A Fairbanks man’s death Wednesday morning stemmed from false allegations of rape, charging documents say.
The beating death of 37-year-old Wesley Lord was instigated by claims of rape from 31-year-old Dominique Vasquez, girlfriend of 39-year-old Abraham Stine, according to charging documents. The couple is charged with second-degree murder.
At 4:58 a.m., Alaska State Troopers received a call from the the Extended Stay America hotel in Fairbanks regarding a disturbance. Stine told troopers on scene that Lord — Stine’s cousin — had raped Vasquez and that Lord was “passed out” on the floor of room 116, according to a sworn affidavit signed by Investigator Joseph Harris. Troopers initially attempted to handcuff Lord, but they noticed his hands were stiff and he had no pulse. Blood on the floor also indicated he sustained blunt-force trauma. Medics were summoned who declared Lord deceased.
Stine was taken into custody and interviewed. Troopers located Jeffrey Bodfish and Tyrone Akpik, who were also interviewed as witnesses.
Lord and Vasquez reportedly engaged in consensual sex while Akpik was in the shower and Bodfish was present in the room, but Vasquez told investigators that she knew Stine had a history of aggression and violence, the affidavit says. She mentioned a previous incident where Stine sat on her chest in anger, making it difficult for her to breathe.
According to court documents based on their testimonies, Stine climbed through a hotel window and began punching Lord repeatedly after Akpik told him Lord had raped Vasquez in his absence. Akpik and Bodfish both admitted to authorities that Vasquez threatened them to say Lord raped her when Stine initially appeared.
Bodfish, Vasquez and Akpik all say Stine continued punching Lord even after he went unconscious, even suggesting the beating went on for up to 10 minutes. At some point, Vasquez “went over to Lord, and was covering his mouth with her hand and it appeared she was choking him,” according to Akpik’s testimony to investigators. Vasquez admitting to putting her hand over Lord’s mouth, “to silence him so AST would not get called,” the charges say.
Stine tried to clean up some of the blood, at which point Bodfish and Akpik told Vasquez to get dressed and they left. The three left the hotel and went to a Super 8 motel, where Vasquez told Bodfish to collect business cards to show troopers to “prove” they were staying at the other location.
Troopers noted several empty bottles of alcohol in the room, and Bodfish admitted the group had been using methamphetamine earlier that day as well.
Stine and Vasquez were video conferenced in for their arraignment in Fairbanks court Thursday before Magistrate Judge Nikole Schick.