You might not associate The Birdman of Alcatraz with Alaska, but Robert Stroud, often called the Birdman, once lived in Alaska, and after murdering a man in a Juneau bar, he spent the rest of his life, 54 years. He was in solitary confinement for 42 of those years. Stroud is one of Alaska’s most famous criminals, and if you are like me, you will find his story is fascinating.
Sources:
Robert Stroud Biography (1890-1963). Biography.
https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/robert-stroud-birdman-of-alcatraz
Robert Franklin Stroud. Murderpedia.
https://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/stroud-robert.htm
Brennan, Tom. 2001. Birdman of Alcatraz. Murder at 40 Below. Epicenter Press
Bovsun, Mara. 2019. Justice Story: How the “Birdman of Alcatraz” soared to fame. New York Daily News.
https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ny-birdman-of-alcatraz-20191110-o4bduk3cjzg43e5h2pxrojec4i-story.html
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Retirees Robert and Dagmar Linton eagerly embarked on a long-planned camping trip in the Pacific Northwest, and they promised their children they would be careful. The Lintons did not express concerns about their journey, but Dagmar made sure their wills and affairs were in order before they left home. Was she just cautious, or did she have a premonition something terrible would befall them? Her son and daughter would always wonder if their mother had concerns, and they would never know what exactly happened to their parents.
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Who brutally raped and murdered James and Anne Benolken in their Juneau apartment in 1982? Nearly four decades later, many questions remain unanswered.
Who is Michael P. Malone? Corrupt F.B.I. Agent’s Testimony Sent Innocent Man to Prison; Donald Eugene Gates was Convicted of Rape-Murder He Did Not Commit
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On Valentine’s Day 1983, two new, beautiful sister ships, the Americus and the Altair sank in the Bering Sea in calm water while on their way to the king crab grounds near the Pribilof Islands. Fourteen men lost their lives in the worst disaster in the history of U.S. commercial fishing. A massive investigation ensued to determine what happened to the boats and what could be done to make commercial fishing safer.
Those lost:
The Americus:
George Nations
Brent Boles
Larry Littlefield
Rich Awes
Victor Bass
Jeff Nations
Paul Northcutt
The Altair:
Ronald Beirnes
Jeff Martin
Lark Breckenridge
Troy Gudbranson
Randy Harvey
Brad Melvin
Tony Vienhage
Sources:
Much of my newsletter is based on the book Lost At Sea by Patrick Dillon. I’ve read this book three times, and I highly recommend it. Dillon extensively researched the losses of the Americus and Altair. He talked to fishermen, families of those lost, investigators, marine architects, and many other experts and observers. He tells a heart-felt and fact-filled story, not only about the “A” boats but about the commercial fishing industry and the politics of commercial fishing in the early 1980s. There’s so much more in his book than I’ve told you here, and if you’re like me, you won’t be able to put it down once you start reading it.
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The endless supply of larger-than-life characters in Alaska makes the state fertile ground for reality television shows and movies based on true stories. If you made a list of the strong, fascinating individuals in the history of this vast state, though, Joe Vogler would rank near the top. Picture a sharply dressed man, wearing a fedora, a bolo tie, and a plaid flannel shirt while he stands in front of a group of rowdy people and proclaims his controversial opinions in a booming voice.
Joe Vogler developed a large following of folks who agreed with his politics, but he also made many enemies. When he disappeared from his remote home, people wondered if an enemy had killed him, or if the murderer was someone who claimed to be his friend and colleague?
Sources
Brenan, Tom. Cold Crime. 2005. Epicenter Press. Death of a Maverick.
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When doing a podcast about murder and mystery in Alaska, it is difficult to avoid the subject of “The Alaska Triangle.” First named in 1972, the Alaska Triangle stretches from Anchorage in southcentral Alaska to Juneau in the southeast panhandle to Utkiagaviq (formerly Barrow) on Alaska’s northern coast. Since 1988, more than 16,000 people have vanished from this area, and every year, approximately four people go missing per every 1000 Alaska residents. This rate is twice the national average.
