Photo courtesy APD

ANCHORAGE – Police are searching for a man wanted for sexual assault and criminal trespassing.

Golden Theodore Salyers, 40, is wanted on a felony warrant for first-degree sexual assault and second-degree criminal trespassing, said Anchorage Police Department in a statement.

Salyers 6 feet 1 inch tall, 310 pounds and has black hair and blue eyes, police said. He has a tattoo on his right shoulder.

Police are asking anyone with information on Salyers to call Crime Stoppers at 561-STOP or submit a tip anonymously at www.anchoragecrimestoppers.com.

ANCHORAGE – The arrest of a crime lab technician has rocked the criminal justice system as a man tasked with testing drug evidence was charged with stealing it.

Stephen Palmer was arrested Thursday and charged with six felonies for stealing drugs from a crime lab for nearly seven years.

One day after his arrest, attorneys are already being notified that client convictions may be tainted.

Palmer’s work at the State Crime Lab has helped close hundreds, if not thousands, of cases. According to investigators, it’s that same work that has led to Palmer’s own multiple-felony case.

“The short way of saying it is, he was stealing drugs from the crime lab,” said Director for the Alaska Department of Law’s Criminal Division John Skidmore.

Charging documents show Palmer worked in the crime lab for 19 years, seven of which he used meth and heroin regularly. Documents say that Palmer stole drugs that were brought into the crime lab as evidence in a number of cases.

“This is like an earthquake hitting the justice system,” said defense attorney Rex Butler. “They can play it down as much as they want but this is huge.”

Butler says he has already been notified that Palmer may have contaminated at least one of his cases. He says this hints at the work ahead for an already stressed court system.

“You better believe that people who are sitting in jail behind this are going to want post-conviction relief and I don’t think the state can deny them that. I think they have the right to have their cases reviewed and the evidence retested if it can be found,” Butler said.

The state says the scientific validity of the testing the crime lab has been doing has not been compromised by what happened in this case.

“Our agency with the State Crime Lab are in the process of reviewing old cases that Mr. Palmer worked to ensure that there are no situations in which we believe his conduct creates questions or concerns about anyone who’s been convicted in the past,” Skidmore said.

Palmer’s six felony charges include scheme to defraud, second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance and four counts of tampering with physical evidence. Palmer is also facing four misdemeanor counts of official misconduct.

ANCHORAGE – Two people are dead, a third is hospitalized and a suspect remains on the loose following a shooting in Downtown Anchorage Monday evening.

Police and paramedics responded to the scene just east of 5^th Avenue and Karluk Street around 6 p.m., when the shooting happened in a tent just past a business parking lot at the intersection. The Anchorage Police Department said one person was pronounced dead at the scene, and another died later Monday evening after being hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.

Descriptions of the suspect vary: Initial APD reports said a male with a medium build, around 5 feet 8 inches tall, was wearing a black striped jacket when he was last seen heading west on Karluk Street on foot. But the surviving victim said the shooter was around 6 feet tall and had dark-colored, shoulder-length hair.

Police K-9 units, SWAT teams, detectives and officers combed the surrounding areas Monday evening, but did not locate the suspect.

The shooting shook up two witnesses parked nearby when it happened.

The witnesses – who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from the suspect — said they heard eight to 10 shots.

“The wind muffled it and so it sounded kind of strange, almost like fireworks, and then I told her I wonder if that was shots?” said one witness.

Right after hearing the shots, they saw a man run over a snow bank and cross 5th Avenue.

“He just immediately started going across the street and of course we’re like, ‘I wonder if something happened, I wonder, could he have shot somebody?’” the second witness said.

They said they didn’t realize what had happened until police and paramedics arrived.

“Hoping that it wasn’t gun shots, we pulled back out and then all of a sudden the police come and we’re like, “Oh, gosh, we were just there,” the second witness said.

The witnesses say it was scary ordeal, made all the more frightening by the knowledge the shooter is still out there.

“My heart is racing,” the first witness said. “It’s scary to actually be near something like that.”

ANCHORAGE – A 2013 hit-and-run case is drawing to a close as the final witnesses took the stand Monday.

The then-20-year-old Kayla Johnson, who is accused of underage drinking, drinking and driving and hit-and-run, listened as an investigator testified for the prosecution and an accident reconstruction analyst testified for the defense.

