On November 12th, 2015, Peter, the Island Air, mail-plane pilot, landed at Port William Wilderness Lodge on Shuyak Island. The lodge occupies an old cannery, and Peter found this stop memorable because instead of both of the lodge’s caretakers greeting him, as usual, only one caretaker, 44-year-old Steven Ridenour, met the plane. Peter wondered why the other caretaker, Steven McCaulley, 56, also did not arrive to help unload the freight. Since the tide was high, the plane could not pull up to the beach, and Ridenour had to ferry the mail to shore by boat. Without McCaulley there to assist, the job proved difficult and time-consuming. Peter also found it curious that Ridenour simply stacked the freight above the high-tide mark, grabbed his gear, and jumped on the plane for a ride back to Kodiak. Ridenour then flew to Anchorage where he lived.

On November 15th, Steven Ridenour called the manager of Port William Wilderness Lodge, told him he’d quit his job, and asked for his past four paychecks. On November 17th, Steven Ridenour’s brother, Don, called the lodge manager and said his brother sent him and other family members Facebook messages stating he killed his fellow caretaker, Steven McCaulley, in self-defense, and he needed money to leave the state. The manager contacted the Alaska State Troopers and requested a welfare check on McCaulley at the lodge.

Christiansen, Scott. 3-17-2017. I killed a man on Shuyak who tried to kill me with a chainsaw. Kodiak Daily Mirror. Available at http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/news/article_533bfb52-0abc-11e7-bc83-97c66a534f34.html

Christiansen, Scott. 3-15-2017. Shuyak Island killing case goes to trial. Kodiak Daily Mirror. Available at http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/news/article_cc2b2096-0923-11e7-a7e6-7b4185115b1c.html

Christiansen Scott. 4-7-2017. Murder defendant’s phone messages point to heavy drinking. Kodiak Daily Mirror. Available at http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/news/article_2f0b2b10-1b3b-11e7-8882-af591c19cbde.html

Associated Press. 9-20-2018. Anchorage man sentenced to 62 years in murder of co-worker at lodge near Kodiak. Anchorage Daily News. ______________________________________

___________________

https://youtu.be/7Fv52Bf8yfY

___________________

______

Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.

Robin invites you to join her at her website: https://robinbarefield.com, and while you are there, sign up for her free monthly newsletter about true crime in Alaska. Robin also narrates a podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. You can find it at: https://murder-in-the-last-frontier.blubrry.net

Subscribe to Robin’s free, monthly Murder and Mystery Newsletter for more stories about true crime and mystery from Alaska.

Send me an email: [email protected]

_______________________

____________________________________________________________

Would you like to support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join The Last Frontier Club.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

On January 23, 1959, ten hikers embarked on a wilderness hiking/skiing expedition into the Ural Mountains in the Eastern Soviet Union. Most of the hikers were students at Sverdlovsk’s Ural Polytechnic Institute (UPI). One of the hikers began to feel ill and left the group early, but when the remaining nine hikers did not return to the Institute by February 20, searchers began looking for them. Their horrific discovery persists as one of the great mysteries of the northern wilderness.

___________

___________________

https://youtu.be/7Fv52Bf8yfY

___________________

______

Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.

Robin invites you to join her at her website: https://robinbarefield.com, and while you are there, sign up for her free monthly newsletter about true crime in Alaska. Robin also narrates a podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. You can find it at: https://murder-in-the-last-frontier.blubrry.net

Subscribe to Robin’s free, monthly Murder and Mystery Newsletter for more stories about true crime and mystery from Alaska.

Send me an email: [email protected]

___________________________________________________________________________________

Would you like to support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join The Last Frontier Club.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

A family moved to a small Alaska village because the parents believed it would be a safe environment where they could raise their children. Then, the unthinkable happened. Eleven-year-old Mandy Lemaire only had to walk a short distance to her girlfriend’s house, but when she didn’t arrive, the entire village began searching for her.

___________________

___________________

https://youtu.be/7Fv52Bf8yfY

___________________

______

Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.

Robin invites you to join her at her website: https://robinbarefield.com, and while you are there, sign up for her free monthly newsletter about true crime in Alaska. Robin also narrates a podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. You can find it at: https://murder-in-the-last-frontier.blubrry.net

Subscribe to Robin’s free, monthly Murder and Mystery Newsletter for more stories about true crime and mystery from Alaska.

