Two men in Alakanuk were found dead near the village annex store on the morning of July 1.
Ray Phillip, age 39, and Bajon Augline, age 25, appear to have died on scene, according to an Alaska State Trooper dispatch. A trooper investigation shows that before they died, the two men began fighting. Phillip pulled out a knife, the men struggled over the knife, and both were stabbed. The bodies of Phillip and Augline will be sent to Anchorage for autopsy, and troopers will continue to investigate the deaths.
The day the men died, the Alaska Department of Public Safety issued a press release saying that the deaths appear to be a result of domestic violence, and are part of a brutal string of recent domestic violence killings in Western Alaska that left five people dead in less than 10 days.
The other deaths are Lawrence Paul in Grayling on June 22, Rhonda Adams of Noatak on June 27, and Carol Whalen of McGrath on June 28.
Department of Public Safety Commissioner Amanda Price offers her condolences to the families of domestic violence victims and to survivors of domestic violence. She asks communities to cooperate with law enforcement to hold domestic violence offenders accountable before relationships turn physically violent, and she welcomes community dialogue to discuss solutions on how to do that.
