ending the lives of three good men.

Kiana, Alaska is an Inupiaq Eskimo village with approximately 300 residents located in Northwestern Alaska, 30 miles (48.3 km) north of the Arctic Circle and 57 miles (91.7 km) east of Kotzebue. The village sits near the confluence of the Squirrel and Kobuk Rivers. In late January at the Arctic Circle, the sun rises just before noon and sets in the late afternoon. Bitter cold temperatures hold a grip on Kiana in January, but the folks who call the Arctic tundra home, are well adapted to frigid temperatures and limited daylight.

On January 25th, 1970, a pilot flying a local physician on a wolf-hunting trip buzzed low over the Kobuk River and was surprised to spot a man holding his hands above his head. The man was miles from any habitation, standing in the middle of the frozen tundra. When the Cessna flew over him, the man collapsed onto the snow, and the pilot landed the plane on its skis near him.

The pilot and doctor soon realized the young man was little more than a teenager, and blood spattered his clothing. He got to his feet and could barely walk as he stumbled toward the plane. The physician helped him into the back of the plane, and the young man told the doctor and pilot he had been part of a hunting party of four men. The other men all had been murdered, but he managed to escape. He explained the bodies of the other men were miles away at their camp on the Kobuk River. He left them there and walked all night, trying to make his way back to Kiana. After telling his story, the young man lost consciousness.

Sources

Johnson v. State. Available at https://law.justia.com/cases/alaska/supreme-court/1973/1477-1.html

Brennan, Tom. 2001. The Caribou Murders. Murder at 40 Below. Epicenter Press.

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Just Released: Karluk Bones: What story would the bones found in the Kodiak wilderness tell?

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Robin Barefield is the author of four Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, and Karluk Bones. Sign up to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

Who Took the Fandel Children?

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Most parents can imagine no nightmare worse than the disappearance of a child, but how can a parent possibly cope when both of their children vanish, swallowed by the Alaska wilderness?

Some time during the late-night hours of September 5 or the early morning hours of September 6, 1978, Scott Fandel, 13, and Amy Fandel, 8, disappeared from their Sterling, Alaska home on the Kenai Peninsula, 136 miles (218.9 km) south of Anchorage. The mystery of what happened to the Fandel children has baffled Alaska State Troopers for over four decades. How can two kids vanish from their home without a trace?

At 10:30 pm on Sept. 5, 1978, Scott and Amy Fandel seemed safe and happy. Less than four hours later, they were gone, never to be seen again. Where did they go? What could have happened to them? Investigators spent thousands of hours running down hundreds of leads which led nowhere. One former Alaska State Trooper said they chased “quirks and spider web leads,” but they never got any closer to finding the children.

Scott Fandel would be 54 years old, and Amy would be 49 if they are still alive today. These are their age-progression photos from The Charley Project.

If you know anything about the disappearance of Scott and Amy Fandel, please contact the Alaska State Troopers.

                                                          Scott Curtis Fandel

Scott, circa 1978

Age-progression to age 48 (circa 2011)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amy Lee Fandel

Amy, circa 1978

Amy, Age-progression to 46 (circa, 2016)

 

 

 

 

 

Sources

STILL MISSING by SHEILA TOOMEY. Anchorage Daily News.
September 4, 1988

The Theories of the Fandel Children’s Disappearance
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/cold-case-spotlight/theories-fandel-children-s-disappearance-n385361

The Disappearance of Amy and Scott Fandel
https://truecrimediscussions.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-disappearance-of-amy-and-scott.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR10JwJblisTkaho3c_uhmWqNX0FZZRoOf31fCQtAyekfaEIgP_8-hxdrxY

Scott and Amy Fandel Missing. Facebook Page. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/scottandamyfandelmissing/photos/

Amy Lee Fandel. The Charley Project. Available at: http://charleyproject.org/case/amy-lee-fandel

Scott Curtis Fandel. The Charley Project. Available at: http://charleyproject.org/case/scott-curtis-fandel

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Just Released: Karluk Bones: What story would the bones found in the Kodiak wilderness tell?

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Robin Barefield is the author of four Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, and Karluk Bones. Sign up to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

 

 

Serial Murderer Gary Zieger

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Gary Zieger

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.

During the period when serial killer Robert Hansen terrorized Anchorage and Southcentral Alaska, another brutal murderer roamed the same area. While Hansen selected and hunted his prey, Gary Zieger used women and men for his satisfaction and then simply discarded them. Zieger seemed unwilling or unable to control himself and was sure to self-destruct.

When two hikers discovered the body of Celia Beth Van Zanten at McHugh Creek State Park south of Anchorage, they knew she had suffered a horrible death. Someone had gagged her and tied her hands behind her back with speaker wire; her body was naked below the waist. The pathologist later determined Beth had been raped and her chest slashed with a knife. She was still alive when she was either thrown or fell into a ravine. She apparently tried to climb out of the steep-walled crevice, but with her hands tied behind her back, she had no way to pull herself up the cliff, and she repeatedly fell until she froze to death in the frigid December weather.

Investigators discovered tire tracks turning lazy circles in the parking lot of the campground, and they deduced Beth escaped her attacker, ran down the steep slope, and probably fell into the ravine. Her abductor circled the parking lot waiting for her to reappear, but when she never did, he finally left.