Send me an email: [email protected]

___________________________________________________________________________________

Would you like to support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join The Last Frontier Club.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

A ghost ship is an adrift vessel with no living passengers or crew aboard. Sometimes, we know why the ship was abandoned or what tragedy occurred to the passengers and crew, but other times, we are left to guess what happened aboard the vessel during the last few hours and minutes when the crew inexplicably abandoned the ship or died aboard it. Alaska has many ghostship tales. Here are three of them.

Levi, Steven. The Clara Nevada; Gold, Greed, Murder and Alaska’s Inside Passage. 2011. History Press.

De Abreu, Kristine. “The SS Baychimo, 38 years as a ghost ship.” March 28, 2023. Exploration Mysteries.

Reamer, David. “The mysterious fate of the Baychimo, the ghost ship that haunted the Arctic for decades.” October 29, 2023. Anchorage Daily News.

Snoderly, Joan. “Family searches for memories of a father lost at sea.” August 31, 2017. Kodiak Daily Mirror.

Sullivan, Toby. “The Tragedy of the John and Olaf.” January 14, 2016. Kodiak Maritime Museum.

_______________

https://youtu.be/7Fv52Bf8yfY

___________________

______

Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.

Robin invites you to join her at her website: https://robinbarefield.com, and while you are there, sign up for her free monthly newsletter about true crime in Alaska. Robin also narrates a podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. You can find it at: https://murder-in-the-last-frontier.blubrry.net

Subscribe to Robin’s free, monthly Murder and Mystery Newsletter for more stories about true crime and mystery from Alaska.

Send me an email: [email protected]

___________________________________________________________________________________

Would you like to support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join The Last Frontier Club.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

It took a horrible murder for Alaska to revise its statutes for the criminally insane from some of the most lenient sentencing laws in the country to the strictest laws in the U.S. for the insanity defense.

On the night of May 3, 1982, one veteran Anchorage police officer was quoted as saying, “This has got to be one of the grisliest nights I’ve ever seen.” Within an hour, seven people lost their lives. Three died in the Black Bull bar in the Muldoon section of Anchorage, and the other four were shot in Russian Jack Springs Park in East Anchorage. At first, investigators wondered if the two crime scenes were connected, but they soon learned nothing linked the two horrific events.

Ice Cold Killers Season Two, Episode One: Blood Red Sun.

 Brennan, Tom. 2001. By Reason of Insanity. Murder at 40 Below. Epicenter Press.

 Murderpedia, Charles L. Meach III.

New York Times (1982), New Law on Insanity Plea Stirs Dispute in Alaska.

____________

________________________________

https://youtu.be/7Fv52Bf8yfY

___________________

______

Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.

Robin invites you to join her at her website: https://robinbarefield.com, and while you are there, sign up for her free monthly newsletter about true crime in Alaska. Robin also narrates a podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. You can find it at: https://murder-in-the-last-frontier.blubrry.net

Subscribe to Robin’s free, monthly Murder and Mystery Newsletter for more stories about true crime and mystery from Alaska.

Send me an email: [email protected]

___________________________________________________________________________________

Would you like to support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join The Last Frontier Club.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

When a fifty-two-year-old traveling nurse disappeared in Anchorage in 2001, the authorities showed little interest, and the Anchorage Police Department said they did not have available detectives to investigate the case. If the authorities had taken his disappearance more seriously, perhaps we would know the answer to the question: What happened to Thomas Nuzzi?

“Missing Person Thomas Anthony Nuzzi.” nd. Alaska State Troopers Department of Public Safety.

“Nuzzi, Thomas June 2021.” August 21, 2006. Porchlight International for the Missing & Unidentified.

Pesznecker, Katie. “Into thin air.” July 6, 2001. Anchorage Daily News.

Pesznecker, Katie. “Missing Bethel nurse walked into a mini-mart, then out of sight.” August 21, 2006. Anchorage Daily News.

Pesznecker, Katie. “Mystery woman appears on video. July 31, 2001. Anchorage Daily News.

Pesznecker, Katie. “Search for missing man escalates.” June 27, 2001. Anchorage Daily News.

Pesznecker, Katie. “Troopers suspend search for man missing in Chugach.” June 28, 2001. Anchorage Daily News.

