GUILTY AK - Sophie Sergie, 20, UAF student, murdered, Fairbanks, 26 April 1993 *Arrest in 2019*

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Monday, January 24th:
*Trial continues (Day 8) (@ 8:30am AKST) – AK – Sophie Sergie (20) (April 26, 1993, Fairbanks) - *Steven Harris Downs (18 @ time of crime/44/now 46) arrested (in Auburn, Maine), charged (2/15/19), indicted (3/14/19) & arraigned (8/6/19 & 8/14/19) with 1st degree intentional murder & 1st degree sexual assault. Plead not guilty. Held without bond, changed to $1M (8/6/19). Bond changed (8/16/19) to $550K.
DNA GEDMatch/Parabon Nanolabs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP)). The Downs case may be the first real test of the limits of DNA forensics in criminal prosecutions — that this case may even reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trial began on 1/10/22. (will last about 4 to 7 weeks). Jurors: 10 women & 6 men (includes 4 alternates).
Court information from 2/19/19 thru 1/5/22 & Trial Days 1/10 to 1/18/22 (Day 1-4) reference post #214 here:
AK - Sophie Sergie, 20, UAF student, murdered, Fairbanks, 26 April 1993 *Arrest in 2019*
1/18/22: Unopposed expedited Motion to Intervene filed by press (Motion #29). Entry of appearance: D. John McKay on behalf of Press (non-part participant). Motion for expedited consideration of Press Motion to Intervene (Motion #30). Order: granting Motion #29.
1/19/22 Wednesday, Trial Day 5: No info available on witnesses. Docket for 1/19/22: Letter to Judge Temple re: Media access to trial proceedings & documents. Trial continues on 1/20/22.
1/20/22 Thursday, Trial Day 6: State witnesses: Okcha Ancheta, cleaning lady found body testified via video conference. Mitch Flynn was a battalion chief on duty & he arrived at the Bartlett Hall bathroom shortly after other fire & police officers. James Russel Wolfe, Alaska Crime lab. Trial continues on 1/21/22.
1/21/22 Friday, Trial Day 7: State witnesses: James Russel Wolfe, Alaska Crime lab continued testifying. Former major crimes investigator Timothy Hunyor. No other info available. Trial continues on Monday, 1/24/22.
 
“I just walked around, knocking on the door and trying to find out information from other people,” he said. “They may have known who the victim was, they may have seen her, if they heard anything.”

“One of the problems we had, a lot of them, people were not in the dorms or anything,” said Hunyor. “They weren’t there anymore. We had a difficult time trying to contact people.”

Hunyor worked in Fairbanks from 1981 to 1994, and investigated major crimes like homicides. He worked that week with the University Police Department, and with other trooper investigators generally focused on the second floor of Bartlett Hall, where Sergie’s body was found in the bathroom.

Hunyor’s frustration was echoed by testimony from another trooper investigator, Lantz Dahlke, who canvassed all three dormitories that week.

“I thought that for sure, we would find people that saw the activity considering, you know, this is a college campus; people are up all day, all night,” said Dahlke. “But as I said, we had a lot of people leaving the campus. Potentially, we were losing witnesses every day.”

Hunyor testified last Friday by teleconference from Ohio, and Dahlke was in the courtroom in person.

Dahlke told the court that he tried to figure out who might have heard a gun going off in that second-floor bathroom.

“I’ve got a little bit of experience with .22s, and what you do is kind of recreate the sound that that may or may not have made,” he said. “And so, what I did was I went into the bathroom, dropped the stack of books on the floor to create a loud bang. When we did that, I had people out in the bathroom and also out in the hallway and they didn’t even know I did it.”
Investigators testify about losing potential witnesses after 1993 UAF campus murder
 
Tuesday, January 25th:
*Trial continues (Day 9) (@ 8:30am AKST) – AK – Sophie Sergie (20) (April 26, 1993, Fairbanks) - *Steven Harris Downs (18 @ time of crime/44/now 46) arrested (in Auburn, Maine), charged (2/15/19), indicted (3/14/19) & arraigned (8/6/19 & 8/14/19) with 1st degree intentional murder & 1st degree sexual assault. Plead not guilty. Held without bond, changed to $1M (8/6/19). Bond changed (8/16/19) to $550K.
DNA GEDMatch/Parabon Nanolabs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP)). The Downs case may be the first real test of the limits of DNA forensics in criminal prosecutions — that this case may even reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trial began on 1/10/22. (will last about 4 to 7 weeks). Jurors: 10 women & 6 men (includes 4 alternates).
Court information from 2/19/19 thru 1/5/22 & Trial Days 1/10 to 1/21/22 (Day 1-7) reference post #223 here:
AK - Sophie Sergie, 20, UAF student, murdered, Fairbanks, 26 April 1993 *Arrest in 2019*
1/24/22 Monday, Trial Day 8: State witnesses: Former roommate of Downs (no name). No other info available yet. From Friday, 1/21: State witness: State trooper investigator, Lantz Dahlke. Trial continues on Monday, 1/25/22.
 
