Joshua Alan Wade

Serial Killer

Joshua Alan Wade: The Alaska Serial Killer Who Admitted to Five Murders

Joshua Alan Wade was an American serial killer whose crimes terrorized Anchorage, Alaska, and the surrounding region over a period spanning more than a decade. Born on March 18, 1980, in Great Falls, Montana, Wade moved to Anchorage as a child and accumulated a lengthy history of juvenile detention, violence and criminal behavior. He ultimately admitted responsibility for killing five people between 1994 and 2007, although he was formally convicted for only two of the murders. Wade's victims included men and women, several of whom were living with mental illness or other vulnerabilities. His crimes were frequently opportunistic and involved robbery, abduction, severe physical violence and firearms. Two of his victims, Della Brown and Mindy Schloss, became the central figures in the prosecutions that eventually ensured Wade would never be released from prison.

Known and Admitted Victims

• John Michael Martin May 11, 1994 Anchorage, Alaska: Martin was 38 years old when he was shot and killed near a bicycle path along East Northern Lights Boulevard. He had reportedly been drinking coffee at the Village Inn restaurant before leaving on foot during the early morning hours. His body was discovered near the trail at approximately 3:00 a.m. Martin had schizophrenia and had no known prior relationship with Wade. Wade was only 14 years old at the time. He did not admit responsibility until 2014, and investigators stated that they believed his confession referred to Martin's unsolved homicide.
• Henry Ongtowasruk November 29, 1999 Anchorage, Alaska: Ongtowasruk was 30 years old when he was found dead inside a room at the Alaska Budget Motel. Motel management discovered his body after checking the room. Ongtowasruk had been staying at the motel and was reportedly living with mental illness. Wade later claimed responsibility for killing a man in Anchorage in 1999, and authorities concluded that he was referring to Ongtowasruk. Wade was not prosecuted for the murder because his confession was made under an agreement with investigators and because authorities were still attempting to independently verify the details.
• Della Brown September 2, 2000 Anchorage, Alaska: Brown was a 33-year-old Alaska Native woman whose body was found inside an abandoned shed in Anchorage's Spenard neighborhood. She had suffered devastating injuries after being struck repeatedly in the head with a large rock. Wade later admitted that he encountered Brown, attempted to rob her and killed her during the confrontation. He left her partially undressed body in the filthy, trash-filled structure and later took acquaintances to the shed to show them what he had done.
• Unidentified man September 2, 2000 Matanuska-Susitna Valley, Alaska: Wade claimed that he killed an unidentified man on the same night he murdered Della Brown. According to his account, the man accompanied him to the shed where Brown's body had been left. Wade said he knocked the man unconscious, placed him inside the trunk of a vehicle and temporarily left the area. When he returned and heard the victim struggling inside the trunk, Wade drove him to an isolated location outside Anchorage. He claimed that he removed the man from the vehicle, beat and stomped him, stripped off his clothing and shot him twice in the head. The victim's identity and the location of his remains have never been conclusively established.
• Mindy Schloss August 3, 2007 Anchorage and the Wasilla area, Alaska: Schloss was a 52-year-old nurse practitioner and Wade's neighbor in Anchorage's Sand Lake neighborhood. Wade entered her home, restrained her with plastic ties and forced her to surrender her bank card and personal identification number. He placed her in her own red Acura Integra and drove her north toward an isolated wooded area near Wasilla. Wade shot Schloss in the back of the head and attempted to burn her body. Her remains were discovered on September 13, 2007, more than a month after she disappeared.

The Murder of John Michael Martin

John Michael Martin's killing remained unsolved for approximately 20 years. During the early morning of May 11, 1994, Martin left the Village Inn on East Northern Lights Boulevard and began walking away from the restaurant. His body was found beside a nearby bicycle trail shortly afterward. He had been fatally shot. There was no apparent robbery motive, personal dispute or known connection between Martin and his killer. When Wade confessed in 2014, he claimed that he had committed his first murder in Anchorage in 1994. Investigators believed that the details he provided corresponded with Martin's death. The admission was particularly disturbing because Wade would have been only 14 at the time, making the homicide one of the earliest known acts in his progression toward serial murder. ...

Confirmed Victims: (5)

John Michael Martin Age: (38), Date of Death: 1994

Joshua Wade - Wikipedia