But perhaps the most damning testimony was offered by eyewitness Conner Cucullu, who was inside the car at the moment of the alleged hit and run.

“I knew I had information that they needed to know, so I called,” Cucullu said.

The prosecution presented a picture that Cucullu said he snapped just moments before the collision. The photo shows Johnson in the driver seat with Cucullu in the passenger seat posing for a “selfie.” Cucullu said it was taken at a gas station near the same area where 18-year-old Tevin George was struck by Johnson.

“All of a sudden there’s … I can’t remember if she’s looking at the road or if she’s looking at me,” Cucullu said. “I remember falling forward because she had hit something. I asked her what it was and she wasn’t sure. I kept on asking her what we hit and she wasn’t sure, so we kept on driving and we pulled up on the side of the road a little farther up. That’s when she mentioned possibly hitting somebody.”

Cucullu, who was offered immunity in exchange for his testimony, says he and Johnson circled back to where they believe they had hit something or someone, but could not find anything.

Instead, police would later find George, unconscious with massive head trauma lying near Huffman Road and Gregory Road.

Accident reconstruction analyst Jay Smith testified on behalf of the defense that the July 20, 2013 accident was inevitable because of low visibility, partly because of the dark clothing George was wearing.

Smith explained to the jury that white clothing is visible up to 180 feet away, red, 80 feet. But blue or black, like George was wearing that night, is only visible 55 feet away. Smith said that would only give a driver traveling 60 miles per hour less than a second to react.

“With somebody traveling at 45 miles per hour, even you or I would have no chance to respond, and avoid this accident,” Smith said.

The defense attorney asked Smith if it would have made a difference if the driver was impaired by alcohol or not, Smith said it would not have.

“Impair delays your response and makes you make bad decisions, but in this case it would not affect any of the parameters that we talked about,” Smith said. “It does not affect what you can see, what’s illuminated by the headlights and does not affect whether somebody is walking down the street.”

In spite of Johnson’s alleged drinking that night, the defense argued the accident was not her fault. Prosecutors say, because of Johnson’s alleged underage drinking, fault lies on her alone.

This accident left George in a coma for weeks and unable to walk for months, his parents say. Closing arguments are expected Tuesday.

ANCHORAGE – A Crooked Creek man has been arrested and charged with sexually abusing a girl under the age of 13, Alaska State Troopers said.

According to trooper dispatch, 24-year-old Sam Alexie was arrested Sunday, more than a week after AST received word that a young girl had been sexually abused in Crooked Creek. After troopers traveled to the Kuskokwim community Feb. 28 to investigate, Alexie was charged with one count of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor and two counts of first-degree burglary.

Alexie was remanded to the Yukon Kuskokwim Correctional Complex, troopers said.

Photo courtesy FBI Anchorage Division

ANCHORAGE – A man has been charged with robbing two Anchorage banks, authorities said.

Cameron Patrick Fergerson, 25, is believed to have robbed the Credit Union 1 at 1941 Abbott Rd. on Feb. 25 and the Alaska USA Federal Credit Union at 125 West Dimond Blvd. on March 1. He made away with about $4,000 total, according to an affidavit from FBI special agent Benjamin Hallowell.

Fergerson was also spotted at the South Anchorage Credit Union at 9835 Old Seward Hwy., the affidavit said, but didn’t make a successful robbery.

In the two successful bank robberies, Fergerson allegedly wrote a note demanding money and gave it to a teller.

In all three cases, Fergerson was seen wearing a black leather jacket, saggy pants, a hooded sweatshirt, black gloves, a black baseball cap and iridescent sunglasses.

Fergerson has an extensive criminal history of theft, the affidavit said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Update: Anchorage police have identified the suspect as 73-year-old John Marshall Bagley, who allegedly stabbed his wife when she slipped and fell on ice while trying to leave the residence. According to a statement from the Anchorage Police Department, a passerby witnessed the assault and intervened by firing a gun into the air.

ANCHORAGE – A woman has been hospitalized following a stabbing Wednesday, authorities said.

Around 6:30 p.m., police received a call that a woman had been stabbed at a residence on the 13000 block of Back Road.

Police and medics responded and the woman was taken to a local hospital with severe injuries, police said.

