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Yukon Murders

Alex Price, Bethel bush pilot, flies his friend Trooper Tom to the coastal village of Alukanuk to investigate a murder. They’re shocked to discover a distinctive fur hat at the scene because the hat belongs to a mutual friend. Ski, (Erwin Kowalski) is a Vietnam vet who was badly scarred in the war. He migrated to the mouth of the Yukon, married Punik, a delightful Eskimo girl, and lives in the cabin they built.

More murders are committed in nearby villages. Every murder yields clues that point to Ski. Based on his friendship with Ski, Alex does not believe that Ski could be involved in murder. Trooper Tom isn't quite so sure, but when Tom files his reports, he does not mention that he knows where the evidence points.

. Other troopers get involved and are zeroing in on Ski. An even greater danger may come from the nearby villagers. Ancient Eskimo tradition has many of them talking about a lynching.

Trooper Tom and Alex frantically scour the delta for clues to the real killer and any possible motive. Meanwhile, the killer can't wait. He needs to get into Ski and Punik's cabin. He had expected that Ski would be arrested and removed from the cabin. When he wasn't, the killer decides to blast him out.

A nighttime gun battle ensues, Ski and Punik firing back from the cabin toward muzzle flashes, but not daring to expose themselves in a window. Tom and Alex realize who the murderer must be and that the danger is imminent. They fly to the cabin, but too late. Ski reverts to the jungle fighter he had been in Vietnam and captures the killer.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the memory of Alaska State Trooper Timothy Litera. Trooper Litera served the residents of Alaska in Juneau, Bethel, St. Marys, and Fairbanks. For twenty-five years he served with exemplary dedication and the highest ideals of the Alaska State Troopers. He retired to Haines, Alaska, as a first sergeant.

He lost only one fight in his life, but it was the big one, with cancer. He succumbed on July seventh in the year of our Lord 2000.

This book is fiction and the character I call Trooper Tom, who bends the law and who marries Minnie from Kiana, is fictitious. However, as I wrote the dialogue and described situations, the memory of State Trooper Timothy Litera was always with me.

I hope this book conveys the profound respect and affection that I, and thousands of other Alaska residents, had for him.

Tim left a family in Alaska. His wife Rayne lives in Haines, his son Lance, daughter-in-law Jennifer, and grandson Trevor live in Barrow. Tim’s daughter Jessica Willis and her husband Rick live in North Pole. Daughter Amber Lynn Busby and her husband Zeke live in Fairbanks.

Design by P E Porter
Copyright by Don G. Porter