Beth disappeared on December 23, 1971, while walking from her house to a local convenience store. What happened during her short walk down the street?

Soon after the hikers discovered Beth Van Zanten’s body on Christmas day, 18-year-old Sandra Patterson, the daughter of an Alaska State Trooper, came forward to report her abduction on December 19th. Sandra worked as a prostitute to support her heroin addiction. She was working in the parking lot of the Nevada Club in Anchorage when a man pointed a gun at her and told her he would kill her if she didn’t do what he wanted. She described her attacker as a slender man in his mid-twenties wearing horn-rimmed glasses. The man drove Sandra to a motel on the Kenai Peninsula, nearly one-hundred miles south of Anchorage and raped her. On the drive back to Anchorage, he threatened to kill her if she reported him to the police. Sandra complied with his demands to remain silent until she heard about Beth Van Zanten’s murder, and then she knew she had to come forward and tell authorities about her abduction.

Police asked Sandra to study a book of photos of known sex offenders to see if she could pick out the man who had kidnapped and raped her. She immediately identified her attacker as Robert Hansen. Hansen’s photo was in the book because he was awaiting trial for the attempted kidnapping of a young Anchorage woman.

Hansen was initially charged with kidnapping and raping Sandra Patterson, but prosecutors considered Patterson an unreliable witness, and the charges were eventually dropped. Meanwhile, nothing tied Hansen to the murder and abduction of Beth Van Zanten, and to this day, authorities remain unsure whether Beth was murdered by Hansen, by someone she knew, or by another brutal killer named Gary Zieger.

Sources:

Brennan, Tom. 2005.  Alaska’s Billy The Kid Brennan, Cold Crime. Epicenter Press.
Butcher Baker: Lonesome Death of Beth Van Zanten: The Killer is Killed by Lealand E. Hale
Turnagain Currents: The Hired Gun by Mike Gordon

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Robin Barefield is the author of four Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, and Karluk Bones. Sign up to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

The Coast Guard Murders

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Main Coast Guard Base
Kodiak, Alaska

The double homicide I describe in this episode occurred on a secure Coast Guard base near the town of Kodiak, Alaska on Kodiak Island, approximately 60 miles from where I live. This murder happened toward the end of the most brutal winter anyone on Kodiak can remember, and when the police did not quickly apprehend the killer, tempers flared, and citizens carried firearms wherever they went. Our mail plane pilot, reporting the news to us on his weekly stop, compared the residents in town to a powder keg ready to blow. When it was all over, many in law enforcement and the judicial system praised the investigation, but at the time it seemed as if no one was doing anything to look for and apprehend the killer.

On April 12th, 2012, meteorologists predicted the temperature on Kodiak would soar to 50 degrees, and if it did, the residents of the island would enjoy the warmest day since October. Spirits lifted in Kodiak with this promise of spring, but the upbeat moods didn’t last long. Around 8:30 that morning, rumors spread through town indicating someone had been murdered at the Coast Guard base. When the rumors became more specific, and the whispers suggested the shooting happened at the rigger shop, the families of the small crew of men who worked there waited in dread. Soon, those rumors were confirmed. Not only had one man been killed, but two men were dead.

James Wells, left

Sources:

Two killed in shooting at Coast Guard communications station. Kodiak Daily Mirror, April 13, 2012.

Coast Guard killer thought still at large. Kodiak Daily Mirror, April 16, 2012.

Shooting investigators focus on Bell’s Flats home. Kodiak Daily Mirror, April 18, 2012.

FBI failing to reach Kodiak residents. Kodiak Daily Mirror, April 27, 2012.

FBI asks Alaskans’ help as it seeks Coast Guard murder weapon. Kodiak Daily Mirror, May 16, 2012.

Kodiak man arrested for Coast Guard double murder. Kodiak Daily Mirror. February 15, 2013.

Man arrested in 2012 Alaska Coast Guard base deaths
https://komonews.com/news/nation-world/man-arrested-in-2012-alaska-coast-guard-base-deaths-11-21-2015

Coast Guard double murder trial to begin Monday. Kodiak Daily Mirror, March 28, 2014.

Investigators testify in Coast Guard murder case. Kodiak Daily Mirror, April 11, 2014.

Car expert testifies in Coast Guard double homicide. Kodiak Daily Mirror. April 16, 2014.

Investigators testify in Kodiak double murder case
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/10/investigators-testify-in-kodiak-double-murder-case/

Kodiak quiet before verdict. Kodiak Daily Mirror, April 25, 2014.

Wells guilty of murdering two at Coast Guard. Kodiak Daily Mirror. April 25, 2014.

Update: Wells gets four consecutive life terms sentence. Kodiak Daily Mirror, July 8, 2014

Ninth Circuit Orders New Trial for Man Accused of Coast Guard Killings
https://www.courthousenews.com/ninth-circuit-orders-new-trial-for-man-accused-of-coast-guard-killings/

FBI: Coast Guard murder suspect resented co-workers
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/19/coast-guard-murder-suspect-resented-co-workers/1931741/

Wells convicted, again, of Kodiak Coast Guard double murder

Wells convicted, again, of Kodiak Coast Guard double murder

Wells guilty of double murder http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/news/article_c40f8b96-eabb-11e9-aefb-5fe63cfb932e.html

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Robin Barefield is the author of four Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, and Karluk Bones. Sign up to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.