A suspect has been taken into custody. Police said they were told a verbal altercation took place between the man and woman before the man stabbed her.

The incident is under investigation.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates. 

ANCHORAGE – The death of a man in the Matanuska Valley late Wednesday night is being investigated as a homicide, Alaska State Troopers said.

The body of Palmer resident Frank L. Pushruk, 45, was discovered after troopers received a report that someone had been shot and killed near mile 52 of the Glenn Highway just before midnight Wednesday.

Pushruk’s body was taken to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy, troopers said, and the investigation is ongoing.

ANCHORAGE - A suspected drunk driver plowed through a crowd at a music festival in Austin, Texas, killing two people and injuring dozens more shortly after midnight Thursday.

Police say they tried to pull the suspect over at a DUI checkpoint, when he took off, driving through a barricade and into a crowd at the South by Southwest festival.

Once beyond the barricade, he hit and killed a woman on a moped and a man on a bicycle.

The chase ended when he hit a van.

Rashad Charjuan Owens, 21, will face two counts of capital murder and 23 counts of aggravated assault with a vehicle, Austin police said.

As of Thursday afternoon, three people were in critical condition.

Owens was charged and pleaded guilty to driving impaired in Fairbanks in 2011. He was 19 at the time, according to court records.

He was also charged with leaving the scene of an accident. That charge, however, was dismissed.

ANCHORAGE - Tuesday, a jury decided that Kayla Johnson would be held accountable for the 2013 drunken crash that left 18-year-old Tevin George in a coma for weeks.

Jurors saw evidence and heard witness testimony for days leading up to Tuesday morning’s closing arguments. Within a matter of hours the jury was able to decide how justice would be served.

Johnson, who was 20 years old at the time of the crash, had admitted to drinking the night she ran over Tevin George and left him on the street with serious head injuries.

“At that point, I was so drunk I didn’t even know what happened. I have no idea,” Johnson is heard saying in a recording of her initial statements played to the courtroom. “I had heard about the hit-and-run case the next day and I was questioning if that could’ve been my car.”

Yet Kayla Johnson’s attorney argued the July 20, 2013 accident was not her fault. Instead, George watched as attorney Thomas Wonnell redirected blame from Johnson to him, the victim.

“4 a.m. in the dark, in the pouring rain, with traffic, looking down at a phone. It’s not something an ordinary driver under these circumstances is going to be looking for. Why is he there?” Wonnell asked the jury.

The defense argued Johnson and George were merely in the wrong place at the wrong time. Wonnell told jurors Johnson should be found innocent because low visibility made the accident inevitable.

The prosecution argued that the crash was a result of Johnson’s reckless action fueled by alcohol.

“All through this she’s admitting how drunk she is, ‘I was drunk. I was messed up,’” said prosecutor William Taylor while displaying damning text messages sent to and from Johnson’s phone after the hit-and-run.

The texts showed read in part, “Drunk driving…Never again…” and “My windshield looks like I hit somebody with my car” and “good thing you didn’t get caught.”

Taylor said Johnson’s admitted alcohol consumption technically made Johnson guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

“If you find she drove while intoxicated, that is evidence of recklessness,” Taylor instructed the jury.

The case was submitted to the jury around noon. Around 2 p.m. the jury returned a verdict that left George’s family breathing a collective sigh of relief while Johnson succumbed to tears.

“We the jury find the defendant, Kayla Johnson, guilty …” said judge Matthew Warren, who was presiding over the case, as he read one guilty verdict after another. In all, Johnson was found guilty of DUI, tampering with evidence, failure to render aid, first-degree felony assault, minor operating a vehicle after consuming alcohol and driving with a suspended license.

“Kayla is guilty of everything that she has done to me and I am just happy,” George said.

George, who spent months relearning how to walk, says most of his physical wounds have healed, but says he’s still recovering from the damage the crash did to his brain.

Johnson’s sentencing is scheduled to take place in July.

ANCHORAGE - Police continue to search for a suspect in Monday’s triple shooting.

Robert Workman, 55, was shot and killed in a tent not far from the Lucky Wishbone restaurant around 6 p.m. Monday evening. Mea Melovidov, 47, was also shot in the tent and died a short time later at a local hospital.

The name of the third victim, a man, has not been released. At last word he was still in the hospital.