Niner said:
Since I can't read the article - did it mention the former roommate's name? And any other witnesses? TIA! :)
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61ef6a49a84c1.image.jpg

Nicholas Dazer, right, a former roommate of Steven H. Downs when the two attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks, testifies Monday, Jan. 24, 2022, in Fairbanks Superior Court in the Sophie Sergie cold case murder trial. The court granted prior permission to use this screenshot for this purpose. Liv Clifford/News-Miner
 
imstilla.grandma said:
61ef6a49a84c1.image.jpg

Nicholas Dazer, right, a former roommate of Steven H. Downs when the two attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks, testifies Monday, Jan. 24, 2022, in Fairbanks Superior Court in the Sophie Sergie cold case murder trial. The court granted prior permission to use this screenshot for this purpose. Liv Clifford/News-Miner
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Thank you! And the article probably doesn't have other witnesses listed I take it. Wish I could read the articles that you post....
 
Niner said:
Thank you! And the article probably doesn't have other witnesses listed I take it. Wish I could read the articles that you post....
Click to expand...
A trooper assigned to investigate the case testified Monday he witnessed her partially nude body in the bathtub of the women’s bathroom. He said the body was wet to the touch, even though the tub was dry.

He was given evidence, including hairs, swabs of stains, fingerprints and a red disposable cigarette lighter found in the tub’s drain that had been collected by criminalists at the crime scene to package and label and transport to the state’s crime lab or a police evidence locker.

James McCann, the trooper who led the state police investigation of Sergie’s murder, took the witness stand Monday, testifying he spoke to as many people as possible to collect information, but witnesses “tend to be unreliable.”

“Most witnesses are good and they want to be helpful,” McCann said. “But when they start to think about things, they sometimes see things in their memory that were not accurate.”

McCann said he sought to hold back information from the public so only Sergie’s killer would know certain details about the crime, but that leaks within his department occurred.

A month after Sergie’s murder, McCann said, his unit was pulled away to investigate a major case involving the “strange disappearance of a public figure.” At that time, McCann’s investigators had not developed a viable lead for Sergie’s killer, he said.

“The worst crime of all is a sexual murder,” McCann said. “This woman was killed brutally. Not because of her own actions, but just because she was a woman and she was to come into that bathroom.

“She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That takes precedence, in my view.”
Auburn man’s roommate says Downs had gun at time of 1993 murder
 
In the days following, we were encouraged to work as much as we possibly could because the campus wanted to put out presence of law enforcement types because everyone was freaked out,” he said.

Dazer said he could not imagine a connection between Downs and the crime. He described his roommate as gregarious and popular with many friends. By the spring semester, Downs was spending more time with his girlfriend, who lived on the fourth floor of the dorm.

Dazer told Howaniec he had not thought much about the crime in the years afterward, until 2010, when two Alaska State Troopers called him in and interviewed him at the Oregon law firm where he worked then.

“I believe they asked me, did your roommate have any guns?” said Dazer.

“And you said he had an H&R .22?” said Howaniec.

“Right. And a derringer,” said Dazer.

Howaniec showed Dazer a photo of a .22 caliber pistol the state says could be the murder weapon. It was taken from Downs’ house in Maine. Dazer said he remembered Downs’ gun having flat sides, not rounded like the gun in the photograph. When questioned by prosecutors, he said he may be misremembering.

