Tag Archives: Murder and Mystery in Alaska

FTA: Serial Killer Israel Keyes

September 11, 2024EpisodeAlaska Podcast, Alaska Serial Killer, Alaska True Crme, FBI, Israel Keyes, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Murder Podcast, Robin Barefield, Serial Killer ISrael Keyes, True Crime Podcastmurder-in-the-last-frontier

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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 blow-by-blow

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.

Sources:

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

“FBI requests the public’s assistance in case of serial killer Israel
Keyes.” August 13, 2013. FBI.

“Seeking information regarding serial killer case.” FBI.

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Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.

Robin invites you to join her at her website: https://robinbarefield.com, and while you are there, sign up for her free monthly newsletter about true crime in Alaska. Robin also narrates a podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. You can find it at: https://murder-in-the-last-frontier.blubrry.net

Subscribe to Robin’s free, monthly Murder and Mystery Newsletter for more stories about true crime and mystery from Alaska.
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Visit her website at http://robinbarefield.com
Check out her books at Author Masterminds

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Behind-the-scenes glimpses of life and wildlife in the Kodiak wilderness.
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Klutuk: A Hunter of Humans

July 31, 2024EpisodeAlaska History, Alaska Myths, Alaska Podcast, Alaska True Crime, Klutuk, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier, Murder Podcast, Mystery Podcast, Robin Barefield, Western Alaskamurder-in-the-last-frontier

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Klutuk is Alaska’s version of the boogeyman – a terrifying character you tell stories about around the campfire. He is a man shrouded in mystery and myth. What was his actual name? Was he tall or short? How many men did he kill? Did he possess mystical powers? How did he die? One hundred years after he terrorized western Alaska, it is impossible to separate truth from fiction.

Sources

Dihle, Bjorn. “Klutuk, the mad trapper of Bristol Bay.” June 6, 2020. Outdoorlife.com.

Heaton, John. “Klutuk: ‘The Man from the Mountain.’” 2015. Guilford, CT. TwoDot.

Hunt, William R. Chapter 18: “Native Legends.” 1987. Norman, OK. University of Oklahoma Press.

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Robin Barefield is the author of five Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, and Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge. She has also written two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Sign up to subscribe to her free monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

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FTA: What Happened to the Fandel Children?

July 17, 2024EpisodeAlaska Podcast, Amy Fandel, Child Abduction, Fandel Children, Missing Children, Missing Children In Alaska, Missing Podcast, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier, Murder Podcast, Robin Barefield, Scott Fandel, Sex Slavery, Sterling Alaska, True Crime, True Crime in Alaskamurder-in-the-last-frontier

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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?

Sometime during the late-night hours of Sept. 5 or the early morning hours of Sept. 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?

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A Deadly Cruise

July 3, 2024EpisodeAlaska Cruise, Alaska Podcast, Cruises, Manzanares, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier, Murder on a cruise ship, Murder Podcast, Robin Barefieldmurder-in-the-last-frontier

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If you want to murder someone, consider inviting them on a cruise. With little law enforcement oversight and a fear of negative publicity, cruise ship officials often prefer to look the other way and ignore unpleasantness on one of their vessels. Cruise ship officers have even been accused of covering up murder scenes or pretending missing passengers never existed.

Cruise ships play an essential role in the tourism industry in Alaska. Cruise ships boost the economy of a handful of port towns in the state, and overland excursion packages tied to the cruise lines provide money to many interior regions of Alaska. While cruise ships are not the best way to visit the state’s wild, remote regions, they offer a comfortable, easy way to get a feel for the 49^th state. Many people think cruise ships provide a much safer way to travel, but do they?

When Kenneth and Kristy Manzanares decided to celebrate their eighteenth wedding anniversary with a family cruise to Alaska, they probably looked forward to a relaxing week with their daughters and other family members. Instead, the trip ended in a bloody murder, and by the time the ordeal was over, their daughters had lost both of their parents.

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FTA: The F/V Investor Murders

May 22, 2024EpisodeAlaska Podcast, Alaska True Crime, Cold Crime, Commercial Fishing in Alaska, Craig Alaska, Investor, John Kenneth Peel, Mark Coulthurst, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Murder Podcast, Mystery Podcast, Robin Barefield, True Crimemurder-in-the-last-frontier

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What happened on a foggy September day in 1982 in the small fishing village of Craig, Alaska? Many believe they know who killed the crew and passengers of the Investor, but only the killer knows why the massacre occurred.

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Greed, Betrayal, and the Murder of Doctor Eric Garcia

May 8, 2024EpisodeAlaska True Crime, Dr. Eric Garcia, Jordan Joplin, Ketchikan, Ketchikan Murder, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Murder Podcast, Robin Barefield, Trrue Crime Podcast, True Crimemurder-in-the-last-frontier

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By all accounts, Doctor Eric Garcia truly cared for Jordan Joplin, but Joplin considered his relationship with the doctor as a means to an end; or as the

prosecutor put it, Garcia believed he was in a romantic relationship with Joplin, but Joplin considered it transactional. Garcia had money and objects of value, and Joplin wanted it all for himself.

Sources

“Anchorage jury finds Jordan Joplin guilty of murder in Dr. Eric Garcia case.” June 2, 2023. Ketchikan Daily News.

Cole, Shannon. “WA man sentenced to 99 years for murder of Ketchikan doctor.” April 9, 2024. KTUU.

Gremore, Graham. “Sean Cody star Jordan Joplin charged with murdering wealthy Alaskan surgeon.” February 6, 2018. Queerty.

“Ketchikan doctor’s death, home thefts investigated.” April 3, 2017. Anchorage Daily News.