I was surprised when I first learned how many people disappear in Alaska, but I don’t need an underground pyramid or mysterious magnetic vortices to explain the statistics. I also don’t understand the need for a triangle since people disappear throughout the state, not just in the area outlined by a geometric figure’s hypothetical lines. I guess a triangle conjures up the aura of the Bermuda Triangle, though, and suggests the possibility of mysterious forces at play.
Honestly, I’ve always found the idea of an ominous Alaska Triangle laughable. Still, this year, I’ve received a flurry of questions about the Alaska Triangle, including queries from the producers of two television shows, wanting to know more about the mystical phenomenon. The popular U.S. show, The Blacklist, featured an episode on the Alaska Triangle, and I think it sparked a good deal of interest in the subject.
Many of the mysteries I’ve profiled on this podcast have taken place in the vast section of the state defined by the outline of the triangle. Most of the state’s population resides within this area, though, so it’s no surprise more people vanish there. Many disappearances and other mysteries in Alaska have never been solved. Planes vanish, boats disappear, UFO sightings baffle military officers, and in one instance, the population of an entire village fled their homes to escape a giant, hairy, manlike creature.
Let me tell you a few stories, and then I’ll explore the validity of the Alaska Triangle. My friend and fellow podcaster, Mary Ann Poll, who has the popular podcast Real Ghost Chatter, is better than I am at explaining the realm of the mystical, so I’ve invited her to help me describe one of the theories about the Alaska Triangle. Then, if you want to hear more stories about mysterious disappearances in Alaska, she has asked me to be a guest on her podcast, where I have one more incredible story of mystery for you.
Sources:
Liefer, Gregory P. 2011. Chapter Eleven: Without a Trace. Aviation Mysteries of the North. Publication Consultants. Anchorage, AK.
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We all know married couples who seem to thrive on discord. These are the people we avoid joining for dinner and the ones in whose presence we squirm as they argue, yell, and threaten. We wonder why they got married, and if they divorce, we’re certain no one else would want either one of them. Still, I’ve met couples who not only manage to survive their contentious relationships but enjoy sparring with their partners. Marriage is hard, but most of us try, at least for a while, to make a relationship work, and if it doesn’t work, we leave and go our separate ways. Jane and Scott Coville constantly fought, even before they moved to Alaska and married, but Jane did not divorce Scott; there was no need to sever ties with him because Scott conveniently disappeared. Did he grow disillusioned with Jane, marriage, and life in Alaska? Did Scott take off on his own for an adventure somewhere else, a place far away from his current responsibilities, or did something much more sinister happen to Scott Coville?
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On November 12th, 2015, Peter, the Island Air, mail-plane pilot, landed at Port William Wilderness Lodge on Shuyak Island. The lodge occupies an old cannery, and Peter found this stop memorable because instead of both of the lodge’s caretakers greeting him, as usual, only one caretaker, 44-year-old Steven Ridenour, met the plane. Peter wondered why the other caretaker, Steven McCaulley, 56, also did not arrive to help unload the freight. Since the tide was high, the plane could not pull up to the beach, and Ridenour had to ferry the mail to shore by boat. Without McCaulley there to assist, the job proved difficult and time-consuming. Peter also found it curious that Ridenour simply stacked the freight above the high-tide mark, grabbed his gear, and jumped on the plane for a ride back to Kodiak. Ridenour then flew to Anchorage where he lived.
On November 15th, Steven Ridenour called the manager of Port William Wilderness Lodge, told him he’d quit his job, and asked for his past four paychecks. On November 17th, Steven Ridenour’s brother, Don, called the lodge manager and said his brother sent him and other family members Facebook messages stating he killed his fellow caretaker, Steven McCaulley, in self-defense, and he needed money to leave the state. The manager contacted the Alaska State Troopers and requested a welfare check on McCaulley at the lodge.
