Suspect had run-in with slain officers
Man, 45, surrenders after standoff in island village
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A man charged in the slayings of two police officers in a tiny Alaska village was accused of viciously attacking the same two officers after they responded to a call about an intruder last year, court records revealed.
But assault and other charges filed against John Marvin Jr. in last year’s alleged attack on Hoonah police officers Tony Wallace and Matt Tokuoka were dismissed in December.
Now Marvin, 45, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder on allegations that he ambushed the two officers as they chatted in front of his home late Saturday. He surrendered Monday morning after a long standoff with authorities.
Wallace’s visiting mother, Debbie Greene, of St. Petersburg, Fla., was on a patrol ride-along with her son and witnessed the shootings, according to Jamie Brothers, an ex-girlfriend of the officer who remained close friends with him. Tokuoka’s wife and children also saw the shootings.
“I’m feeling like a robot today,” Brothers said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press from Rochester, N.Y.
The prosecutor assigned to the 2009 case declined Monday to say why the charges were dropped.
“Our office is reeling, and I’m not prepared to talk about it,” said Amy Williams, an assistant district attorney. She added she doesn’t want to risk jeopardizing the new case against Marvin.
Court documents allege both officers were injured in the August 2009 attack after they responded to a call from a woman who said Marvin entered her home without permission. The attack ended after the officers fired stun guns at Marvin multiple times and Wallace, a college wrestler, contained him in a “thigh lock,” court records said.
The documents also note Marvin’s “mental health issues.”
A motive for the fatal shootings has not been disclosed. Authorities allege Marvin shot Wallace and Tokuoka, then barricaded himself in his home in Hoonah, a Native village on an island about 40 miles west of Juneau.
Wallace died during surgery in Juneau, while Tokuoka died at a Hoonah clinic.