“Thomas Anthony Nuzzi.” nd. The Charley Project.

Warder, Robin. “Episode 380: Thomas Nuzzi.” May 22, 2024. The Trail Went Cold.

_____________________

_________________________________________________

________________________________

https://youtu.be/7Fv52Bf8yfY

___________________

______

Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.

Robin invites you to join her at her website: https://robinbarefield.com, and while you are there, sign up for her free monthly newsletter about true crime in Alaska. Robin also narrates a podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. You can find it at: https://murder-in-the-last-frontier.blubrry.net

Subscribe to Robin’s free, monthly Murder and Mystery Newsletter for more stories about true crime and mystery from Alaska.

Send me an email: [email protected]

___________________________________________________________________________________

Would you like to support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join The Last Frontier Club.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Mt. Iliamna is an active cone-shaped volcano located one hundred and forty miles (225 km) southwest of Anchorage and seventy miles (113 km) northwest of Homer. It is part of the Chigmit Mountains and rises from its base near Cook Inlet to 10,016 feet (3052.9 m), one of the highest peaks in the volcanically active area of the Alaska Peninsula. Ten glaciers radiate from the volcano’s slopes.

Iliamna last erupted in 1867, and observers have occasionally seen smoke wafting from the summit since then. However, it is the weather surrounding the mountain, not the volcanic activity, that makes Iliamna dangerous. Clouds frequently cloak the mountain’s peak, and turbulent winds buffet this mountainous region, creating some of the most hazardous weather on the planet. Coastal fog and rain often create restricted visibility and a low ceiling. For aviators, flying in this area of the state can be challenging, dangerous, and sometimes deadly. Between 1958 and 1977, four mid-sized planes either crashed into Mt. Iliamna or were destroyed by the turbulence near the mountain, killing a total of seventy-nine people.

Abbott, Jeanne. “No survivors found at site of plane crash.” September 9, 1977. Anchorage Daily News.

“Clouds, rain hinder search.” February 14, 1977. Anchorage Daily News.

“Ground party will investigate wreck of C-54 at Iliamna.” December 27, 1958. Anchorage Daily News.

“Halt attempted to recover airmen on Mt. Iliamna.” December 29, 1958. Anchorage Daily News.

Liefer, Gregory P. Aviation Mysteries of the North. “Cleared as Filed.” 2011. Anchorage, AK. Publication Consultants.

Liefer, Gregory P. Broken Wings. “Turbulence Over Pedro Bay.” 2014. Anchorage, AK. Publication Consultants.

Liefer, Gregory P. Broken Wings. “An Accumulation of Errors.” 2014. Anchorage, AK. Publication Consultants.

“Mt. Iliamna crash hearing to open today.” November 9, 1977. Anchorage Daily News.

“Mt. Iliamna – Where 15 Alaska airmen died.” December 27, 1958. Anchorage Daily News.

“Pilots, AAI blamed for crash.” May 5, 1978. Anchorage Daily News.

“Plane wreckage is identified as missing C-54.” December 26, 1958. Anchorage Daily News.

Porterfield, Bob. “AAI crash probe opens.” November 10, 1977. Anchorage Daily News.

Porterfield, Bob. “Federal findings show AAI plane’s violation.” October 22, 1977. Anchorage Daily News.

Porterfield, Bob. “Iliamna crash – why?” October 1, 1977. Anchorage Daily News.

“Rescuers held off crash site.” September 8, 1977. Anchorage Daily News.

Weller, Robert. “Controller at fault in air crash?” February 15, 1977. Anchorage Daily News.

_______________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

________________________________

Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.

Robin invites you to join her at her website: https://robinbarefield.com, and while you are there, sign up for her free monthly newsletter about true crime in Alaska. Robin also narrates a podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. You can find it at: https://murder-in-the-last-frontier.blubrry.net

Subscribe to Robin’s free, monthly Murder and Mystery Newsletter for more stories about true crime and mystery from Alaska.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Would you like to support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join The Last Frontier Club.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

I can’t imagine the agony of losing a child for any reason, but how does a mother cope when she learns someone murdered her daughter, and she knows terror and pain must have marked the last moments of her child’s life? The book Justice for Bonnie deals with this issue. The well-written book profiles a mother’s fight to learn the truth about what happened to her daughter.

To read more about Bonnie Craig and her mother’s fight for justice, I highly recommend Justice for Bonnie.