“Washington man held in Ketchikan murder.” July 24, 2017. Anchorage Daily News.

Williams, Tess. “Jury convicts Washington man of murder in 2017 killing of Southeast Alaska surgeon – An Anchorage jury on Thursday found Jordan Joplin guilty on charges of first-and second-degree murder in the death of Dr. Eric Garcia.” June 1, 2023. Anchorage Daily News.

Williams, Tess. “Trial begins for Washington man accused of killing Southeast Alaska surgeon – Prosecutors said Jordan Joplin killed Dr. Eric Garcia and stole hid money and belongings. Defense attorneys said Garcia used morphine to relieve pain and anxiety and the drug killed him.” May 8, 2023. Anchorage Daily News.

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The Bizarre Murder of a Bush Plane Pilot

March 27, 2024EpisodeAlaska Podcast, Alaska True Crime, Floatplane, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Murder Podcast, Mystery Podcast, Robert Feather, Robin Barefield, True Crime, William Duryeamurder-in-the-last-frontier

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Anchorage, Alaska, is the small plane capital of the world, and flying in Alaska is a thrilling experience where you can view spectacular scenery and reach remote lakes, rivers, and stretches of wilderness that are inaccessible by road. For the commercial pilots who fly these small planes, though, the job can be stressful at times, and they must depend on their skills and common sense. Commercial pilots in Alaska have a tough job, but near the bottom of a pilot’s list of concerns is the fear he will be murdered on the job. After all, who would want to kill his pilot?

Sources:

“Duryea v. State.” Court of Appeals No. A-6964. Court of Appeals of Alaska. Any Law.

Rinehart, Steve. “Sniper fire kills pilot man who called plane in custody.” May 18, 1983. Anchorage Daily News.

Sullivan, Patty. “Judge sentences killer to 50 years.” January 14, 1998. Anchorage Daily News.

“William Duryea v. State of Alaska, Department of Corrections, and Joseph Schmidt, Commissioner of the Department of Corrections.” July 16, 2012. THE SUPERIOR COURT FOR THE STATE OF ALASKA THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT AT PALMER.

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The Disappearance of British Spy Ian Mackintosh

March 13, 2024EpisodeAlaska Podcast, British Spy, Cold War, Espionage, Ian Mackintosh, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Murder Podcast, Mystery Podcast, Robin Barefieldmurder-in-the-last-frontier

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On the evening of July 7^th, 1979, a plane disappeared near Kodiak Island in fair weather and moderate seas. News agencies in Alaska reported little about the missing plane and its occupants. Although reports of the apparent fatal crash made more of a splash in Great Britain, official sources offered no comment about the loss of a man who had done so much to protect Britain against the USSR during the Cold War. Even now, the disappearance of Ian Mackintosh is cloaked in secrecy, and many wonder if he died in the plane crash or if the accident was a cover story, allowing Mackintosh to disappear. The 2012 book, The Life and Mysterious Death of Ian Mackintosh by Robert G. Folsom explores everything the author could uncover about a brilliant man’s secret life and mysterious disappearance.

Sources

Folsom, Robert G. The Life and Mysterious Death of Ian Mackintosh.2012. Washington, D.C. Potomac Books, Inc.

Mackintosh, Lawrie. “My brother, Ian Mackintosh.” OpsRoom.Org.

MacLeod, Calum. “Did spy writer’s disappearance mirror his fiction?” January 3, 2013. John O’Groat Journal and Caithness Courier.

Ian Mackintosh. Check-Six.Com.

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FTA: The Tanana Tragedy

February 28, 2024EpisodeAlaska Podcast, Alaska State Troopers, Alaska True Crime, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Murder Podcast, Mystery Podcast, Robin Barefield, Trooper Murders, True Crime, True Crime Podcastmurder-in-the-last-frontier

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You might be familiar with the recent National Geographic documentary series, Alaska State Troopers. The show followed several troopers from different areas of the state as they made their daily rounds. Two of the troopers featured on the show were Sergeant Patrick “Scott” Johnson and Gabriel “Gabe” Rich. Both men worked out of the Alaska State Troopers’ Fairbanks Rural Service Unit. A camera crew was not with the men on the fateful day of May 1^st, 2014.

Sources

Chomicz, Dorothy. “Kangas found guilty of evidence tampering in Alaska State Trooper deaths.” April 23, 2015. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Chomicz, Dorothy. Arvin Kangas sentenced in case related to Alaska StateTrooper killings.” September 3, 2015. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Chomicz, Dorothy. “Courtroom tenses as Nathanial Kangas murder trial gets underway.” May 9, 2016. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Chomicz, Dorothy. “Pilot describes scene in Tanana minutes after troopers killed.” May 10, 2016. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Edge, Josh. “Man convicted in Tanana trooper killings sentenced to 203 years in prison.” November 3, 2016. Alaska Public Media.

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FTA: Serial Murderer Gary Zieger

January 31, 2024EpisodeAlaska Podcast, Alaska True Crime, Beth van Zanten, Gary Zieger, Murder and Mystery in Alaska, Murder Podcast, Mystery Podcast, Robin Barefield, Serial Killer, Serial Killer Podcast, True Crime, True Crime Podcastmurder-in-the-last-frontier

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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.

Sources

Brennan, Tom. Cold Crime. Chapter 8: “Alaska’s Billy the Kid.” 2005. Kenmore, WA: Epicenter Press.

Gordon, Mike. “The hired gun.” March 26, 2014. Turnagain Currents.

Hale, Leland. “The lonesome death of Beth van Zanten: The killer is killed.” October 17, 2018. Butcher Baker.

Hale, Leland. “Lonesome death of Beth van Zanten: Whodunnit.” October 18, 2018. Butcher Baker.

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