Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier

Gary Zieger 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. During the period when serial killer Robert Hansen terrorized Anchorage and Southcentral Alaska, another brutal murderer roamed the same area. While Hansen selected and hunted his prey, Gary Zieger used women and men for his satisfaction and then simply discarded them. Zieger seemed unwilling or unable to control himself and was sure to self-destruct. When two hikers discovered the body of Celia Beth Van Zanten at McHugh Creek State Park south of Anchorage, they knew she had suffered a horrible death. Someone had gagged her and tied her hands behind her back with speaker wire; her body was naked below the waist. The pathologist later determined Beth had been raped and her chest slashed with a knife. She was still alive when she was either thrown or fell into a ravine. She apparently tried to climb out of the steep-walled crevice, but with her hands tied behind her back, she had no way to pull herself up the cliff, and she repeatedly fell until she froze to death in the frigid December weather. Investigators discovered tire tracks turning lazy circles in the parking lot of the campground, and they deduced Beth escaped her attacker, ran down the steep slope, and probably fell into the ravine. Her abductor circled the parking lot waiting for her to reappear, but when she never did, he finally left. Beth disappeared on December 23, 1971, while walking from her house to a local convenience store. What happened during her short walk down the street? Soon after the hikers discovered Beth Van Zanten’s body on Christmas day, 18-year-old Sandra Patterson, the daughter of an Alaska State Trooper, came forward to report her abduction on December 19th. Sandra worked as a prostitute to support her heroin addiction. She was working in the parking lot of the Nevada Club in Anchorage when a man pointed a gun at her and told her he would kill her if she didn’t do what he wanted. She described her attacker as a slender man in his mid-twenties wearing horn-rimmed glasses. The man drove Sandra to a motel on the Kenai Peninsula, nearly one-hundred miles south of Anchorage and raped her. On the drive back to Anchorage, he threatened to kill her if she reported him to the police. Sandra complied with his demands to remain silent until she heard about Beth Van Zanten’s murder, and then she knew she had to come forward and tell authorities about her abduction. Police asked Sandra to study a book of photos of known sex offenders to see if she could pick out the man who had kidnapped and raped her. She immediately identified her attacker as Robert Hansen. Hansen’s photo was in the book because he was awaiting trial for the attempted kidnapping of a young Anchorage woman. Hansen was initially charged with kidnapping and raping Sandra Patterson, but prosecutors considered Patterson an unreliable witness, and the charges were eventually dropped. Meanwhile, nothing tied Hansen to the murder and abduction of Beth Van Zanten, and to this day, authorities remain unsure whether Beth was murdered by Hansen, by someone she knew, or by another brutal killer named Gary Zieger. Sources: Brennan, Tom. 2005.  Alaska’s Billy The Kid Brennan, Cold Crime. Epicenter Press. Butcher Baker: Lonesome Death of Beth Van Zanten: The Killer is Killed by Lealand E. Hale Turnagain Currents: The Hired Gun by Mike Gordon ________________________________________________________________________ Subscribe to my Murder and Mystery Newsletter with links to all my podcast episodes. Just Released: Karluk Bones Join me on: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn 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.

