Bethel Superior Court

The decision to vacate the conviction of 65-year-old Peter Albrite centers around doubts about his competency and comes just weeks after former Bethel Judge Terrence Haas stepped down as the state’s top public defender amid allegations of judicial conflict of interest in the case.

Top statewide public defender Terrence Haas apparently resigned last week amid allegations he failed to act impartially due to personal grievances in a 2022 case he oversaw as a Bethel Superior Court judge. But as of Sept. 2, Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office still hadn’t confirmed that Haas had resigned.

Jayme Watson, 27, has been sentenced to serve 1 year and 3 months in jail as part of a 5-year total sentence for an incident in Bethel that resulted in the death of Fritzerald Larson, and left Toby Jackson with permanent injuries.

Nicholas Tucker Jr., 49, has been convicted of felony assault and sentenced to serve 12 and a half years in jail for the July 2025 incident in which the girl lost her arm.

After Richard Pitka pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a Bethel judge sentenced him to 20 years in jail, with five years suspended for the shooting and killing of Russian Mission resident Patrick Changsak in his home.

On Feb. 12, a Bethel jury convicted Jonathan Murphy of misdemeanor assault, providing false information, and tampering with public records for a 2023 incident in which 44-year-old Bernard Mael was severely beaten following a traffic stop and pursuit.

Darren Hootch, 39, was sentenced for manslaughter and felony burglary after Brian Agwiak was found beaten to death in his home on Jan. 2, 2021. Another man, Rudolf Waska, received a nearly identical sentence in the case.

David Paul’s sentence is among the longest given for sexual assault and sexual abuse in the state’s history.

Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica reporter Kyle Hopkins recently wrote about Whitman’s murder and Paul’s release. He said the incident speaks to wider issues within Alaska’s justice system.

In separate incidents in 2023 captured on police body cameras, Bernard Mael and Nicholas Kerr claimed that Bethel police caused them serious harm. A criminal trial is pending for a former officer involved in both incidents.