People move to the Alaska wilderness either because they enjoy solitude and crave a subsistence lifestyle or because they wish to escape society. People who fall into this second category are either misfits who don’t know how or don’t want to blend in with others, or they are criminals, seeking to escape arrest and hoping to disappear into the vast wilderness. Many of my episodes have dealt with individuals who ran to Alaska from a life of crime elsewhere. They might have hoped to turn their liv...
Apr 24, 2024•26 min
As a state, Alaska has never had the death penalty. It was abolished in 1957, two years before Alaska became the 49th state in the union. However, from 1869 until 1957, twelve male felons were hanged for murder, robbery, and other crimes. This is the story about the unequal application of the death penalty in Alaska and why capital punishment was abolished in the state. Sources: Heaton, John W. Outlaw Tales of Alaska. “Fred Hardy.”2015. Guilford, CT. Rowman & Littlefield. Green, Melissa S. “...
Apr 10, 2024•29 min
Anchorage, Alaska, is the small plane capital of the world, and flying in Alaska is a thrilling experience where you can view spectacular scenery and reach remote lakes, rivers, and stretches of wilderness that are inaccessible by road. For the commercial pilots who fly these small planes, though, the job can be stressful at times, and they must depend on their skills and common sense. Commercial pilots in Alaska have a tough job, but near the bottom of a pilot’s list of concerns is the fear he ...
Mar 27, 2024•19 min
On the evening of July 7th, 1979, a plane disappeared near Kodiak Island in fair weather and moderate seas. News agencies in Alaska reported little about the missing plane and its occupants. Although reports of the apparent fatal crash made more of a splash in Great Britain, official sources offered no comment about the loss of a man who had done so much to protect Britain against the USSR during the Cold War. Even now, the disappearance of Ian Mackintosh is cloaked in secrecy, and many wonder i...
Mar 13, 2024•33 min
You might be familiar with the recent National Geographic documentary series, Alaska State Troopers. The show followed several troopers from different areas of the state as they made their daily rounds. Two of the troopers featured on the show were Sergeant Patrick “Scott” Johnson and Gabriel “Gabe” Rich. Both men worked out of the Alaska State Troopers’ Fairbanks Rural Service Unit. A camera crew was not with the men on the fateful day of May 1st, 2014. Sources Chomicz, Dorothy. “Kangas found g...
Feb 28, 2024•26 min
This story has all the elements of a Greek tragedy or a Shakespearean play, and it could easily inspire the plot of a movie or a mystery novel. Unfortunately, this is a true drama, and the outcome deprived children of their father and a wife of her new husband. We will never know how this event truly ended. The last few moments aboard the R66 helicopter and the pilot’s mindset will remain a mystery. Did Andy Teuber’s helicopter crash into the Gulf of Alaska because he purposely flew it into the ...
Feb 14, 2024•27 min
Gary Zieger, a brutal serial killer, stalked the streets of Anchorage in the early 1970s. We’ll never know how many people Zieger killed, but eventually, the psychopath made a fatal mistake. Sources Brennan, Tom. Cold Crime. Chapter 8: “Alaska’s Billy the Kid.” 2005. Kenmore, WA: Epicenter Press. Gordon, Mike. “The hired gun.” March 26, 2014. Turnagain Currents. Hale, Leland. “The lonesome death of Beth van Zanten: The killer is killed.” October 17, 2018. Butcher Baker. Hale, Leland. “Lonesome d...
Jan 31, 2024•28 min
Neighbors suspected Elmer Haab was up to no good, and when his wife, Bonnie, mysteriously disappeared, they feared Elmer had done something to her. Alaska State Troopers also found the disappearance of Bonnie Haab suspicious, but with no body, there was little they could do. Sources: Anderson, Dianne. “Haab leads troopers to pyre where he burned wife’s body.” July 17, 1969. Anchorage Daily Times. Anderson, Diane. “Man admits he cremated body of his wife.” July 16, 1969. Anchorage Daily Times. An...
Jan 17, 2024•21 min
Plane crashes are far too common in Alaska, and many of these accidents are due, at least in part, to poor weather conditions. If commercial pilots refused to fly in marginal weather, though, they would not make money because the weather is often bad in Alaska. For those of us who live or work in remote areas, we must fly in small planes, and we can’t always pick our weather. Mysteries abound in Alaska about airplanes that took off and were never seen again. The following is a story of one of th...
Jan 03, 2024•27 min
The U.S. military defines a “Broken Arrow” as an “unexpected event involving nuclear weapons that result in the accidental launching, firing, detonating, theft, or loss of the weapon.” The first Broken Arrow event occurred in 1950 during a mission from Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, Alaska. Questions still surround this event and the mystery of what happened to the B-36 aircraft and the Mark IV atomic bomb it carried. Map Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada Sources Adams, Sharon. “Th...