Former UAF roommate of Steven Downs takes the stand in Sophie Sergie murder trial - Alaska Public Media
 
Wednesday, January 26th:
*Trial continues (Day 10) (@ 8:30am AKST) – AK – Sophie Sergie (20) (April 26, 1993, Fairbanks) - *Steven Harris Downs (18 @ time of crime/44/now 46) arrested (in Auburn, Maine), charged (2/15/19), indicted (3/14/19) & arraigned (8/6/19 & 8/14/19) with 1st degree intentional murder & 1st degree sexual assault. Plead not guilty. Held without bond, changed to $1M (8/6/19). Bond changed (8/16/19) to $550K.
DNA GEDMatch/Parabon Nanolabs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP)). The Downs case may be the first real test of the limits of DNA forensics in criminal prosecutions — that this case may even reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trial began on 1/10/22. (will last about 4 to 7 weeks). Jurors: 10 women & 6 men (includes 4 alternates).
Court information from 2/19/19 thru 1/5/22 & Trial Days 1/10 to 1/21/22 (Day 1-7) reference post #223 here:
AK - Sophie Sergie, 20, UAF student, murdered, Fairbanks, 26 April 1993 *Arrest in 2019*
1/24/22 Monday, Trial Day 8: State witnesses: Nicholas Dazer, former roommate of Downs (no name). James McCann, State trooper who led the state police investigation. He spoke to as many people as possible to collect information, but witnesses “tend to be unreliable.” He was given evidence, including hairs, swabs of stains, fingerprints & a red disposable cigarette lighter found in the tub’s drain that had been collected by criminalists at the crime scene to package & label and transport to the state’s crime lab or a police evidence locker. From Friday, 1/21: State witness: State trooper investigator, Lantz Dahlke. Trial continues on Tuesday, 1/25/22.
1/25/22 Tuesday: Trial Day 9: State witnesses: No info yet. Trial continues on 1/26/22.
 
Niner said:
Wednesday, January 26th:
*Trial continues (Day 10) (@ 8:30am AKST) – AK – Sophie Sergie (20) (April 26, 1993, Fairbanks) - *Steven Harris Downs (18 @ time of crime/44/now 46) arrested (in Auburn, Maine), charged (2/15/19), indicted (3/14/19) & arraigned (8/6/19 & 8/14/19) with 1st degree intentional murder & 1st degree sexual assault. Plead not guilty. Held without bond, changed to $1M (8/6/19). Bond changed (8/16/19) to $550K.
DNA GEDMatch/Parabon Nanolabs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP)). The Downs case may be the first real test of the limits of DNA forensics in criminal prosecutions — that this case may even reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trial began on 1/10/22. (will last about 4 to 7 weeks). Jurors: 10 women & 6 men (includes 4 alternates).
Court information from 2/19/19 thru 1/5/22 & Trial Days 1/10 to 1/21/22 (Day 1-7) reference post #223 here:
AK - Sophie Sergie, 20, UAF student, murdered, Fairbanks, 26 April 1993 *Arrest in 2019*
1/24/22 Monday, Trial Day 8: State witnesses: Nicholas Dazer, former roommate of Downs (no name). James McCann, State trooper who led the state police investigation. He spoke to as many people as possible to collect information, but witnesses “tend to be unreliable.” He was given evidence, including hairs, swabs of stains, fingerprints & a red disposable cigarette lighter found in the tub’s drain that had been collected by criminalists at the crime scene to package & label and transport to the state’s crime lab or a police evidence locker. From Friday, 1/21: State witness: State trooper investigator, Lantz Dahlke. Trial continues on Tuesday, 1/25/22.
1/25/22 Tuesday: Trial Day 9: State witnesses: No info yet. Trial continues on 1/26/22.
Click to expand...
Thank you for following poor Sophie's story. I hope he gets the "book thrown at him".
 
Well - unfortunately I am not finding any recent articles - that I can access - for Tuesday, 1/25 and on... anyone else have any better luck?


Thursday, January 27th:
*Trial continues (Day 11) (@ 8:30am AKST) – AK – Sophie Sergie (20) (April 26, 1993, Fairbanks) - *Steven Harris Downs (18 @ time of crime/44/now 46) arrested (in Auburn, Maine), charged (2/15/19), indicted (3/14/19) & arraigned (8/6/19 & 8/14/19) with 1st degree intentional murder & 1st degree sexual assault. Plead not guilty. Held without bond, changed to $1M (8/6/19). Bond changed (8/16/19) to $550K.
DNA GEDMatch/Parabon Nanolabs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP)). The Downs case may be the first real test of the limits of DNA forensics in criminal prosecutions — that this case may even reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trial began on 1/10/22. (will last about 4 to 7 weeks). Jurors: 10 women & 6 men (includes 4 alternates).
Court information from 2/19/19 thru 1/5/22 & Trial Days 1/10 to 1/24/22 (Day 1-8) reference post #233 here:
AK - Sophie Sergie, 20, UAF student, murdered, Fairbanks, 26 April 1993 *Arrest in 2019*
1/25/22 Tuesday: Trial Day 9: State witnesses: No info yet. Trial continues on 1/26/22.
1/26/22 Wednesday, Trial Day 10: State witnesses: No info available. Trial continues on 1/27/22.
 
