Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier

When a small Alaska town loses one of its children, the entire community grieves, and when a monster brutally rapes, murders, and discards that child, the residents cry out for answers and justice. In Jessica Baggen’s case, the community of Sitka, Alaska, would not have those answers for twenty-four years. Sources Boots, Michelle T. 8-11-2020. “Suspect in 1996 cold-case murder of Sitka girl killed himself last week in Arkansas, troopers say.” Anchorage Daily News. Boots, Michelle T. 9-9-2020.

Are some people born evil? Sociopathic behavior often appears at a young age, but how do you differentiate a sociopathic youth from a teenager who is challenged with making good decisions? Should the justice system try a sixteen-year-old murderer as an adult or a child? What about a twelve-year-old who murders his mother and his brother? Can the juvenile system rehabilitate him before his mandatory release at age nineteen? Sources: Alaska News. “Minor in custody after Monday slayings of mother

At 2:00 p.m. on October 6, 2003, floatplane pilot Willy Fulton landed on Upper Kaflia Lake on the Katmai Coast of the Alaska Peninsula. It was a typical stormy October day, and Fulton had to fight the weather to reach the arranged pickup spot, where he would meet campers and bear enthusiasts Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard. Willy had been flying Treadwell back and forth from Kodiak to this area for several years, and he considered him a friend. When he taxied to the shore, he was surprised

In December 2013, after police arrested Miranda Barbour, 19, for the murder of Troy LaFerrara in Pennsylvania, Miranda told a news reporter she had murdered between 22 and 100 people. She said she killed a few in North Carolina, Texas, and California, but she claimed most of the murders occurred in her home state of Alaska. Her statement startled law enforcement officials across the country, but they soon began to question her declarations. Was her claim of serial murders real, a cry for attenti

The deadliest marine disaster on the west coast of North America occurred in Lynn Canal on October 24, 1918, but few people have ever heard of it. Approximately 345 people died when the SS Princess Sophia slid off Vanderbilt Reef and sank. Did the captain’s recklessness cause the disaster, and did his poor decision-making doom the passengers and crew of the Princess Sophia? Sources SS Princess Sophia Expedition. Available at: http://www.princesssophia.org/history Sullivan, Toby. 12/12/2018. Th

Many people dream of hunting in the Alaska wilderness, and for most, it is the adventure of a lifetime. However, a few unlucky hunters never return from their adventure. As I’ve said many times, Alaska is big, rugged, and beautiful but also dangerous, from raging rivers to high seas to rugged mountains and ice fields marred by deep crevasses. Moose, bears, and wolves all present risks, and the extreme cold in the winter can cause frostbite or hypothermia in a matter of minutes. Sources Baird,