Dec 20, 2023•26 min
After a string of murders of young women near Fairbanks in the late 1970s and early ’80s, the abductions and murders mysteriously stopped. Troopers didn’t believe the vicious killer had suddenly halted his murder spree, but they feared the predator had moved somewhere else. Unfortunately, at the time, they had no database to track the killer’s movements beyond Alaska. Only the deductive reasoning and hard work of seasoned investigators traced the monster to his new hunting grounds, four thousand...
Dec 06, 2023•29 min
Trailer for Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier Welcome to Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Listen to tales of true crime and mystery in Alaska. What evil lay in store for the residents of McCarthy, Alaska, when they gathered to meet their weekly mail plane? Did infamous serial killer Robert Hansen fly his victims into the wilderness and hunt them just as he had hunted the trophy animals hanging on the walls of his home? Who slaughtered the Coulthurst family and their crew on the Fis...
Dec 04, 2023•2 min
A wealthy, powerful man, a beautiful widow, a scandalous affair, a murder, and a suicide: This true-life crime drama had it all, except for the answer to the question: Who killed Cecil Wells? Sources Bartlett, James T. The Alaskan Blonde. 2022. North Haven, CT. Territory Books. Johnny Warren Reamer, David. “In 1953, Cecil Wells was a rich and powerful Alaska Businessman. His murder made headlines nationwide.” August 30, 2020. Anchorage Daily News. “Wells, Cecil M.” Alaskahisitory.org. Anchorage ...
Nov 22, 2023•59 min
Manley Hot Springs, located 160 miles west of Fairbanks, marks the end of the road, where civilization meets wilderness, and the boat landing in Manley Hot Springs offers the last portage for fishermen, trappers, and wanderers to launch their boats and travel further up the icy Tanana River. Because the road ends in Manley, residents admit they see their share of drifters and people trying to escape from somewhere or something. When Michael Silka arrived in Manley on Monday, May 13, 1984, folks ...
Nov 08, 2023•22 min
Alaska has spawned a long list of serial killers from the gold rush era in the early 1900s to the present day. Is Brian Steven Smith the latest member of this notorious fraternity? Sources: Boots, Michelle Theriault. “Defendant in hotel killing indicted on additional charges; FBI ‘actively’ assisting investigation – Court documents filed this Kathlee Henry week indicate an active, wide-ranging investigation that may extend beyond Alaska.” October 15, 2019. Anchorage Daily News. Boots, Michelle T...
Oct 25, 2023•23 min
The brutal murders in 1987 of a mother and her two daughters terrified the residents of Anchorage. Who would commit such a barbaric act, and would he strike again? Sources: Barer, Burl. Murder in the Family. 2016. Denver: WildBlue Press. Brennan, Tom. Murder at 40 Below. Chapter 6: “The Newman family masasacre.” 2001. Kenmore, WA: Epicenter Press. “Murder in Alaska: The Newman family slaughter.” September 14, 2019. What Lies Beyond. _______________________________________________________________...
Oct 11, 2023•21 min
What would you do to survive? Most of us believe there are some things we would never do, even if they could save our lives. However, until we find ourselves in a life-and-death situation, we can never know how far we might go for self-preservation. The marooned survivors from the James Allen did not hesitate to do what they felt was necessary to prolong their lives. Sources: De Armond, R.N. “The wreck of the James Allen.” December 1945. AlaskaWeb.Org. https://alaskaweb.org/jasallenwreck.html. S...
Sep 27, 2023•25 min
Robert Hansen is Alaska’s most notorious serial killer. Several television shows have portrayed Hansen’s life; numerous books have detailed his horrific deeds; and a 2013 movie, The Frozen Ground, starring John Cusack as Hansen and Nicholas Cage as an Alaska State Trooper, chronicles Hansen’s crimes and dramatizes the police investigation and apprehension of Hansen. I hesitate to repeat this story, but if my goal for this series is to recount some of the worst crimes in the history of Alaska, I ...
Sep 13, 2023•25 min
Christian Klengenberg greatly impacted Inuit settlements in the Arctic from Nome to central Canada. Many of his descendants are community leaders and active in Canadian politics. However, not all stories about Christian Klengenberg are good. He returned from one fateful voyage with only five of his nine crew members on board, and according to the remaining crewmen, Klengenberg murdered the four who were missing. Sources Harper, Kenn. “Christian Klengenberg, an Arctic enigma.” February 26, 2009. ...
Aug 30, 2023•21 min
In the early morning hours of Monday, April 26, 1993, someone brutally raped, stabbed and shot Sophie Sergie in a college dorm on the University of Alaska campus in Fairbanks. Several hours later, a janitor discovered Sophie's body stuffed in a bathtub in a second-floor bathroom in the dorm. No one saw or heard anything. Sophie's case soon went cold and remained cold for the next 18 years. Would her murder ever be solved? Sources: Alaska Department of Public Safety, State Troopers: Alaska Bureau...
