A jury has found a 47-year-old Kiana man, known for his role in the film “On the Ice,” guilty of shooting two brothers and stealing their boat in September 2012, authorities say.
Tuesday, Teddy K. Smith was found guilty of two counts of first-degree attempted murder, two counts of first-degree robbery, two counts of second-degree theft and two counts of first-degree assault stemming from a Sept. 2012 incident on the Squirrel River.
On Sept.19, 2012, Alaska State Troopers helped transport two gunshot victims to separate hospitals. The victims — later identified as 46-year-old Paul James Buckel and 47-year-old Charles W. Buckel Jr. — had been hunting and afterwards traveled in their boat down the river. The Buckel brothers told troopers they had stopped at a cabin about 40 miles from Kiana the day before, according to an online dispatch from Alaska State Troopers posted Wednesday afternoon.
“[T]hey found another male already staying in the cabin, an altercation occurred and the two hunters were both shot,” the dispatch says.
The male, Smith, then stole the brothers’ inflatable boat, hunting equipment and floated down the river.
The next day, about 12 troopers — using aircraft and watercraft – were able to apprehend Smith in the stolen boat on the Squirrel River.
A prior warrant was out for Smith’s arrest following the death of his mother, Dolly Smith, on Sept. 7, 2012, which was originally reported as “suspicious,” troopers said. When first responders arrived at the scene of his mother’s residence, Smith — who troopers say had been drinking — discharged a firearm at a crowd of people outside the residence. He then fled the area and wasn’t seen again until troopers apprehended him on the Squirrel River.
No evidence was found to indicate he played a role in the death of his mother, troopers say. The jury, however, did find him guilty of three counts of third-degree assault stemming from the violent episode following his mother’s death.
Smith’s sentencing is slated for April 29, 2015.