Police believe all three people in the tent had lived in Anchorage for some time. No one has said officially if they were homeless. But at nearby Bean’s Café, clients are worried and afraid.

“Many of our clients are scared,” said Bean’s Director Lisa Sauder. “They’re concerned they may have lost a friend. Nobody really knows what the situation is right now, whether it was a contained incident or a disagreement.”

Workers at the shelter were urging clients to sleep indoors tonight, at least until the killer is caught.

The murders have left some people frightened, but they’ve left others just as frustrated.

“It’s awful that it took two murders to really push this in the public eye,” said Heidi Heinrich, longtime manager of the Lucky Wishbone. The restaurant is the business closest to where the shootings took place.

For Heinrich the murders are the last straw in a long list of problems associated with public inebriates and homeless people who are putting her business at risk.

“First thing this morning, one of our first customers called in and said, ‘have they got the shooter yet?’ Our response was, ‘we don’t know.’ And her response was, ‘we aren’t coming to Lucky Wishbone until they do,’” Heinrich said.

Heinrich was grateful for a packed house at lunchtime and one table in particular  – a group of Anchorage police officers who dined there specifically to show support for the longtime business.

ANCHORAGE - A former state crime lab employee is facing six felony charges.

Stephen Palmer, 53, is accused of stealing drugs and tampering with evidence. His bail has been set at $50,000.

Palmer worked at the old crime lab, located next to Alaska State Trooper headquarters, for nearly 20 years. He quit his job abruptly in 2011.

Palmer will be required to take drug tests as part of his bail conditions. When he worked at the State Crime Lab, however, drug testing was never a requirement. Some people think it should be.

State Crime Lab Director Orin Dym said the new lab has plenty of protections and security upgrades that would make it difficult for an employee to steal drugs.

One thing he thinks could prevent problems in the future is the ability to drug test crime lab employees. Right now that’s against state law, but Dym said he believes that should change.

“I believe we should be urine testing,” Dym said. “There has to first be an event to demonstrate that’s warranted, well, I believe we have had that event and now it’s time to pursue this and move forward.”

Dym said drug testing would help reassure the public that crime lab employees are honest and that drug cases analyzed there are accurate. It’s not clear what legal hurdles he will face to try and get the law changed so testing would be permitted.

ANCHORAGE - An Anchorage woman is alive thanks to a neighbor who heard her screams and ran to intervene.

John Bagley told police he wanted to kill his wife Judy because she was divorcing him. Wednesday night he almost made good on that promise.

There were blood drops in the driveway and in the snow Thursday at the Ocean View home where John and Judy Bagley have lived for years. Paul Sanchez is the neighbor who lives just across the street.

“We’ve been friends with them ever since we got into the neighborhood; they’re fantastic people,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez watched the couple’s home when they wintered in Arizona. But this year, he said, they came back early.

“When I went to take the key back he told me he was having a marital problem and said I will talk to you later,” Sanchez said.

Wednesday night that problem came to a head, and Thursday the 73-year-old Bagley faced charges of attempted murder. Police say he stabbed his wife in the chest with a butcher knife, first inside the house, then in the driveway, when she slipped on the ice and fell.

Her screams alerted a neighbor who was outside walking his dog. Police said the neighbor happened to have a gun.

“He had a weapon on him so he fired a warning shot and at that time the suspect stopped stabbing her,” said Lt. Anthony Henry. “He made eye contact with him and at that time he decided to move forward and pushed the suspect off of the victim.”

The neighbor was able to get a knife and a gun from John Bagley and hold him at bay until police arrived. Officers call the man a “lifesaver” and Judy Bagley agrees.

“All through this drama, one of the things that she had pointed out, even loading into the ambulance is that this gentleman saved her life,” Henry said.

At last word Judy Bagley was in critical but stable condition.

ANCHORAGE – Jacob Dvorak, 17, said he wanted “justice” when he fatally shot a Palmer man Wednesday evening, Alaska State Troopers said.

According to an affidavit by AST investigator James Streicher, Dvorak admitted to shooting 45-year-old Frank Pushruk once in the face and twice in the back of the head after learning he allegedly sexually assaulted a friend several nights prior. After killing Pushruk, the affidavit states, Dvorak told investigators he dumped his body off a cliff at a popular Matanuska River overlook.

