A woman has been charged with murder after she admitted to killing a 76-year-old man in his home on Easter Sunday and asked for help burying the body, authorities say.
April Cox, 27, of Wasilla was charged with second-degree murder after Phillip Gray, also of Wasilla, was found dead in his home on Horizon Drive.
In an outburst at her initial court appearance Monday, Cox claimed self-defense and Judge Tara Logsdon asked her to be quiet. Her bail was set at $100,000 cash performance bond plus a court-approved third-party custodian. Cox said she was unemployed and asked for a public defender.
According to a sworn affidavit signed by investigator Andrew Adams, Cox walked to a nearby house on Overlook Drive Sunday afternoon and told a homeowner and his friend she had “just killed someone and needed help burying the body.” She also had a “red substance consistent with blood on her hands.”
The Overlook Drive man called authorities at roughly 12:45 p.m. A barefoot Cox walked away, and the man tailed her in his pickup. She reportedly walked up to another residence and banged on a window, the affidavit says. The homeowner told Cox to leave and threatened to call police, but Cox “insisted that she needed to use their phone.”
Cox then allegedly barged into the home and said, “They have a gun.” The homeowner did not see anyone with a firearm, but did spot the Overlook Drive man’s truck, which he was driving back and forth in front of her home. The homeowner called 911 for help.
Cox — who reportedly had a sock wrapped around her hand and was carrying a bag — then went into a bathroom in the home. When troopers arrived, Cox came outside and told authorities she had left a gun in the bathroom and that she had killed Gray, Adams wrote.
Troopers found a gun in the bathroom, along with a cordless landline phone that belonged to Gray.
Gray’s body was discovered on the floor of his Horizon Drive home “with an apparent gunshot wound,” court documents say. His next-of-kin has been notified.
–Lauren Maxwell contributed reporting.
–Check back for updates on this developing story.