FTA: Double Murder at a U.S. Coast Guard Base

Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier

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.

Sources:

Associated Press. “Man arrested in 2012 Alaska Coast Guard base deaths.” November 21, 2015. KOMO News.

Grove, Casey. “Wells convicted, again, of Kodiak Coast Guard double murder.” Alaska Public Media.

Joling, Dan. “Car expert testifies in CG trial.” April 10, 2014. Ketchikan Daily News.

Saint Louis, Julie. “Ninth Circuit orders new trial for man accused of Coast Guard killings.” December 9, 2017. Courthouse News.

Silverman, Adam. “FBI: Coast Guard murder suspect resented co-workers.” February 19, 2013. USA Today.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, no. 14-30146. United States of America v. James Michael Wells. January 11, 2018

“Wives of murdered tower techs sue the Coast Guard for wrongful death.” August 16, 2016.

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Robin Barefield is the author of five Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, and Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge. She has also written two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Sign up to subscribe to her free monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

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