Tag Archives: True Crime

Murder on the banks of the Yukon

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When someone brutally murdered the postmistress of Ruby, Alaska, a small village on the Yukon River, the Alaska State Troopers believed they had a ‘locked-room” mystery on their hands. They suspected one of the villagers of killing Agnes Wright. After all, there are only two ways into and out of Ruby: either by boat on the Yukon River or by air travel on a small bush plane. Neither method of transportation is inconspicuous to or from a village where everyone knows everyone else, and a stranger’s presence warrants stares and whispers. Since the troopers heard no credible accounts of a stranger in town on the day of the murder, they began with the premise that one of the villagers committed the crime. But who in this small village hated Agnes Wright enough to beat her savagely and then shoot her?

Sources:

Historic Ruby

 1996 Postmaster. Behind the Badge. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Smithsonian U.S. Postal Museum. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/behind-the-badge-case-histories-assaults-and-murders/1996-postmaster

Murphy, Kim. 8-2-1996. Murder in a Town Full of Suspects. Los Angeles Times.                             https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-08-02-mn-30531-story.html

More Details Emerge in Killing of Postmaster. 7-19-1996. Daily Sitka Senitinel. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10310101/more-details-emerge-in-killing-of/

 

 

 

 

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NEW BOOK RELEASE

 

Watch the trailer to learn more about this non-fiction wildlife book.

 

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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.

 

 

 

 

The Search for Bethany

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Talkeetna, Alaska, is considered the gateway to Mt. Denali (McKinley), the highest mountain in North America. In the summer, tourists, including mountain climbers, hikers, flight-seers, and those who just want to view the majestic mountain, flock to Talkeetna. In the winter, though, the tourists leave, and the 800 residents who remain settle down to quiet lives, watching magnificent displays of the northern lights, playing in the deep snow, raising their children, and gathering for social events to help them forget the cold, dark winter. Talkeetna is a small town where nearly everyone knows everyone else, and when Bethany Correira disappeared, residents immediately responded to search for one of their own.

Billy and Linda Correira moved to Talkeetna in the 1970s. They built a log cabin near a pond and raised two sons and two daughters. Linda home-schooled her kids, taught them to be independent, and told them they could accomplish anything they wanted in life. Bethany, the second oldest child, was sweet and self-sufficient. Before she was twenty years old, Bethany had gone to Nepal as a Christian missionary, sailed in the South Pacific while working as a nanny for a doctor’s family, and worked in base camps with climbers at the base of Mt. Denali. She sewed patches on her favorite backpack from all the places she had traveled. Bethany was athletic, smart, beautiful, and knew how to take care of herself.

Bethany Correira
Glen Klinkhart

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike Lawson (center)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

Klinkhart, Glen. 2014. Finding Bethany. A True Crime Memoir. SecurusMedia.

James, David. 2014. ‘Finding Bethany’ details detective’s quest to solve horrific murder
https://www.adn.com/books/article/finding-bethany-details-detectives-quest-solve-horrific-murder/2014/07/20/

Mystery at Bootlegger’s Cove. Dateline. NBC.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/24831943/ns/dateline_nbc-crime_reports/t/mystery-bootleggers-cove/#.XwJv8ShKgeE

Johnson, Greg. 2-2008. Lawson draws 99 years. MatSu Valley Frontiersman.
https://www.frontiersman.com/news/lawson-draws-99-years/article_d21b98e0-cace-5983-aeea-f5eea9a06570.html

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Each month I will provide one or more of the following to club members.
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Become a Patron!

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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.

The Seductress

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As troopers investigated the death of Kent Leppink, they uncovered a complex web of lies, seduction, and betrayal, with Mechele Hughes at the center of it all. Mechele was only 23 years old when someone murdered Kent Leppink on a remote trail, but the beautiful young woman already had accumulated three fiancés who lavished her with furs, jewels, and money.

Mechele Hughes Linehan
Kent Leppink

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Carlin III
Great Alaskan Bush Co.

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

Brennan, Tom. 2015. Dead Man’s Dancer. Epicenter Press.
https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Mans-Dancer-Mechele-Linehan/dp/1935347160/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Dead+Man%27s+Dancer%2C+Tom+Brennan&qid=1591316098&s=books&sr=1-1

Death of Kent Leppink. Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Kent_Leppink

Mechele K. Linehan. Murderpedia.
https://murderpedia.org/female.L/l/linehan-mechele.htm

Former Olympia mom wins appeal in Alaska murder case.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/former-olympia-mom-wins-appeal-in-alaska-murder-case/

Love and Death in Alaska. 48 Hours. CBS News.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/48-hours-presents-love-and-death-in-alaska-leppink-murder/

Holland, Megan. 5-15-2010. Freed from prison, Linehan sets up a new life. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
http://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska_news/freed-from-prison-linehan-sets-up-a-new-life/article_50e3b67c-53e4-50cf-9255-9f115c89adaa.html

_____________________________________________________________________
Would you like to help 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

I am celebrating the grand opening of the Last Frontier Club until the end of June. The names of everyone who joins before then will be placed in a drawing to win Last Frontier Club merchandise, autographed copies of my books, handmade glass jewelry, and more.

Follow the link and join the club now!
Become a Patron!
___________________________________________________________________________
Subscribe to my free, monthly Murder and Mystery Newsletter.
Join me on:
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Twitter
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Visit my website at http://robinbarefield.com

______________________________________________________________________________

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.

The Newman Family Murders

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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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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 Murder of Sophie Sergie

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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/

Join me on:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Subscribe to Murder and Mystery Newsletter.
Visit my website at http://robinbarefield.com

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