Press Release

Kotzebue Man Pleads Guilty to November 2015 Murder

November 10, 2016

(Anchorage, AK) – Today, 26 year old Gilbert Nashookpuk, formerly of Kotzebue, pled guilty to murdering 57 year old Glenna Wyllie on November 7, 2015 at a South Anchorage assisted living facility. Nashookpuk was charged with Wyllie’s murder after calling 911 just after midnight on November 7, 2015 to report he had “killed someone.”

Superior Court Judge Jack Smith accepted Nashookpuk’s guilty plea to murder in the first degree and scheduled sentencing for April 14, 2016. In exchange for Nashookpuk’s plea, the State dismissed the count of murder in the second degree. Nashookpuk entered into a plea agreement with the State which calls for a sentence of 60 years in prison, an additional 20 years of suspended prison time, and 10 years on probation. Judge Smith ordered a pre-sentence report and will determine whether to accept the plea agreement at the April sentencing hearing.

Nashookpuk faced a sentence of 20 to 99 years in prison if convicted of murder in the first degree. He was previously convicted of sexual assault in Fairbanks in 2011 and has a total of eight prior criminal convictions in the State of Alaska. As a result of his guilty plea, Nashookpuk waived his right to a jury trial as well as his right to appeal his conviction or sentence.

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

More information about the Anchorage District Attorney’s Office is available at http://www.law.alaska.gov/department/criminal/adao.html.

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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.