Louis Hastings 1983 Mass Murder in McCarthy, Alaska
Overview
On March 1, 1983, Louis D. Hastings, a 39-year-old unemployed computer programmer from Anchorage, launched a calculated shooting spree in the remote village of McCarthy, Alaska. Armed with a .223-caliber Ruger Mini-14 rifle, Hastings systematically killed six of the 22 residents and wounded two others. It is believed his motive was to eliminate witnesses before sabotaging the Trans-Alaska pipeline as part of an environmentalist fantasy and possibly a suicidal act. He surrendered without resistance after state troopers found him fleeing on a snowmobile.
Victims (Killed on March 1, 1983)
- Maxine Edwards
- Harley Bain King (61-year-old U.S. Army veteran)
- Les Hegland
- Flo Hegland
- Tim Nash
- Amy Lou Ashenden Nash
- Survivors (Wounded on March 1, 1983):
- Christopher Richards (29) – shot in the eye and neck while having coffee; he slashed Hastings with a knife and escaped into the snow to be rescued via snowmobile
- Donna Byram (32) – wounded in the arm while trying to wave off a mail plane; she fled into the woods until law enforcement arrived
Legal Proceedings & Sentence
- Hastings pleaded no contest to six counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder .
- On July 28, 1984, he was sentenced to a total of 634 years in prison by Superior Judge Ralph Moody—the sentence considered one of the longest in Alaska’s history .
- The court rejected a defense claiming temporary insanity or suicidal environmentalist rationale; psychiatrists testified he had personality disorders but was not legally insane .
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