SOURCES:
Christiansen, Scott. 3-17-2017. I killed a man on Shuyak who tried to kill me with a chainsaw. Kodiak Daily Mirror. Available at http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/news/article_533bfb52-0abc-11e7-bc83-97c66a534f34.html
Christiansen, Scott. 3-15-2017. Shuyak Island killing case goes to trial. Kodiak Daily Mirror. Available at http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/news/article_cc2b2096-0923-11e7-a7e6-7b4185115b1c.html
Christiansen Scott. 4-7-2017. Murder defendant’s phone messages point to heavy drinking. Kodiak Daily Mirror. Available at http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/news/article_2f0b2b10-1b3b-11e7-8882-af591c19cbde.html
Associated Press. 9-20-2018. Anchorage man sentenced to 62 years in murder of co-worker at lodge near Kodiak. Anchorage Daily News. Available at https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/crime-courts/2018/09/20/anchorage-man-sentenced-to-62-years-in-murder-of-co-worker-at-lodge-near-kodiak/
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Tazlina, Alaska, an unincorporated village located 187 miles (301 km) northeast of Anchorage, is nestled along the banks of the Copper River. In 1991, 241 people lived in Tazlina. Eleven-year-old Mandy Lemaire, her parents, and brothers had just moved to Tazlina from Anchorage a year earlier. Mandy’s parents felt Tazlina would be a safer place to raise their children and a place where their kids could learn to hunt and fish and enjoy the Alaska outdoors.
Soon after moving to Tazlina, Mandy made friends with Erin, a girl who lived three-quarters of a mile down the road. On August 22, 1991, with only a few days left before the beginning of the school year, the girls asked their parents if they could get together to play. Mandy invited Erin to her house, and with their parents’ permission, Mandy planned to walk halfway to Erin’s where the two girls would meet and then return to Mandy’s house. Mandy’s mother was reluctant to let her daughter walk by herself, not because she was worried about humans, but because they lived in the Alaska wilderness, and she was concerned Mandy might run into a bear or a moose. Mandy would not have to walk far, though, before meeting Erin, and Mandy’s mother watched her walk down the road. Mandy had long, blond hair and wore a pink jacket. Mandy’s mother knew Mandy would only be out of her sight for a short while before she rendezvoused with Erin.
A half-hour later, Erin arrived alone at the Lemaire house. She said she saw no sign of Mandy during her walk. She waited for Mandy for several minutes at the halfway point but then decided to walk the rest of the way to Mandy’s house on her own. Mandy’s parents, Valerie and Dave, were not immediately concerned and guessed the two girls had somehow missed each other. They followed the path Mandy would have taken along a neighborhood airstrip, but when they saw no sign of their daughter, they alerted others in the small village, and soon neighbors organized a community-wide search.
Sources
Brennan, Tom. 2005. A Young Girl is Missing. Cold Crime. Epicenter Press ISBN 9780974501444.
Fear Thy Neighbor. 1-14-2014. Ice Cold Killers. Season 2. Episode 2.
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It took a horrible murder for Alaska to revise its statutes for the criminally insane from some of the most lenient sentencing laws in the country to the strictest laws in the U.S. for the insanity defense.
On the night of May 3, 1982, one veteran Anchorage police officer was quoted as saying, “This has got to be one of the grisliest nights I’ve ever seen.” Within an hour, seven people lost their lives. Three died in the Black Bull bar in the Muldoon section of Anchorage, and the other four were shot in Russian Jack Springs Park in East Anchorage. At first, investigators wondered if the two crime scenes were connected, but they soon learned nothing linked the two horrific events.
Russian Jack Springs Park
Russsian Jack
Sources
Ice Cold Killers Season Two, Episode One: Blood Red Sun.
Brennan, Tom. 2001. By Reason of Insanity. Murder at 40 Below. Epicenter Press.
If you would like to 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 Become a Patron!
Bovsun, Mara. 2019. Justice Story: How the “Birdman of Alcatraz” soared to fame. New York Daily News.
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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.
