A man has been charged with murder after the body of a 19-year-old woman was found in the backseat of his car in an Eagle River parking lot.
Suspect David Joseph Thomas, 28, has been charged with first- and second-degree murder after he allegedly told police he had strangled Linda Anne Martz Bower, his girlfriend, according to a written statement from the Anchorage Police Department. Bower’s next-of-kin have been notified.
Wednesday around 10:30 p.m., a man called the Anchorage Police Department and said his brother, later identified as Thomas, told him he had “strangled and killed his girlfriend and that she was in his vehicle,” the APD statement said.
Thomas drove off with Bower’s body in his car after the brother told Thomas he was going to call the police. The brother told police Thomas lived with him, according to a sworn affidavit signed by APD Detective Monique Doll.
Police are crediting the quick arrest to Thomas’s brother.
“The quicker that we can get there, the greater our chances of actually finding and locating that suspect” said APD spokesperson Jennifer Castro. “Especially at that late of night, when there’s not quite as many cars on the road.”
Shortly after, Thomas called APD and said he was at the Eagle River Walgreens, located at 12051 Old Glenn Hwy., and told authorities he wanted to surrender. Officers responded and Thomas was taken into custody without incident.
Early Thursday morning, police and the personnel from the State Medical Examiner’s Office were closely examining the interior of a black Mercedes-Benz in the Walgreens parking lot. Officers are also conducting an investigation at the suspect’s home, located on the 9700 block of Dinaaka Drive in Eagle River, the APD statement said.
During an interview with APD, Thomas told authorities he remembered being in his room and “being over” Bower while his hands were around her throat. He doesn’t remember what happened after, he said, and that when he woke up he was on the floor and his girlfriend was “stiff,” the affidavit says. The next thing he says he remembers after that is waking up in the front seat of his vehicle with Bower’s body in the backseat of his car.
Thomas was taken to the Anchorage Jail and was arraigned Thursday afternoon. Several members of Bower’s family attended via phone and spoke up when it came to setting bail. None of the speakers, only identified by their initials, wanted to see Thomas set free.
“This is her mom. S.M.,” said one member of Bower’s family. “And I agree, I don’t want any bail to be set. I want him to rot in jail.”
Thomas kept his head down for much of the hearing.
“I wouldn’t like any bail,” he said. “I don’t need bail.”
Prosecutor Jonas Walker asked the judge to attach special conditions to the bail. Though Thomas doesn’t have any known convictions in Alaska, he violated a protective order in Montana in 2006, according to the affidavit.
Walker told the judge the misdemeanor was “likely a prior domestic violence offense.” Bail was set at $500,000 cash appearance bond, $250,000 cash performance bond and Thomas would be required to have a third party custodian. The judge upheld the state’s special conditions; Thomas is to have no contact with his brother or Bower’s family.
Bower’s death marks the municipality’s 11th homicide this year, police say. Police are still trying to figure out what exactly led to the murder. Castro says the only way to prevent things like this from happening again is to take action.
“If we’re going to be true friends, true neighbors and a true community, we owe it to each other that when we know that kind of information, to do something with it and to do something about it,” Castro said.
Thomas will be back in court next Tuesday.