Brehmer then enlisted the help of four friends, including 19-year-old Caleb Leyland, 16-year-old Kayden McIntosh and two other unnamed juveniles, to plan and carry out the murder at Schilmillers direction, according to the documents. McIntosh, who is being tried as an adult in the case, was the gunman, prosecutors say. According to court papers, the group went off trail and followed a path to the bank of the Eklutna River, where Hoffman was bound, shot and thrown into the river. More than three dozenimages and 12 videos were stored on the card, according to the charging documents. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Detectives recognized Brian Steven Smith from the graphic videos because Smith is involved in a separate ongoing investigation, said Anchorage Police Department spokesman MJ Thim. An update released by Anchorage Police four months later stated they had taken a then 21-year-old named Orion Lind into custody but no charges were brought over Brandon's murder. Just two years ago, in 2014, Anchorage ended the year with 13 homicides on the books the lowest in two decades. "What we're seeing is that when we ask the community for assistance, they really respond to us," he said. Suzi Pearson, executive director for the Abused Womens Aid in Crisis shelter in Anchorage, said the decision to split up or leave a relationship can be a particularly dangerous time in the life of a woman experiencing domestic violence. Copyright 2021 KTUU. An Alaska resident found a stray SD card lying on the street in late September and discovered gruesome content inside: images and video of a woman appearing to be assaulted and murdered. Police and a crime scene investigation unit spent much of Tuesday afternoon and evening at the home where Smith lived with his wife, hauling away a black pickup, neighbors said. In February 2017, 37-year-old Brandy Sullivan, an Alaska Airlines customer-service agent who lived in an upscale Anchorage suburb, was allegedly shot and killed by her estranged husband.. In 2007, she had been severely injured when her fiance's son,Christopher Erin Rodgers, attacked the couple with a machete at their Palmer home. Among those charged is Darin Schilmiller, whom authorities say presented himself as the millionaire Tyler from Kansas, using a fake photograph. Such delays typically benefit defendants and make it harder for prosecutors to secure convictions, said Alaska Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen). What science tells us about the afterlife. Police recognized the man in the videos as Brian Smith, an immigrant from South Africa police knew of from a previous investigation," according to the affidavit. They are unwilling to share details of crimes in which charges have not been filed. Cellphone records trace Smith to having been at the place where the remains were found within minutes of when the last photo on the SD card was taken, police documents outline. A man accused of killing a woman and recording it on an SD card later found in the street has been indicted in the murder of a second woman in Alaska, authorities announced Thursday. He moved back to Alaska in the spring of 2016. This years Iditarod field is the smallest in history. Nearly a week prior, on Sept. 30, someone called Anchorage Policeclaiming to have "an SD card containing a video of a homicide," according to a press release from authorities. Contact her at mtheriault@adn.com. People were shot to death at a gas station, in a beloved park in the heart of the city, on a scenic beach where people go to look at the mountains. A memorial for James Lucas Moren in an alley behind the Gaslight Bar on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016. The victim was also wearing several pieces of jewelry, including an apparently handmade metal bracelet containing three turquoise stones,[2][8] a copper necklace containing shell beads, a pendant heart, a Timex metal wristwatch consisting of circular links and with a brown watch face, a ring carved from shell jewelry, and gold-plated, twisted metal hoop earrings. Police are careful not to blame victims of violent crimes. When a composite sketch of the man suspected in the death of TreyveonThompson was released, more than 190 people called in tips, McKinnon said. More than a few cases seem to trace back to a personal slight or insult that escalated into violence, said Lt. John McKinnon, head of APD's homicide unit. Press Release - Anchorage Man Sentenced to Ninty-Nine Years - Alaska The final images on the card show the womans body face down in the bed of a pickup, and were time-stamped Sept. 6. Her fiance was killed. Nancy Furlow . [9][12] She stood between 4 ft 11 in and 5 ft 3 in, and her hair color ranged from light brown to strawberry-blond. Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore dies at 61, Alex Murdaugh's legal troubles are far from over, 'The nurses wanted me to feel guilty about my abortion, From Afghan TV fame to a US factory floor. Alaska Public Media 2022. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Anchorage Police Department personnelwere investigating a fatal shooting near 15th Avenue and E Street early Sept. 13, 2016. or redistributed. If you are considering suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or Stop Suicide Alaska at 1-877-266-HELP. Throughout 2016, Ritchie murdered upwards of five individuals in and around Anchorage, Alaska, most of whom were in parks or along bike paths. The death on Tuesday night triggered a lockdown of the 3,400-passenger ship. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? Anchorage police say they've arrested a man for the murder of a woman whose body had been dumped a week ago on the Seward Highway south of Anchorage. For many, it was the year the city's violence hit home,even if they didn't personally know any of the victims. has been charged with first- and second-degree murder, and was taken to Anchorage Jail. On Wednesday,. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Even after that request was granted, Steiner said at a legislative budget hearing in March that he needed at least nine more lawyers, on top of an existing staff of roughly 75 criminal attorneys, to fulfill the agencys constitutional obligations. That puts APD at a more than 90 percent "clearance" rate for homicide cases. