Lt. Paul Honeman of the APD spoke with the media about the detectives investigations. File photo, Alaska Suerstation ABC®.
Story Created:
Apr 14, 2008 at 9:47 PM AKDT
Story Updated:
Apr 14, 2008 at 9:47 PM AKDT
The drinking companion of a man who was shot in the head has admitted to Anchorage police that he fired the gun that killed the victim. The body was found Saturday night on the Campbell Creek bike trail in South Anchorage.
46-year-old Roger Perkins told detectives he was handling a gun when it went off, said Anchorage Police Department spokesman Paul Honeman on Sunday.
Perkins was drinking with the two other men, including the 48-year-old victim, said Honeman. All three were drinking near a new bridge in the proximity of Arctic and Diamond boulevards Saturday evening.
"He did talk to detectives and he was kind of reluctant at first, but later he did talk about using the firearm," Honeman said.
Around 8:00 p.m. on Saturday the victim was spotted on the bike trail by a passerby. By the time police arrived the victim was dead, said Honeman.
It is the fifth homicide this year in Anchorage, with the fourth arrest made in a homicide case, Honeman said. The death of Brandon Wilson back in January is the only homicide case still open.
The total number of homicides does not include the mysterious death of Mia Soltis, an Anchorage woman whose body was found two weeks agon on the deck of an unconnected Jewel Lake home. Soltis's cause of death is still unknown, but homicide has not been ruled out.