A jury has found 43-year-old Andrew Byrd guilty of multiple charges, including two counts of first-degree sexual assault, in connection to a 2015 attack at a Portage campground. The verdict was reached on Friday, Apr. 11, following a two-week trial and roughly 11 hours of jury deliberation.
The case stems from a May 16, 2015, report by a woman who said she was attacked while sleeping in her car. She testified that a man from a nearby campsite covered her mouth, strangled her, and sexually assaulted her. Evidence was collected at the time by a sexual assault response team, but the case went cold after initial DNA analysis in the national CODIS database failed to identify a suspect.
Years later, under a federal Sexual Assault Kit Initiative grant, the Alaska State Crime Lab retested the evidence. In 2023, a match was found linking the DNA profile to Byrd. He denied knowing the victim or having any sexual contact with her, but DNA analysts, investigators, and the victim herself testified during the trial.
Byrd was found guilty of two counts of Sexual Assault in the First Degree, one count of Assault in the Second Degree, and one count of Assault in the Third Degree. He remains in custody without bail pending sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled.
The Alaska Department of Law’s Office of Special Prosecutions and the Anchorage District Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case.