Well - still not getting recent articles for Monday thru Thursday.... anyone else have better luck? For my notes I need 2/25 thru 2/27. TIA if you can find "something".

Friday, January 28th:
*Trial continues (Day 12) (@ 8:30am AKST) – AK – Sophie Sergie (20) (April 26, 1993, Fairbanks) - *Steven Harris Downs (18 @ time of crime/44/now 46) arrested (in Auburn, Maine), charged (2/15/19), indicted (3/14/19) & arraigned (8/6/19 & 8/14/19) with 1st degree intentional murder & 1st degree sexual assault. Plead not guilty. Held without bond, changed to $1M (8/6/19). Bond changed (8/16/19) to $550K.
DNA GEDMatch/Parabon Nanolabs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP)). The Downs case may be the first real test of the limits of DNA forensics in criminal prosecutions — that this case may even reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trial began on 1/10/22. (will last about 4 to 7 weeks). Jurors: 10 women & 6 men (includes 4 alternates).
Court information from 2/19/19 thru 1/5/22 & Trial Days 1/10 to 1/24/22 (Day 1-8) reference post #233 here:
AK - Sophie Sergie, 20, UAF student, murdered, Fairbanks, 26 April 1993 *Arrest in 2019*
1/25/22 Tuesday: Trial Day 9: State witnesses: No info yet. Trial continues on 1/26/22.
1/26/22 Wednesday, Trial Day 10: State witnesses: No info available. Trial continues on 1/27/22.
1/27/21 Thursday, Trial Day 11: State witnesses: No info available. Trial continues on 1/28/22.
 
Niner said:
dang - can't access without subscription. Are there any other witnesses mentioned? TIA!
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Hi @Niner . It’s been awhile. I see you’re still alive and kicking. ❤️ I can’t get in either. Here’s this though:
A woman who was in a “sort of” relationship with an Auburn, Maine, man during the first few months of their freshman year at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks nearly 30 years ago took a photograph of him with a hunting knife that he owned, she testified Friday at his murder trial.


Bleu Roesbury testifies Friday at the murder trial of Steven H. Downs of Auburn, Maine, in Alaska, saying she remembered him having a knife similar to the one shown by prosecutors. Used with permission by Fairbanks Superior Court

Bleu Roesbury appeared in Fairbanks Superior Court by videoconference on a courtroom monitor at the murder and sexual assault trial of 47-year-old Steven H. Downs.

He has been charged in the April 26, 1993, slaying of Sophie Sergie, 20, of Pitkas Point, Alaska.

Roesbury said the “fairly large, fixed blade” knife had a brass handle and a silver blade.

She said Downs kept the knife on his desk in his third floor dorm room in Bartlett Hall.

Sergie’s body was found in the bathtub area of the women’s bathroom on the second floor of Bartlett Hall.

Roesbury said she remembered the knife because she had photographed Downs with it, but said the fact that he owned a knife didn’t seem unusual.

“Growing up in the wilderness of Alaska, knives and guns really didn’t make an impression on me because everyone I grew up with had them,” she said.

He never threatened her with the knife, she said. In the photo, he was playfully posing with it, she said.

Shown a photograph of a sheathed knife, Roesbury said it looked similar to the one she remembered.

Roesbury said she didn’t remember ever having seen him with a gun.
Fellow student snapped photo of Auburn man with hunting knife
 
Hamilton testified as a witness in Fairbanks Superior Court that she had created and examined slides from the crime scene and the autopsy of Sergie that contained bodily fluids that were preserved as evidence.

She said she had seen sperm in three of the many slides she looked at during her analysis 1993. But six years later, she reexamined the slides after a colleague had looked through them.

During her later perusal, Hamilton said she could see sperm on slides where she either hadn't seen it before or hadn't looked as closely and hadn't spent as much time in her examination.

By 1999, a genetic profile had been generated from the DNA found in bodily fluid inside Sergie's genitals.

That profile was compared to 15 people and none was a match, Hamilton said, including Kenneth Moto.

Moto is one of three alternative suspects Judge Thomas Temple is allowing Downs' defense team to present evidence against at trial implicating him in the crime.

A female student who was in the bathroom where Sergie's body was found around the time authorities believe she was killed described to police a man leaving the bathtub area of the bathroom as 5 feet, 8 inches tall, with black hair and wearing a gray shirt.
Alaska murder trial: DNA didn't match alternative suspect, witness says
 
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