Holland, Magan. 5/2/2007. DNA links prison inmate to 1994 Bonnie Craig murder. Anchorage Daily News.

Mann, Camille. 5/18/2011. Kenneth Dion, ex-soldier on trial for 1994 murder of Alaska coed Bonnie Craig. CBS News.

Grove, Casey. 10/31/2011. Bonnie Craig’s killer sentenced to 124 years in prison. Anchorage Daily News.

_______________________

_________________________________________________

________________________________

https://youtu.be/7Fv52Bf8yfY

___________________

______

Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.

Robin invites you to join her at her website: https://robinbarefield.com, and while you are there, sign up for her free monthly newsletter about true crime in Alaska. Robin also narrates a podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. You can find it at: https://murder-in-the-last-frontier.blubrry.net

Subscribe to Robin’s free, monthly Murder and Mystery Newsletter for more stories about true crime and mystery from Alaska.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Would you like to support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join The Last Frontier Club.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

On the morning of October 7, 2010, Lisa Donlon dialed 911 and told the dispatcher she had just shot and killed her husband. When the police arrived at the twenty-foot by twenty-foot, one-room shed where Lisa lived with her husband, Jason, and their three young sons, they found Jason lying in bed on his stomach. Lisa had shot him once in the head and five times in the back. She claimed she’d killed him in self-defense while he slept. Her two youngest sons were present in the cabin when their mother murdered their father.

Lisa’s body showed signs of abuse, and she told a horrific story about the torture she’d endured at the hands of her husband, Jason. Still, people asked the age-old question. Instead of killing Jason, why didn’t she take her children and leave?

Bottaro, Angelica. “How to recognize and end the cycle of abuse.” June 8, 2022. Verywell health.

Demer, Lisa. “Domestic-violence victim charged in spouse’s death.” December 27, 2010. Anchorage Daily News.

McKee, K.T. “Grand jury won’t indict woman in Butte shooting.” November 2, 2010. Anchorage Daily News.

Palsha, Rebecca. “Lisa Donlon, acquitted in husband’s death, speaks out.” April 3, 2013. KTUU News.

“Prudential Life Insurance Company v. Donlon.” May 7, 2015. Casetext.

Wellner, Andrew. “Donlon details abuse for jury during murder trial.” March 14, 2013. Frontiersman.

Wellner, Andrew. “Jury deliberates Donlon’s fate.” March 28, 2013. Frontiersman.

Wellner, Andrew. “Testimony: friends knew of abuse.” March 16, 2013. Frontiersman.

____________________________

_________________________________________________

________________________________

https://youtu.be/7Fv52Bf8yfY

___________________

______

Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.

Robin invites you to join her at her website: https://robinbarefield.com, and while you are there, sign up for her free monthly newsletter about true crime in Alaska. Robin also narrates a podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. You can find it at: https://murder-in-the-last-frontier.blubrry.net

Subscribe to Robin’s free, monthly Murder and Mystery Newsletter for more stories about true crime and mystery from Alaska.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Would you like to support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join The Last Frontier Club.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Most of us like to believe we can trust the police, but not everyone goes into law enforcement for the greater good. Some enter the police academy because they crave power over others and what better job than policing offers this power? I believe most police officers are good, and a few are bullies. John Patrick Addis, though, was the worst kind of police officer. He was a monster with a badge.

Puitt, Glenn.  Ghost: The True Story of One Man’s Descent into Madness and Murder

Zekan, Karen. 10/19/1998. Remains identified as those of LV woman. Las Vegas Sun.

Tataboline, Brant. 8/2/2003. Ex-trooper linked to second disappearance

Cervone, Chellie. 2/15/2013. Joann Albenese, Las Vegas woman’s death and disappearance. Las Vegas World News.

_________________________________________________

________________________________

https://youtu.be/7Fv52Bf8yfY

___________________

______

Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.

Robin invites you to join her at her website: https://robinbarefield.com, and while you are there, sign up for her free monthly newsletter about true crime in Alaska. Robin also narrates a podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. You can find it at: https://murder-in-the-last-frontier.blubrry.net

Subscribe to Robin’s free, monthly Murder and Mystery Newsletter for more stories about true crime and mystery from Alaska.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Would you like to support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join The Last Frontier Club.

____________________________________________________________________________________________