Press Release

Anchorage Man Sentenced to 50 Years for 2013 Murder

July 29, 2016

On July 29, 2016, 25 year old Duol Chuol was sentenced to spend 50 years in prison for the April 2013 homicide of his friend, Mabil Duir. Anchorage Superior Court Judge Jack Smith added ten additional years of suspended prison time and placed Chuol on probation for five years upon his release from prison.

On April 6, 2013, Anchorage Police responded to a knife attack that occurred behind a strip mall near the intersection of Boniface Parkway and Northern Lights Boulevard. Officers discovered Mabil Duir, who had been stabbed repeatedly by Chuol. Duir was transported to Providence Hospital but died shortly after his arrival. Officers contacted Chuol heading west on Northern Lights on foot. Chuol was arrested immediately and later admitted to detectives that he had killed his friend.

At today’s sentencing, Chuol’s mother, father, and sister addressed the court. They explained that they were refugees from South Sudan and that Chuol was born in a refugee camp in Ethiopia and later moved to another refugee camp in Kenya. Chuol and his family came to the United States in 1993, when Chuol was three years old. The family lived in Las Vegas and Des Moines before settling in Nebraska.

Chuol had a substantial juvenile history and had amassed five prior criminal convictions as an adult in Nebraska. Chuol was convicted of robbing an 11 year old child when Chuol was 18. Chuol spent 17 months in prison in Nebraska for the robbery before his release in 2010. Chuol was not deported from the United States as a result of his robbery conviction but was alleged to have committed an armed robbery in Glendale, Arizona in 2012 before coming to Alaska in 2013.

Mabil Duir’s aunt addressed the court on behalf of his family. Duir’s father died before Duir’s birth in Africa in 1989. Duir’s mother sent him to live with her family in the United States when he was a child. At the time of his murder, Duir was on track to graduate from the University of Alaska Anchorage. Duir told his family he wanted to return to Africa to help his family after graduation.

The State asked the court to impose a sentence of 75 years. Chuol’s defense counsel asked for a sentence of 50 years with 20 years suspended. Judge Smith explained that isolation, reaffirmation of societal norms and community condemnation were the primary factors that justified the sentence. Judge Smith noted that it “appears this community is increasingly violent” and “a majority of the community wants something to be done about the violence.”

Under current Alaska law, Chuol must serve at least one-third of his 50 year sentence before he would be eligible for parole. Chuol has been in the custody of the Alaska Department of Corrections since his arrest on April 6, 2013. Chuol will get credit for the time he has spent in prison.

Contact: District Attorney Clint Campion at (907) 269-6300 or clinton.campion@alaska.gov.

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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.