Do you know who murdered Sang In Chun? On the morning of December 12, 2009, at about 2:30 a.m., Anchorage police responded to a gunfire incident at the Inlet Inn, located on the 500 block of H Street. They found two adult male gunshot victims. One was the front desk clerk, who had been robbed at gunpoint and sustained non-life-threatening injuries. The other was Sang In Chun, a 76-year-old Asian male, who was sitting on a couch in the lobby when he was struck. He died of his wounds.
The front desk had been robbed during the incident.
For many years, this case remained unsolved. There were descriptions given early on: the suspect was said to be a Hispanic man about 5 feet, 8 inches tall, with black hair and facial stubble. Investigators at the time had prepared a sketch from witness descriptions, but leads eventually dwindled and the case went cold.
In April 2024, a breakthrough came when a man named John Patrick Dahlquist, then 56, contacted police and confessed. He admitted that in the early hours of December 2009, he entered the Inlet Inn, robbed the front desk clerk, and then shot both the clerk and Sang In Chun—Chun as a bystander. The weapon used was identified in charging documents as a Hi-Point 9mm pistol. Dahlquist said he fled by taxi after the shooting.
Following his confession, an Anchorage grand jury indicted Dahlquist on three counts of second-degree murder for the killing of Sang Il Chun and related shootings. Because of how much time had passed, prosecutors could not pursue robbery or assault charges related to the incident. If convicted, Dahlquist faces up to 99 years in prison. Bail has been set and he is being held in custody pending trial.
