A 36-year-old white man named Weston Gladney of Anchorage, Alaska, was murdered and found dead on November 27, 2017. His body was discovered a few days later, on December 2, on a trail near Sullivan Avenue and Caudill Road in the Jim Creek area, southeast of Palmer. The Alaska State Troopers determined from the outset that his death was a homicide.
The first public notice came when a person out recreating found the body around 3:20 p.m., prompting troopers to open a homicide investigation. There are reports that gun violence was involved.
Two people were arrested on December 15, 2017, in connection with the case: Brian Scheele, age 56, and Helen Them, age 27, both residents of Anchorage. They were charged with Murder I.
Over the following week, more suspects emerged. A third person arrested was 42-year-old Joseph Ahuna, taken into custody under an outstanding murder warrant; authorities described this arrest as peaceful and without incident. There were also two additional suspects, Paulette “Pili” Kane, age 34, and Chalice Kesselring, age 28, for whom murder warrants had been issued.
Additionally, Paulette Kane was arrested in a parking lot in the 700 block of Northern Lights Boulevard; at the time she was in a Ford Expedition along with Chalice Kesselring. Kane had an outstanding warrant in relation to Gladney's homicide. Kesselring was charged with hindering the prosecutor. Around the same time, another man, Shawn Phillips, was arrested in connection with an outstanding felony warrant for tampering with evidence in the homicide.
The case remains complicated with multiple suspects, charges of Murder I, and outstanding warrants.
