Episodes

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, ...

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...

Eunice Whitman and her boyfriend, Justine Paul, argued on a busy foot path crisscrossing the tundra in Bethel, Alaska. A few hours later, four teenagers stumbled upon Eunice’s naked body stretched out on the ground. Someone had stabbed her multiple times and slashed her throat. Then, they’d folded her clothes and left them a short distance from her body. The police quickly arrested Justine Paul for Eunice’s murder. When they found a backpack full of bloody clothes in his home, and footprints in ...

Superstitions swirl around boats, and some captains believe bizarre myths. Renaming a vessel remains foremost among the maritime harbingers of bad luck, and if you dare change the name of your boat, you must follow a strict protocol to avoid certain doom. The Clara Nevada did not even complete her maiden voyage under her new name. Is this boat the case study to prove the truth of the old mariner’s superstition, or did her captain plot her demise? On February 5, 1898, the SS Clara Nevada departe...

Alaska is a land brimming with natural resources, including gold, silver, copper, coal, oil, salmon, and crab. Still, too often, outsiders have plundered these resources, enriching themselves and leaving Alaska and Alaskans with little to show for it. Alaska has had a “boom and bust” economy since the early 1900s, and no place exemplifies this economy better than Valdez. The aggressive Alaska Syndicate was formed in 1906 with backing from J.P. Morgan and the Guggenheim family, and its initial g...

Would you recognize a serial killer if you rubbed elbows with him in a bar or if he struck up a conversation with you on a hiking trail? Maybe something about the person would set off alarm bells, especially if you found yourself alone with him. A sociopath or a psychopath can often present a charming demeanor, though, so most of us would never notice the predator in our midst. We might not realize the friendly stranger is a brutal murderer until we read the news the next day. Sources: “Fauten...

I am always intrigued by people who can’t seem to color inside the lines. Most of us are law-abiding citizens. We might get a traffic ticket occasionally or march in protest against a law or action we think is wrong, but we usually play by the rules. Then there are those who skirt the law at every opportunity. The worst of these are sociopaths, and I’ve written about several who were serial killers. John Martin III committed at least one despicable crime, but most of the time, he just seemed to ...

Alcatraz prison in California, built on a small, rocky island in the Bay of San Francisco, operated from the time of the US Civil War in the 1860s until it was closed in 1963. The island’s remote location made it the perfect site for a prison, but this location also made it expensive to maintain, and the cost of maintenance finally led to its closure. During the years it operated, Alcatraz housed many infamous prisoners including Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly, but the one prisoner whose nickna...

I’ve shared the statistics many times. Alaska repeatedly ranks as one of the most dangerous states in the U.S. for women. This statistic has been accurate since agencies began keeping records, and it was likely true long before anyone started tracking such information. Historically, spousal abuse was often overlooked and considered a private matter between a husband and his wife. However, even in Alaska in the 1950s, surely the authorities and the courts would have arrested, tried, and put a hus...

Retirees Robert and Dagmar Linton eagerly embarked on a long-planned camping trip in the Pacific Northwest, and they promised their children they would be careful. The Lintons did not express any concerns about their journey, but Dagmar ensured their wills and affairs were in order before they left home. Was she just cautious, or did she have a premonition that something terrible would befall them? Her son and daughter would always wonder whether their mother had concerns, and they would never k...

Considering Alaska’s violent past as a frontier territory, it’s not surprising to find restless spirits roaming the state. Sources “Alaska.” N.d. The Paranormal World Database. Cobb, Deborah. “The tale of Fannie and the Van Gilder Hotel in Alaska.” December 6, 2022. Ghostlandia.media. DeMarban, Alex. “Feels like teen spirit and other phantoms in UAA’s Wendy Williamson Auditorium.” October 31, 2013. Anchorage Daily News. Ellis-Knapp, Jody. Ghosts of Alaska. 2009. Atglen, Pennsylvania Schiffe...

Who brutally raped and murdered James and Anne Benolken in their Juneau apartment in 1982? Nearly four decades later, many questions remain unanswered. Sources Starr, Douglas. 12-1-2013. Do police interrogation techniques produce false confessions? Episode 4: The Benolken Murders, the police investigation and Special Agent Malone Leo Helmar. Murder Alaska Episode 2: Introduction to the Benolken Case. Available at: Episode 3: About the brutal murders of James and Anne Benolken in Juneau, Al...

Those who knew Willie Pickton described him as mentally slow and socially awkward. They said he smelled like the pig farm where he lived and wore dirty clothes. Some considered him a friend, but others found him creepy. Only a few suspected what Willie did in his spare time. Sources Butts, Edward. “Robert Pickton Case.” October 8, 2020. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Cameron, Stevie. On the Farm: Robert William Picton and the Tragic Story of Vancouver’s Missing Women. 2010. Toronto: Vintage Canad...

On Valentine’s Day 1983, two new, beautiful sister ships, the Americus and the Altair sank in the Bering Sea in calm water while on their way to the king crab grounds near the Pribilof Islands. Fourteen men lost their lives in the worst disaster in the history of U.S. commercial fishing. A massive investigation ensued to determine what happened to the boats and what could be done to make commercial fishing safer. Those lost: The Americus: George Nations Brent Boles Larry Littlefield Rich A...

The pain of child abuse follows its victims to adulthood. Many seek therapy, but some internalize the pain and then inflict it upon others, continuing the cycle of abuse. Jason Vukovich chose a different path to exorcise the demons inflicted upon him by his adopted father. Jason consulted the sex offender registry of Alaska and physically assaulted known pedophiles in Anchorage. Jason’s story is not a murder nor a mystery, but it is a true tale about a crime that is far too common and a victim w...

The endless supply of larger-than-life characters in Alaska makes the state fertile ground for reality television shows and movies based on true stories. If you made a list of the strong, fascinating individuals in the history of this vast state, though, Joe Vogler would rank near the top. Picture a sharply dressed man, wearing a fedora, a bolo tie, and a plaid flannel shirt while he stands in front of a group of rowdy people and proclaims his controversial opinions in a booming voice. Joe Vogl...

Why do we romanticize historical outlaws and con artists? It is difficult to write about Wild West outlaws because the myths surrounding them bear little resemblance to the truth. Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith was one of those characters. Smith often donated money to good causes, but he earned that money by cheating and robbing people. When he relocated his criminal enterprise to Skagway, Alaska, during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897, the citizens soon grew weary of his cons and threats. The ...

First named in 1972, the Alaska Triangle stretches from Anchorage in southcentral Alaska to Juneau in the southeast panhandle to Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) on Alaska’s northern coast. Since 1988, more than 16,000 people have vanished from this area, and every year, approximately four people go missing per every 1000 Alaska residents. This rate is twice the national average. I was surprised when I first learned how many people disappear in Alaska, but I don’t need an underground pyramid or myst...

At Raymond (R.D.) Cheely’s sentencing hearing for the random highway murder of Jeffrey Cain, prosecutor Steve Branchflower said that the shooting delivered a stunning message to Anchorage. “No matter who you are or where you live, or what precautions you take to protect yourselves, you cannot escape violence; you can’t hide.” Branchflower added, “Because we can no longer trust Raymond Cheely to do the right thing, we must make sure he is never again left unwatched.”” Sources Doto, Pamela. “Fug...