When troopers responded to reports of the homicide just before 12 a.m. Thursday, Palmer police were already on scene along with two teenage girls and a 14-year-old boy. One of the girls, 17, was “almost hysterical” when she told troopers Pushruk had raped her a few nights ago, the affidavit stated.

She said she had been partying at Pushruk’s home when she passed out and awoke, naked, to find Pushruk standing near the foot of the bed holding her underwear.

“I’m sorry,” he allegedly told her.

In a later interview with investigators, troopers reported the girl said she was uninjured and unsure if she had actually been sexually assaulted.

But the teen said she told a 16-year-old friend who had been at the party – identified in court documents as EA — about the alleged assault, and later they also told Dvorak. According to the trooper’s affidavit, the three teenagers made plans to beat up Pushruk in retribution for the alleged rape.

Later, though, EA said Dvorak suggested they shoot Pushruk with a stolen gun he had in his possession. Court documents state EA and the teenage girl traveled to Wasilla Wednesday night to pick up Dvorak when his shift at Dairy Queen ended around 10 p.m. Dvorak and EA planned to tell Pushruk they were going to get “shrooms,” invite him along then beat him up.

After picking up Pushruk at his Palmer home, court documents state, the two teenagers took him to the overlook near mile 52 of the Glenn Highway and confronted him about the alleged assault.

Dvorak pointed a .45 handgun at Pushruk’s face, EA told troopers.

“Just shoot me,” Pushruk allegedly responded.

Court documents state Dvorak then shot Pushruk in the face, following it up with two more shots to the head after he fell to the ground. While EA froze in place, court documents stated, Dvorak told him to remove a prescription bottle of Valium from Pushruk’s pocket.

“Help me, help me, this could be you!” Dvorak allegedly said to EA. “You need to help me.”

Together, court documents state, the two teenagers lifted Pushruk’s body over the fence around the overlook and dropped it off the side of the cliff. The two boys then drove to Scott Road, where EA said Dvorak took the stolen gun and ran into the woods. Next, court records state, they went to Dvorak’s North Eves Drive home, where he attempted to clean blood off his clothes and shoes and contact several people via phone and Facebook.

Dvorak allegedly dropped EA at the Palmer Fred Meyer, telling him the two girls originally found by officers at the scene might have seen or heard the shooting. The girls – one of whom had called the police – later told law enforcement officers they heard three gunshots. Court records state EA walked to the Palmer Carr’s and then caught a ride back to the crime scene from other juveniles, who had already heard about the shooting.

The teenager told police at the scene exactly what happened, court documents state.

Thursday, after Pushruk’s body was recovered from the cliff, troopers said they contacted Dvorak, who admitted to the shooting.

Charged with first-degree murder, he’s currently held without bail at Mat-Su Pre-Trial.

ANCHORAGE – Police are urging people to lock up their valuables when working out following five gym theft reports in the past two days.

According to police, a thief searched women’s locker rooms looking for unlocked lockers and unsecured belongings.

All the reported thefts have involved Planet Fitness locations, said police spokeswoman Dani Myren.

At the 770 E. Benson Blvd. Planet Fitness location, the thief stole a keychain with car keys and a gym pass on it, police said.

The thief was then able to track down the victim’s vehicle and steal things from inside.

After that, police said, the thief was able to use the gym pass at another Planet Fitness and swipe unsecured car keys from lockers. The thief then located vehicles in the parking lot and stole items from inside them.

In one of the vehicle thefts, the thief stole a purse stowed under a seat and used credit cards in the bag to buy more than $1,000 worth of merchandise.

Unlocked lockers were mentioned in at least three of the reports, Myren said. In addition to the Benson location, items were also stolen from the Planet Fitness at 1920 W. Dimond Blvd.

ANCHORAGE – It was an alarming awakening for six residents of a South Anchorage home who found a band of masked men robbing their house early Monday morning.

“I was confused, I mean it was so late and we don’t know these people,” resident Nicole said. “They’re in our homes with guns on us. We’re mad. We’re scared. We’re helpless.”

It started when a woman, who only wants to be call Nicole, says she returned to her Brandon Street home around midnight.

There, she and her brother were met by masked men with guns. They forced Nicole’s brother to the ground and led  Nicole inside. Nicole said her father tried to lock the assailants out, but found three had already made it inside.

