Fairbanks Murder | Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier

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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 49^th 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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