Alaska’s Worst Mass Murder

The 1982 FV Investor Murders

What happened on a foggy September day in 1982 in the small fishing village of Craig, Alaska?

Commercial fishing is one of the top three industries in Alaska, and the three-month salmon season in the summer is one of the most lucrative fisheries. In the1970s and1980s when salmon prices were at their highest, three months of hard work could earn the captain and crew of a fishing boat a half million dollars or more. A crewmember on a salmon seiner can make good money, but he must work hard and put in long hours. Crewing on a fishing boat is a job for young people, willing to work and ready to play on those nights when the season is closed, and their boat pulls into port.

This gruesome tale happened near the small Southeastern Alaska town of Craig It might be difficult to understand why and how such a murder could happen, and more importantly, how no one seemed to know who the murderer was. I confess I don’t completely understand this crime either, but I’ll do my best to describe what a small fishing village is like when the fleet is in port, and how someone running around a town of 1200 people might go unnoticed, or, at least, unrecognized. You will see the police response in this case was slow and the investigation far from perfect.