Last updated at 4:45 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 16
West Virginia law enforcement arrested the second suspect in a recent Anchorage murder case after the man was found in Morgantown, West Virginia, according to Anchorage police.
Friday, agents with the U.S. Marshals Service and Morgantown Police Department apprehended 19-year-old Riek William Gat, who is wanted as an accomplice to the murder of 22-year-old Michael Mitchell.
Mitchell was found shot to death on Campbell Airstrip Road on Aug. 22. Gat faces first- and second-degree murder charges for allegedly helping 18-year-old Kutay Bangout, the primary suspect in the case.
Supervisory Deputy Marshal Terry Moore said marshals in Alaska developed a lead based on people Gat knew in Morgantown. On Thursday, they sent the information to the West Virginia marshals, who led the effort to find Gat. Investigators watched the apartments where Gat was believed to be hiding, and saw him leave in a vehicle. He was pulled over and arrested without incident, according to Moore.
Gat is being held at the North Central Regional Jail in Pennsboro, West Virginia, until his extradition hearing in Monongalia County Court, according to Moore, who said the hearing is likely scheduled for next week. Following his hearing, Alaska will have 30 days to pick him up.
Police spokeswoman Jennifer Castro said marshals will escort Gat back to Alaska to be arraigned. She said police did not have a specific date for when he would return.
“The U.S. Marshals will notify us when he is back in Anchorage,” she said.
Bangout is in custody and has been indicted by a grand jury for charges of first- and second-degree murder.