  Main Coast Guard BaseKodiak, Alaska The double homicide I describe in this episode occurred on a secure Coast Guard base near the town of Kodiak, Alaska on Kodiak Island, approximately 60 miles from where I live. This murder happened toward the end of the most brutal winter anyone on Kodiak can remember, and when the police did not quickly apprehend the killer, tempers flared, and citizens carried firearms wherever they went. Our mail plane pilot, reporting the news to us on his weekly stop, compared the residents in town to a powder keg ready to blow. When it was all over, many in law enforcement and the judicial system praised the investigation, but at the time it seemed as if no one was doing anything to look for and apprehend the killer. On April 12th, 2012, meteorologists predicted the temperature on Kodiak would soar to 50 degrees, and if it did, the residents of the island would enjoy the warmest day since October. Spirits lifted in Kodiak with this promise of spring, but the upbeat moods didn’t last long. Around 8:30 that morning, rumors spread through town indicating someone had been murdered at the Coast Guard base. When the rumors became more specific, and the whispers suggested the shooting happened at the rigger shop, the families of the small crew of men who worked there waited in dread. Soon, those rumors were confirmed. Not only had one man been killed, but two men were dead. James Wells, left                   Sources: Two killed in shooting at Coast Guard communications station. Kodiak Daily Mirror, April 13, 2012. Coast Guard killer thought still at large. Kodiak Daily Mirror, April 16, 2012. Shooting investigators focus on Bell's Flats home. Kodiak Daily Mirror, April 18, 2012. FBI failing to reach Kodiak residents. Kodiak Daily Mirror, April 27, 2012. FBI asks Alaskans' help as it seeks Coast Guard murder weapon. Kodiak Daily Mirror, May 16, 2012. Kodiak man arrested for Coast Guard double murder. Kodiak Daily Mirror. February 15, 2013. Man arrested in 2012 Alaska Coast Guard base deaths https://komonews.com/news/nation-world/man-arrested-in-2012-alaska-coast-guard-base-deaths-11-21-2015 Coast Guard double murder trial to begin Monday. Kodiak Daily Mirror, March 28, 2014. Investigators testify in Coast Guard murder case. Kodiak Daily Mirror, April 11, 2014. Car expert testifies in Coast Guard double homicide. Kodiak Daily Mirror. April 16, 2014. Investigators testify in Kodiak double murder case https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/10/investigators-testify-in-kodiak-double-murder-case/ Kodiak quiet before verdict. Kodiak Daily Mirror, April 25, 2014. Wells guilty of murdering two at Coast Guard. Kodiak Daily Mirror. April 25, 2014. Update: Wells gets four consecutive life terms sentence. Kodiak Daily Mirror, July 8, 2014 Ninth Circuit Orders New Trial for Man Accused of Coast Guard Killings https://www.courthousenews.com/ninth-circuit-orders-new-trial-for-man-accused-of-coast-guard-killings/ FBI: Coast Guard murder suspect resented co-workers https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/19/coast-guard-murder-suspect-resented-co-workers/1931741/ Wells convicted, again, of Kodiak Coast Guard double murder https://www.alaskapublic.org/2019/10/08/wells-convicted-again-of-kodiak-coast-guard-double-murder/ Wells guilty of double murder http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/news/article_c40f8b96-eabb-11e9-aefb-5fe63cfb932e.html ____________________________________________________ Subscribe to my Murder and Mystery Newsletter with links to all my podcast episodes. _____________________________________________________ Just Released: Karluk Bones Join me on: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn 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.    

Paul Stavenjord People move to the Alaska wilderness either because they enjoy solitude and crave a subsistence lifestyle or because they wish to escape society. People who fall into this second category are either misfits who don’t know how or don’t want to blend in with others, or they are criminals, seeking to escape arrest and hoping to disappear into the vast wilderness. Many of my episodes have dealt with individuals who ran to Alaska from a life of crime elsewhere. They might have hoped to turn their lives around but instead, most brought their problems and psychopathic tendencies with them. Until Memorial Day weekend in 1997, Paul Stavenjord seemed to have succeeded at escaping his criminal past, but then something in him snapped, leaving two people dead and forever altering the course of Stavenjord’s life. Sources: Ice Cold Killers. Season 1, Episode 3. Mountain Man Brennan, Tom. 2003. The Bank Robber Next Door. Murder at 40 Below. Epicenter Press Stavenjord V. State: Available at: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ak-court-of-appeals/1436854.html Convicted murderer's appeal denied. Available at: https://www.frontiersman.com/news/convicted-murderer-s-appeal-denied/article_036c56da-e079-5f2d-b30f-692794ae1d34.html ______________________________________________________________________ Subscribe to Murder and Mystery Newsletter with links to all my podcast episodes. _____________________________________________________ Just Released: Karluk Bones Join me on: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn 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.  

