On October 25, 2017, male age 64, Brian L. Stanton was shot to death at the Phoenix Logging Camp in Keete Inlet on Prince of Wales Island, roughly 15 miles from Hydaburg, Alaska. Camp staff found the 64-year-old man in his trailer that morning and alerted authorities; Alaska State Troopers identified the scene as part of a remote logging operation reached by air and water from nearby communities like Hydaburg and Ketchikan. Early reports noted the killing occurred at the camp itself, and memorial listings recorded the place of death as Hydaburg, reflecting the nearest community to the crime.
Investigators quickly focused on another camp worker, 26-year-old Timothy P. Murphy of Ketchikan. According to troopers and multiple local outlets, Murphy made incriminating statements to fellow employees and ultimately confessed to shooting the 64-year-old man. He was arrested the same day and booked into the Craig jail on Prince of Wales Island while troopers and prosecutors prepared murder charges.
In the days that followed, authorities formally charged Murphy with first-degree murder for the killing of the 64-year-old male victim. Coverage across Southeast Alaska described a workplace slaying inside a remote camp, with law enforcement ferrying between small island communities to secure the scene, interview witnesses, and transport the suspect. The case progressed in Ketchikan Superior Court as prosecutors assembled accounts from camp employees and troopers' investigators about the events leading up to the shooting.
Years later, the court record reached its conclusion. In March 2019, Murphy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and in July 2019 a judge sentenced him to a total of 45 years in prison with 18 years suspended, followed by 10 years of probation, for the killing of the 64-year-old male victim. Local public radio and newspaper reports chronicled the hearing and its outcome, closing the loop on the arrests and suspect information first reported from that isolated logging camp near Hydaburg.
