Murder and Mystery in The Last Frontier

Episode 1:

The McCarthy Massacre of 1983:

The residents living within a fifty-mile radius of McCarthy, Alaska, enjoyed their solitary lives, but they looked forward to gathering and socializing each Tuesday while they waited for their mail plane. Everything changed on March 1st, 1983. Mail day would never be the same again.

Episode 2:

The Disappearance of Laura Henderson:

What happened to Laura Henderson? One of the most controversial court cases in the history of the state of Alaska resulted from the disappearance of a woman on Kodiak Island in 1986. At best, this case is an example of an inept police investigation, a prosecution determined to win at any cost, and inadequate defense counsel. At worst, this case represents a corrupt police force and perhaps even a corrupt judicial system. To this day, though, people still ask, “What happened to Laura Henderson?“

Episode 3:

The Investor Murders:
Alaska‘s Worst Unsolved Murder Case:

What happened on the F.V. Investor on a September night in 1982 in the sleepy village of Craig, Alaska? By the time investigators extinguished the flames on the burning vessel, the remains of eight people had been reduced to little more than bone fragments. Who committed this violent crime, and what was the motive?

Episode 4:

The Murder of Sophie Sergie:

In the early morning hours of Monday, April 26, 1993, someone brutally raped, stabbed and shot Sophie Sergie in a college dorm on the University of Alaska campus in Fairbanks. Several hours later, a janitor discovered Sophie‘s body stuffed in a bathtub in a second-floor bathroom in the dorm. No one saw or heard anything. Sophie‘s case soon went cold and remained cold for the next 18 years. Would her murder ever be solved?

Episode 5:

The Hunter:
Serial Killer Robert Hansen:

Investigators believe Robert Hansen murdered at least thirty women in Alaska between 1971 and 1983. With some of his victims, Hansen brutally raped them and then told them to run while he hunted them down as if they were big game trophies.

Episode 6:

The Newman Family Murders:

This episode covers the 1987 murders of a mother and her two daughters. This crime angered and terrified Anchorage residents, and they wondered who could commit such a brutal act, and whether he would strike again.

Episode 7:

The North Pole Murders:

After a string of closely spaced murders of young women near Fairbanks in the late 1970s and early 80s, the abductions and murders stopped. Troopers didn‘t believe the vicious killer had suddenly quit murdering young women, but they thought the predator had moved somewhere else. Unfortunately, at the time, they had no database to track the killer‘s movements beyond Alaska. Only the deductive reasoning and hard work of seasoned investigators traced the monster four thousand miles to his new hunting grounds.

Episode 8:

Congressmen Hale Boggs and Nick Begich Disappear in Alaska:

On October 16th, 1972, a Cessna 310 with the tail number N1812H operated by Pan Alaska Airways disappeared somewhere between Anchorage and Juneau, Alaska. The plane was piloted by Don Jonz, 38, the chief pilot for Pan Alaska. Jonz was a military veteran with more than 17,000 hours of flight time. The passengers on the plane were Alaska Congressman Nick Begich, 40, his aide Russell Brown, 37, and Louisiana Congressman Hale Boggs, 58, the U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader. The three men were planning to attend an election rally for Begich in Juneau. Was the disappearance due to an accident or something far more sinister?

Episode 9:

The Murders at Manley Hot Springs:

Manley Hot Springs, located 160 miles west of Fairbanks, marks the end of the road, where civilization meets wilderness, and the boat landing in Manley Hot Springs offers the last portage for fishermen, trappers, and wanderers to launch their boats and travel further up the icy Tanana River. Because the road ends in Manley, residents admit they see their share of drifters and people trying to escape from somewhere or something. When Michael Silka arrived in Manley on Monday, May 13, 1984, folks accepted him as another straggler searching for a new life. They should have been terrified. Michael Silka was about to forever change sleepy Manley Hot Springs.

Episode 10:

Bizarre Murder of a Floatplane Pilot:

Anchorage, Alaska, is the small plane capital of the world, and flying in Alaska is a thrilling experience where you can view spectacular scenery and reach remote lakes, rivers, and stretches of wilderness that are inaccessible by road. For the commercial pilots who fly these small planes, though, the job can be stressful at times, and they must depend on their skills and common sense. Every year, small plane crashes make the news in Alaska, and sadly, I have known too many pilots who have been injured or killed in crashes. Pilots know their jobs can be dangerous, and commercial pilots are sometimes pressured by their passengers or bosses to fly in marginal weather conditions. The weather might be beautiful in the morning when the pilot leaves base, but he knows conditions can change quickly and weather patterns often vary from one mountain pass to the next. Commercial pilots in Alaska have a tough job, but near the bottom of a pilot‘s list of concerns is the fear he will be murdered on the job. After all, who would want to kill his pilot?