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Alaska is a dangerous place; many things can kill you here. Vicious predators, extreme temperatures, treacherous terrain, raging rivers, violent storms, and the churning ocean describe a few of the challenges facing humans in the 49th state. Wilderness dangers did not worry Shirley Koonz, though. She’d spent most of her adult life in the Alaska wilderness, and along with her husband, she’d raised her six kids on a one-hundred-and-sixty-acre homestead. Shirley knew how to survive in the Alaska wilderness, but when circumstances forced her to move to Fairbanks, Shirley lost her footing. She didn’t fear wild animals, but she was wary of humans, and unfortunately, her instincts proved correct. Not long after moving into her double-wide trailer on the edge of Fairbanks, a monster entered her home and stabbed her 26 times.
Sources
Homicide probers seek clues in stabbing death. 6-14-1988. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
Stabbing death stymies investigators. 6-24-1988. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
Capps, Kris. 7-1-1988. Jury indicts man in death of Koonz. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Marcy to stand trial in Koonz murder case.7-2-1988. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
Gale, Lin. 7-7-1988. Neighbor linked to Koonz murder. The Pioneer. All-Alaska Weekly.
Capps, Kris. 11-29-1988. State describes its case in Koonz murder trial. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
Capps, Kris. 11-30-1988. Evidence in Marcy trial aired. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
Capps, Kris. 12-1-1988. Marcy on tape, tells of knifing victim once. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
Capps, Kris. 12-2-1988. Marcy offers no defense nor are witnesses called. Fairbanks Daily News Miner.
Capps, Kris. 12-3-1988. Jury convicts Marcy of murdering Koonz. Fairbanks Daily News Miner.
Farneski, Anna. 2-1-1989. Marcy gets 139 years for murder. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
Marcy gets life for murder. 2-2-1989. The Pioneer. All Alaska Weekly.
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Robin Barefield is the author of four Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, and Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge. Sign up to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.
For an exciting experience, watch short videos from some of my fellow Author Mastermind authors. Two of the videos are mine!
Gog and Magog https://youtu.be/bvpfYW85MtA
Gorgon https://youtu.be/PT_h8Ojs8jw
Heart of Abigail https://youtu.be/SoDk94zvVFE
Impossible Crime Series https://youtu.be/cCULH4WMyYA
Ingress https://youtu.be/Wi9ar5yQnq8
Jimmy the Goat https://youtu.be/9LNiSUwiv0E
Karluk Bones https://youtu.be/gV7h1tgxUhY
Kashmir https://youtu.be/lc8ZKvdMwgo
Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge https://youtu.be/gUYxSndRxrk
My Wonderful Life With Diabetes https://youtu.be/tVI4y9WrTtI
One Last Cast https://youtu.be/2wzwWmim-2g
Oracle of Light https://youtu.be/P0COZN923Lo








e by Alaska Native women. The Nome Police Department had a serious problem, and it took the murder of a beautiful, 19-year-old woman to expose the ugly truth.





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