“He has a ski mask with two holes, and a mouth,” Nicole said. “He was tall, skinny, black, no hair.”

Nicole says six robbers ransacked her house, taking iPhones, PlayStations, electronics and other small valuables.

While thieves looted Nicole’s home, some of the criminals demanded that Nicole’s family lay face-first on the ground.

“My brother, who is 13, is laying on the ground,” Nicole said. “My father is laying on the ground.”

Nicole’s mother, at this time a hero in her own right, did not comply.

“She’s so strong like that,” Nicole said. “She told a guy with a gun pointed at her to ‘eff off’ because she had to get her granddaughter. I’m proud of my mom. She was probably the reason why they left.”

This makes two armed home invasions in what is considered one of Anchorage’s safest neighborhoods this month.

However, police are saying the home invasion on March 8 was a possible drug-related crime.

“We want the public to know that these aren’t just random acts,” said Sgt. Mike Couturier with APD’s detective robbery and assault unit. “All indications are that they had a purpose going there.”

Couturier says these home invasions should not alarm the general public because the two robbed homes were targeted.

But with no arrests and no named subjects, Nicole and her family are left to fret.

“They think it was targeted. Someone picked this house for a reason and they think its drug related and that’s completely scary because they knew us and I don’t know them,” Nicole said.

Stolen goods aside, Nicole says they took one thing that money can’t buy.

In time, she’s she hopes to find renewed peace of mind.

ANCHORAGE – After making 30 DUI arrests over St. Patrick’s Day weekend last year, the Anchorage Police Department beefed up patrols this time around.

In an effort to curb drunk driving rates, APD said five additional officers spent the weekend combing Anchorage streets for intoxicated drivers. The department urged Alaskans to report dangerous drivers to police dispatch, and many local bar owners said they also worked to prevent merrymakers from overindulging and sliding behind the steering wheel.

“You’re in an environment where people are trained to watch out for you, cut you off, send you home when it’s time,” said Jeanne Reilly, owner of Reilly’s Irish Pub.

Both police and local business owners agree: Call a cab or rely on a designated sober driver if your holiday plans include  drinking.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Alaska State Troopers say a 30-year-old Wasilla man is under arrest after punching a trooper in the chin.

Troopers say Terenty Reutov provided a false name and birth date after being stopped near Wasilla for moving and equipment violations Saturday evening.

According to troopers, Reutov assaulted the trooper, then ran into the woods before being arrested after a half-mile pursuit.

Troopers say Reutov possessed cocaine and had five outstanding warrants for his arrest. He was arrested on the warrants and is charged with resisting arrest, providing false information, controlled substance misconduct and hindering prosecution.

His passenger, 42-year-old Kimberly Yadon of Wasilla, was arrested and charged with hindering prosecution.

It’s unclear if Reutov has an attorney. Yadon is represented by the Public Defender Agency, which could not immediately be reached Monday.

(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) – A 21-year-old man suspected of stealing $1,500 worth of rifle ammunition was arrested for possessing nearly an ounce of marijuana near a daycare center.

The Ketchikan Daily News reports that 21-year-old Herman Joseph Brown III was arraigned Wednesday in Ketchikan District Court on one count of fourth-degree controlled-substance misconduct.

Possession of less than an ounce of marijuana outside of a home is normally a misdemeanor, but because Brown was allegedly found with the drug within 500 feet of a child care center, he was charged with a felony.

Brown is also suspected of taking three 1,000-round cases from a retailer.

___

Information from: Ketchikan (Alaska) Daily News, http://www.ketchikandailynews.com

(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

FAIRBANKS, Alaska  - A trial is beginning for a 21-year-old Fairbanks man who is charged with second-degree murder in the 2011 death of an acquaintance after an argument.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that Cornelius Everett Jr. pleaded guilty last year to manslaughter and accepted a 15-year prison term for his role in the death of 55-year-old Johnson Griffin at a Fairbanks apartment.

Everett later changed his mind eight days later, saying his court-appointed attorney coerced him into pleading guilty.

Superior Court judge Michael MacDonald released him from the plea deal. The judge, however, declined to grant a new court-appointed attorney.

In June 2011, Griffin was found dead in his Northward Building apartment.

Everett was later identified as a suspect.

He was scheduled to begin trial Monday.

(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)