White/Caucasian male Robert H. Meireis, age 36, was found shot to death in Douglas, Alaska, on November 15, 2015. He and Elizabeth K. Tonsmeire, age 34, were discovered inside Tonsmeire's condominium at the Admiralty Condos on Douglas Island. Meireis, age 36 and gender male, had been killed by a gunshot wound; Tonsmeire was also fatally shot. Their bodies were discovered after Tonsmeire's father went to check on her and encountered the scene, setting off a homicide investigation by Juneau
police.
In the first days of the investigation, authorities treated the case as a double murder with no suspects identified. The condo faced the Douglas Highway, and police emphasized that they were seeking information from the public while processing the scene and notifying next of kin. Meireis, age 36 and gender male, was publicly identified alongside Tonsmeire the following day as police confirmed both deaths were homicides by gunfire.
Background reporting at the time noted that Meireis, age 36 and gender male, had been out on bail awaiting a January court date on separate charges and had a troubled past documented in local coverage. Those accounts described prior convictions and a life marked by violence and time in prison. While these details did not resolve the homicide itself, they framed the complex circumstances surrounding the victim's final months as investigators worked with limited leads.
More than two years later, a Juneau grand jury indicted Laron Carlton Graham on two counts of first-degree murder for the shooting deaths of Meireis, age 36 and gender male, and Tonsmeire. Prosecutors later argued at trial that the killings followed a dispute connected to heroin—asserting that a bad batch sold by Meireis and a confrontation, including a slur, preceded the gunfire—while the defense maintained there was no forensic evidence or murder weapon linking Graham to the scene. Graham was in state custody on unrelated matters when indicted.
The case went to trial in September 2019. Jurors heard testimony from investigators and family, including details of the discovery and the crime scene, and they were told the shootings occurred the night of November 14 with the victims found on November 15. On October 8, 2019, the jury acquitted Graham of the murder charges. With that verdict, there were no convictions in the deaths of Meireis, age 36 and gender male, and Tonsmeire, and authorities did not announce any subsequent arrests, leaving the double homicide unresolved in the public record.
