The Murders at Manley Hot Springs

September 15, 2019EpisodeManley Hot Springs, Michael Silka, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier, Murder at Manley Hot Sprins, Murder in Alaska, Murder Podcast, Robin Barefieldmurder-in-the-last-frontier

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Manley Hot Springs, located 160 miles west of Fairbanks, marks the end of the road, where civilization meets wilderness, and the boat landing in Manley Hot Springs offers the last portage for fishermen, trappers, and wanderers to launch their boats and travel further up the icy Tanana River. Because the road ends in Manley, residents admit they see their share of drifters and people trying to escape from somewhere or something. When Michael Silka arrived in Manley on Monday, May 13, 1984, folks accepted him as another straggler searching for a new life. They should have been terrified. Michael Silka was about to forever change sleepy Manley Hot Springs.

Sources:

Ice Cold Killers: Season 1, Episode 5: Frozen Carnage

Tactical Life. Michael Alan Silka and the Firefight at Manley. Available at: https://www.tactical-life.com/lifestyle/military-and-police/firefight-at-manley/

Michael Silka -Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Silka

Michael Alan Silka Murderpedia: https://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/silka-michael.htm

Murder at 40 Below: Manley Hot Springs Murders

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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.

Congressmen Hale Boggs and Nick Begich Disappear in Alaska

September 1, 2019EpisodeAirplane crashes, Airplanes in Alaska, Alaska, Congressmen Hale Boggs and Nick Begich Disappear in Alaska, Hale Boggs, Nick Begich, Robin Barefieldmurder-in-the-last-frontier

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On October 16th, 1972, a Cessna 310 with the tail number N1812H operated by Pan Alaska Airways disappeared somewhere between Anchorage and Juneau, Alaska. The plane was piloted by Don Jonz, 38, the chief pilot for Pan Alaska. Jonz was a military veteran with more than 17,000 hours of flight time. The passengers on the plane were Alaska Congressman Nick Begich, 40, his aide Russell Brown, 37, and Louisiana Congressman Hale Boggs, 58, the U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader. The three men were planning to attend an election rally for Begich in Juneau.

Was the disappearance due to an accident or something far more sinister?

References include:

Forty years ago yesterday, Hale Boggs, a powerful Democratic congressman with a colorful past, disappeared in a small plane over Alaska

New Details Uncovered in 1972 Disappearance of Congressman Hale Boggs

Hale Boggs’ Plane Vanishes in Alaska: Oct. 16, 1972

Author Writes About Disappearance of Plane Carrying Hale Boggs 43 Years Ago Over Alaska

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

The North Pole Murders

August 18, 2019EpisodeAlaska, Fairbanks Serial Killer, Murder in Alaska, North Pole Serial Killer, Robin Barefield, Thomas Richard Bundaymurder-in-the-last-frontier

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After a string of closely spaced murders of young women near Fairbanks in the late 1970s and early 80s, the abductions and murders stopped. Troopers didn’t believe the vicious killer had suddenly quit murdering young women, but they thought 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 four thousand miles to his new hunting grounds.

The Newman Family Murders

August 4, 2019EpisodeMurder, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Newman Family Murders, Robin Barefield, True Crimemurder-in-the-last-frontier

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This episode covers the 1987 murders of a mother and her two daughters. This crime angered and terrified Anchorage residents, and they wondered who could commit such a brutal act, and would he strike again?

For More Information about the Newman murders:

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The Hunter: Serial Killer Robert Hansen

July 21, 2019EpisodeAlaska, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Murder in Alaska, Robert Hansen, Robin Barefield, Serial Killermurder-in-the-last-frontier

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Investigators believe Robert Hansen murdered at least thirty women in Alaska between 1971 and 1983. With some of his victims, Hansen brutally raped them and then told them to run while he hunted them down as if they were big game trophies.

The Murder of Sophie Sergie

July 7, 2019UncategorizedDNA, Familial DNA, Murder in Alaska, Sophie Sergie, True Crimemurder-in-the-last-frontier

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In the early morning hours of Monday, April 26, 1993, someone brutally raped, stabbed and shot Sophie Sergie in a college dorm on the University of Alaska campus in Fairbanks. Several hours later, a janitor discovered Sophie’s body stuffed in a bathtub in a second-floor bathroom in the dorm. No one saw or heard anything. Sophie’s case soon went cold and remained cold for the next 18 years. Would her murder ever be solved?

Sources include:

25 Years After Sophie Sergie Was Found Dead in a UAF Bathtub, Maine Man Charged with Murder: https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/crime-courts/2019/02/16/25-years-after-a-woman-was-found-dead-in-a-uaf-bathtub-alaska-state-troopers-make-an-arrest/

Death in Bartlett Hall: http://www.uafjournalism.com/extreme/index.php/sophie-sergie-murder/46-investigatorrevisitssophie-sergiemurderrder-of-sophiesophie-sergiemurder

26 Years After Woman Found Dead in College Dorm Bathtub, Police Arrest Suspected Killer: https://pressfrom.info/us/news/crime/-246837-26-years-after-woman-found-dead-in-college-dorm-bathtub-police-arrest-suspected-killer.html

Budget Cuts Would Eliminate Alaska Cold Case Unit: https://www.adn.com/crime-justice/article/ast-cold-case-investigation-unit-be-cut-current-state-budget/2015/04/09/

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Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter.

The Investor Murders: Alaska’s Worst Unsolved Mass Murder

June 23, 2019Uncategorizedmurder-in-the-last-frontier

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What happened on the F.V. Investor on a September night in 1982 in the sleepy village of Craig, Alaska? By the time investigators extinguished the flames on the burning vessel, the remains of eight people had been reduced to little more than bone fragments. Who committed this violent crime, and what was the motive?

The Disappearance of Laura Henderson MMLF 002

June 8, 2019EpisodeKodiak Island, Laura Henderson, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier, Robin Barefieldmurder-in-the-last-frontier

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What happened to Laura Henderson? One of the most controversial court cases in the history of the state of Alaska resulted from the disappearance of a woman on Kodiak Island in 1986. At best, this case is an example of an inept police investigation, a prosecution determined to win at any cost, and inadequate defense counsel. At worst, this case represents a corrupt police force and perhaps even a corrupt judicial system. To this day, though, people still ask, “What happened to Laura Henderson?”

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Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter.

The McCarthy Massacre of 1983 – MMLF001

May 20, 2019EpisodeMcCarthy Massacre, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier, Robin Barefieldmurder-in-the-last-frontier

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The residents living within a fifty-mile radius of McCarthy, Alaska enjoyed their solitary lives, but they looked forward to gathering and socializing each Tuesday while they waited for their mail plane. Everything changed on March 1st, 1983. Mail day would never be the same again.

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