Unsolved murder cases still on the State’s register may be pushed even further back after a proposal to cut funding for the state cold-case unit.
The cut would shave $383,000 a year from the Alaska Bureau of Investigation’s budget, a division of the State Troopers.
The unit currently employs four people. Megan Peters with the Alaska State Troopers said the investigators are retired troopers or former police officers who perform a lot of methodical, detail-oriented work…
Peters: “Tracking down people, following up on interviews, looking at what evidence was available to see if there are any new tests that can be run that have been developed in recent years that might shed more light on the situation. There’s a lot of components to it.”
These investigations have led to 9 new charges or arrests in the past 13 years. 27 other cases were closed for good.
Director Kelly Howell said the unit was established in 2002. At that time there were 101 unsolved murders on the books, dating back to 1961.
The Department of Public Safety suggested the cut after the Governor asked administrators to review their budgets and suggest cost-saving measures. If passed, the unit would be closed June 30.
Their cases have included:
Bonnie Craig (Anchorage), an 18-year-old college student was raped and beaten in 1994 before being dropped 40 feet off a ledge near McHugh Creek. The unit used new DNA technology to link Craig’s case to Kenneth Dion from New Hampshire. He was convicted of first-degree murder in 2011 and sentenced to 124 years in jail.
Opal Fairchild (Soldotna) was found dead in her home on March 20, 1985. Barry McCormack was later convicted of Fairchildn’s shooting death.
Elizabeth Skowran (Anchorage) was found deceased at mile 72.5 of the Seward Highway on May 21, 1001 after being reported missing in August 1989. In 2004 Richard Wilkins confessed to the murder to investigators and plead guilty to second-degree murder. He had previously been charged with the murder of his then-wife in 2000.
Gretchen Sawyer (Glennallen area) was shot dead on July 13, 1997. In 2004 investigators reviewed initial testimony from Sawyer’s husband Derek that their 2-year-old son had accidentally shot her and found it to be “virtually impossible.” Derek was convicted of her murder in 2007.
Scott Coville (Sitka) went missing on in April of 1988. Troopers discovered information in 2007 which indicated his former wife, Jane Reth, may have killed him. She confessed in 2008 and plead guilty to second-degree murder in 2011.
Toni Lister (Seward) was found deceased near the Seward city dump on March 6 of 1982 with stab wounds. Twenty years later investigators brought forward Jimmy Lee Eaker who eventually plead guilty to manslaughter.
Sandra Perry (Yakutat) was shot by Robert Kowalski in a local hotel room on July 21, 1996. Kowalski claimed it was an accident after he saw a bear and stumbled with the loaded firearm. In 2008 he allegedly shot and killed his girlfriend in Montana which he said was also an accident. In 2014, Kowalski was convicted of second-degree murder for Perry’s death.