Trooper Gabe Rich and Sgt. Scott Johnson 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 1st, 2014. Other than federal officers, the Alaska State Troopers are the most geographically extended peace officers in the country, and they have little if any backup. The state of Alaska is 1/5th the area of the entire lower 48, and only 1300 troopers patrol this area. Cities and larger towns have local police officers, but they only patrol within the city limits. Those 1300 troopers patrol most of the rest of the state. Many Alaska Native villages are too small to have a trooper post, so they hire a Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO). The Alaska State Troopers manage the VPSO program, and VPSOs are state-trained peace officers hired to carry out basic police tasks in the villages. The VPSO maintains close contact with the troopers, and if a situation escalates, he or she will call the nearest trooper post and request assistance. Troopers then fly to the village and take command of the situation. When the troopers arrive in a remote village, they are uncertain of what to expect and know backup is at least one and possibly several hours away from them. They have difficult jobs, and as this story will show, the job of a trooper can be extremely dangerous. Arvin Kangas Nathanial Kangas Sources: Arvin Kangas sentenced in case related to Alaska State Trooper killings. Available at: http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/arvin-kangas-sentenced-in-case-related-to-alaska-state-troopers/article_3e239ce2-52a4-11e5-8ffc-8fe41e0bebe8.html Kangas found guilty of evidence tampering in Alaska State Trooper deaths. Available at: http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/kangas-found-guilty-of-evidence-tampering-in-alaska-state-trooper/article_7ba83be0-e9f9-11e4-9abf-bf2f6471558d.html Courtroom tenses as Nathanial Kangas murder trial gets underway. Available at: http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/courtroom-tense-as-nathanial-kangas-murder-trial-gets-underway/article_fffdbe58-1629-11e6-ad25-1b984e65b3c5.html Pilot describes scene in Tanana minutes after troopers killed. Available at: http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/pilot-describes-scene-in-tanana-minutes-after-troopers-killed/article_ea505d94-170b-11e6-8ac3-9bbc373de2ef.html Man convicted in Tanana trooper killings sentenced to 203 years in prison Available at: https://www.alaskapublic.org/2016/11/03/man-convicted-in-tanana-trooper-killings-sentenced-to-203-years-in-prison/ Subscribe to Murder and Mystery Newsletter with links to all my podcast episodes. Just Released: Karluk Bones Join me on: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn 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.

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. Every year, small plane crashes make the news in Alaska, and sadly, I have known too many pilots who have been injured or killed in crashes. Pilots know their jobs can be dangerous, and commercial pilots are sometimes pressured by their passengers or bosses to fly in marginal weather conditions. The weather might be beautiful in the morning when the pilot leaves base, but he knows conditions can change quickly and weather patterns often vary from one mountain pass to the next. 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? I imagine when pilot Robert Feather headed to work at JayHawk Air on the morning of May 15th, 1993, he did not consider he might be murdered by one of his passengers. Maybe he worried about weather conditions or perhaps he was concerned about a strange noise he heard in the plane’s engine the previous day, but murder would not have crossed his mind. Later that afternoon, when a passenger fired a single shot at him, Robert Feather did not have time to think about anything. Within seconds, bullet fragments hit him in the head and killed him. Sources: ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION FOR CROSS SUMMARY JUDGMENT. Available at: https://www.acluak.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/duryea_v._alaska_decision.pdf Duryea v. State November 17, 1999, WILLIAM E. DURYEA, APPELLANT, v. STATE OF ALASKA, APPELLEE. Available at: http://ak.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.19991117_0042378.AK.htm/qx _______________________________________________________________________________ Subscribe to Murder and Mystery Newsletter with links to all my podcast episodes. Just Released: Karluk Bones Join me on: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn 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.

Michael Silka Manley Hot Springs, located 160 miles west of Fairbanks, marks the end of the road, where civilization meets wilderness, and the boat landing in Manley Hot Springs offers the last portage for fishermen, trappers, and wanderers to launch their boats and travel further up the icy Tanana River. Because the road ends in Manley, residents admit they see their share of drifters and people trying to escape from somewhere or something. When Michael Silka arrived in Manley on Monday, May 13, 1984, folks accepted him as another straggler searching for a new life. They should have been terrified. Michael Silka was about to forever change sleepy Manley Hot Springs. Sources: Ice Cold Killers: Season 1, Episode 5: Frozen Carnage Tactical Life. Michael Alan Silka and the Firefight at Manley. Available at: https://www.tactical-life.com/lifestyle/military-and-police/firefight-at-manley/  Michael Silka -Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Silka Michael Alan Silka Murderpedia: https://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/silka-michael.htm Murder at 40 Below: Manley Hot Springs Murders ___________________________________________________________________ Subscribe to Murder and Mystery Newsletter with links to all my podcast episodes. Just Released: Karluk Bones Join me on: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn 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.