Alaska man convicted in death of 2 troopers

  • Associated Press
  • Monday, May 16, 2016 7:25pm
  • Local News

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — A rural Alaska man who shot two state troopers to death was convicted Monday of two counts of first-degree murder.

A Fairbanks jury deliberated six hours before convicting Nathanial Kangas, 22, in the deaths of Sgt. Scott Johnson and Trooper Gabe Rich in May 2014, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.

The jury also returned special verdicts on each murder charge, saying the officers were both in uniform and were clearly identifiable as peace officers performing their duties when murdered. The sentence for each murder count is a mandatory 99-year prison term without the possibility of parole. Alaska does not have the death penalty.

A hearing was scheduled Friday to set a sentencing date.

The officers were shot at Kangas’ home in the village of Tanana, about 130 miles west of Fairbanks, as they attempted to arrest Kangas’ father.

Defense attorney Greg Parvin argued that Kangas was not guilty of premeditated murder. He said the younger man was trying to protect his father.

Rich and Johnson, both of whom had appeared on a cable TV reality show about the Alaska State Troopers, were attempting to arrest Kangas’ father, Arvin Kangas, for threatening Village Public Safety Officer Mark Haglin the night before.

Arvin Kangas was earlier convicted of evidence tampering for manipulating the troopers’ bodies and guns after they died to make it appear as if the officers had drawn their weapons during the arrest attempt. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Personal audio recorders worn by both troopers continued to record for hours after their deaths. Key portions of those recordings were played to the jury, including when Arvin and Nathaniel Kansas left the house after the shootings but returned shortly after, and then the recordings picked up sounds of holsters being unsnapped and gun slides being racked.

The prosecution’s case was presented over three days last week, but defense attorney Greg Parvin didn’t call a single witness.

He instead presented his case during closing arguments. He didn’t deny that Nathanial Kangas killed the two troopers, but he said the jury should return a verdict of manslaughter because he didn’t intend to kill them.

District Attorney Greggory Olson countered that Nathanial Kangas did act intentionally, and he noted the elder Kangas wasn’t shot even though he was underneath the troopers as they struggled on the floor.

Parvin also said his client had been saturated in vitriol and hate by his father, a member of the anti-government “Athabascan Nation” movement. Parvin said his client was brought up to despise law enforcement and shot the troopers because he believed they were there to kill his father.

Superior Court Judge Paul Lyle told the jury that “defense of others” was not a legal justification.

No roads lead to Tanana, and travel there is mainly by aircraft. Because of the location of the village, about two miles west of the junction of the Tanana and Yukon rivers, the community was a trading post for Koyukon and Tanana Athabascans long before European contact, according to a state website. Residents continue to live a traditional Athabascan lifestyle, including hunting and fishing for their food.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.