Aug 16, 2023•28 min
What happened to Harold Enzler and Nancy Bellamy? They were alive and well one minute and gone without a trace the next. Did they pack their things and flee the state? Were they hiding from authorities? Or did someone murder Harold and Nancy and dispose of their bodies in a way so the troopers would never find them? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Now Available _______________________________________________________________________...
Aug 02, 2023•24 min
The scattered residents of the McCarthy area were not prepared for the horrors of mail day on February 29, 1983, when one of their neighbors attempted to murder them all. Beginning this month, I plan to release two episodes of Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier every month. One episode will be new, and I will bring you the other from the archives. I covered many of Alaska’s most famous crimes and infamous criminals in my first podcasts when my audience numbers were low, so I plan to dust th...
Jul 19, 2023•23 min
D Working as a crew person on a fishing boat on the high seas or as part of a Coast Guard search and rescue helicopter crew rank as two of the most challenging and dangerous jobs in the world. When the fishing vessel La Conte began to sink in eighty-mile-per-hour (128.7 km/h) winds, the terrified crew had to jump into sixty-foot (18.3 m) seas in the middle of the night. Meanwhile, a Coast Guard chopper crew in Sitka was deployed to search for the source of a distress call from a satellite beacon...
Jul 05, 2023
Linda Skeek had three beautiful children and an excellent job, but she did not have a good marriage. However, Linda’s relationship with her husband, Thomas, seemed somewhat improved on New Year’s Eve, 2015. They loaded their kids in their new Navigator SUV and drove to downtown Anchorage to see the fireworks. They watched the movie Minions on the Navigator’s DVD player until the New Year’s festivities began. Linda texted with her sisters and posted photos of her family on Facebook. However, not ...
Jun 15, 2023•23 min
Andrew Dolchok had glaring psychological issues, and he was often violent. Still, judges repeatedly released him from jail until one night when Andrew Dolchok’s demons convinced him to murder his cab driver. Sources: 1-22-1982. Dolchok v. State. Justia U.S. Law. https://law.justia.com/cases/alaska/supreme-court/1982/3920-0.html Brennan, Tom. 2005. The Search For Yellow 39. Cold Crime. Epicenter Press. 7-14-1971. Anchorage AP. Daily Sitka Sentinel. 7-15-1971. Search expands for murder suspect. An...
May 24, 2023•25 min
With the nickname “Blueberry Tommy,” Thomas Johnson sounds like a harmless and even friendly historical figure, but nothing could be further from the truth. Historians don’t know much about Johnson except that he was a serial killer. Sources Hunt, William R. 1987. Distant Justice. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman, OK. Heaton, John W. 2010. Outlaw Tales of Alaska. Morris Book Publishing, LLC. Guilford, CT. The Blueberry Kid. Alaska Genealogy Trails. https://www.genealogytrails.com/alaska/blue...
May 03, 2023•24 min
Winona Fletcher Tom Faccio heard the knock at the kitchen door. He arose from his seat at the dinner table and peered out a window to see a plump teenager with a cute face looking back at him. He probably wondered what the young girl wanted and opened the door to see if she needed help. It was the worst and last mistake Tom Faccio ever made. Sources Brennan, Tom. 2001. The Murderous Cherub, Murder at 40 Below. Epicenter Press. Fairbanks, AK. Cordell Boyd Grove, Casey. 4-15-2011. Imprisoned kille...
Apr 12, 2023•29 min
Cynthia Hoffman I don’t usually do an episode about a case until the case either works through the legal system or it seems unsolvable. I could not ignore this sickening crime, though. There is nothing worse than children killing children, except perhaps when a teenager murders her best friend for thepromise of money. Sources Brehmer, Schilmiller, McIntosh, and Leyland all pleaded not guilty. I’ll keep you updated. Denali Brehmer Sources: Farzan, Noori. Chilling Tale of killing, catfishing. The ...
Mar 22, 2023•20 min
Keith Raniere Perhaps you heard about the NXIVM (pronounced Nexium) scandal when the police tracked down and arrested the cult leader, Keith Raniere, in Mexico. Soon, tales of sex trafficking, branding, and child pornography painted Raniere as an evil man. Like me, you probably shook your head and wondered how anyone could get drawn into a cult. From the outside looking in, cults always seem crazy. I didn’t pay much attention to the news about NXIVM. I didn’t want to read about more evil in our ...
Mar 01, 2023•28 min
As the 40-ft. waves crashed down upon him and threatened to wash him and his charge, Captain Singh, off the deck of the sinking ship, Petty Officer Aaron Bean knew the helicopter would not return to rescue them for several hours. Would the freighter remain afloat? Could he survive the relentless pounding by the freezing North Pacific waves? Would Captain Singh, who wore only street clothes, survive? Bean shook off his doubts and concentrated. As long as he could, he would do his job to the best ...
Feb 08, 2023•35 min