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. He also allegedly told authorities that he and Brehmer discussed killing another person, but the plan was abandoned, and he admitted to blackmailing Brehmer into raping people. Passengers told CBS News that a "murder mystery" theme dinner had been taking place when the incident occurred, and several passengers first confused the crime for a hoax. she said. 28, 2020 at 10:10 AM PDT. But detectives had gotten video of the homicide days prior to finding the victims body, police said. This years Iditarod field is the smallest in history. Then, on Wednesday, Oct. 2, the womans body was found along Turnagain Arm, near the Rainbow trailhead. Ritchie, the 40-year-oldkilled in a downtown shootout with policeafter he wounded an officer in an encounter early Nov. 12, is the prime suspect in the deaths of five people in 2016, APD said. There wasSelena Mullenax, a young mother studying for her GEDfound shotin a public park on a winter morning. I was the only one there, I did that, I killed her, he told investigators, according to the charges. Of the34 homicides in 2016, all but three are considered solved, with police identifying at least a main suspect, according to Sgt. Judge: case of slain Mountain Village woman shows how Alaska's justice Alaska Public Media 2022. According to court documents, Denali Brehmer, 18, confessed to killing Cynthia Hoffman on June 2 at the . 2023 BBC. For all the good the internet can do, it can be a very dark place, Bryan Schroder, the U.S. attorney in Alaska, said at a news conference Tuesday. Hoffman, 19, died from a gunshot wound to the. The department is also trying to directly ask the public for help more often. (Erik Hill / Alaska Dispatch News). An autopsy report concluded that she had been killed by a single stab wound to the back. "She championed any child. Denali Brehmer, 22, pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree murder in the June 2019 death of Cynthia Hoffman, the Alaska Department of Law said. MacDonald serves as the presiding judge for the Fairbanks-based Fourth Judicial District. All but one of the victims in those cases were female. (Loren Holmes / Alaska Dispatch News). Two days later, both Brehmer and McIntosh were interviewed. Police detectivesdon't attribute 2016's increase in homicides to any one cause. Police do not believe Ritchie was involved with any otherunsolved slayingsin 2016. ANCHORAGE, Alaska A woman pleaded guilty to murder after an Indiana man allegedly offered her $9 million to "rape and murder someone in Alaska." According to the Alaska Department of Law, 22-year-old Denali Brehmer admitting to killing 19-year-old Cynthia Hoffman on June 29, 2019, near Thunderbird Falls in Chugiak, Alaska. According to Hansen, Eklutna Annie had been wearing blue jeans, a sweater, and a brown leather jacket. The next year,that number nearly doubled, to 25. Brehmer ultimately admitted to being solicited by Schilmiller to commit the murder and that the murder was planned once she realized she had been catfished by Schilmiller, the documents say. In response, he chased after her, grabbed her by the hair and tripped her to the ground. Judges appoint public defenders for defendants who cant afford to hire their own lawyers. McIntosh was arrested, but Brehmer denied any involvement in the death. Moody, the Alaska Public Defender Agency supervisor, said there are currently 11 vacant attorney positions out of 98 statewide. Zaz Hollander is a veteran journalist based in the Mat-Su and is currently an ADN local news editor and reporter. Human remains found along Seward Highway near Rainbow trailhead. The memory card found along road shows an Anchorage man assaulting and killing woman. Last Monday, Sept. 30, a woman called police dispatch to report that shed found an SD card containing a video of a homicide on the ground, police said. Alaska man accused of strangling captured on digital memory card APDsays when Moren left the Gaslight Lounge later that night,he was followedby Roy Schauer, 46. You're going to kill me!" Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. She has not been identified. (The motion argued that the judge misunderstood the limits on public defenders, who do not choose which charges are filed.). It's unclear who the woman is, but authorities are working to identify her and determine how she died. A millionaire widower and her teenaged daughter take a fivestar cruise together. Marcy keeps running over the questions in her mind: Why is this happening in Anchorage? According to the affidavit, Doubek, who had reportedly struggled with substance abuse, had been growing increasingly paranoid that his wife was having an affair, and because of his behavior, Gardner had considered divorcing him. He was sentenced to 498 years in prison for the murder spree. Videos and photos show brutal attack of woman in Anchorage hotel room "Is it a greater population? Federal authorities allege Brehmer produced sexually explicit videos involving a minor and sent them to Schilmiller. Or are people just angrier?" Smith came to Alaska from South Africa about five years ago and became a naturalized U.S. citizen last month, according to the bail memo. The race is on: What to know about the 2023 Iditarod, No injuries in downtown Anchorage commercial building collapse. Police say the majority of the deaths fall into the same tragic but predictable circumstances that thread through homicides every year: domestic violence, personal disputes escalated by a weapon, robberies gone bad. All rights reserved. But I feel that in the air.". Smith originally pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, sexual assault and tampering in the death of his first victim, 30-year-old Kathleen Henry, before admitting to the crime. State prosecutors say Darin Lee Jones, 54, and Shawn Michael Phillips, 52, killed Patricia Phelps, 48, in Anchorage's Spenard neighborhood in 2017. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

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