Press Release

Anchorage Teen Pleads Guilty to 2014 Murder of Marvell Johnson

December 2, 2016

2016 (Anchorage, AK) – This morning, 18 year old Peter Henry pled guilty to intentionally murdering Marvell Johnson in October 2014. Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby accepted Henry’s guilty plea to murder in the first degree and scheduled sentencing for March 30, 2017.

On Tuesday, October 7, 2014, an Anchorage Police Department School Resource Officer learned that Henry claimed to have shot Marvell Johnson, his foster father, the previous evening in Johnson’s East Anchorage home. Anchorage Police Officers went to Johnson’s residence on Island Drive and found Johnson deceased in an upstairs bedroom. The subsequent autopsy revealed that Johnson had been shot multiple times in the neck, chest, forearm, torso, and back.

Anchorage Police Homicide Detective Monique Doll interviewed Henry. Henry admitted to killing Johnson and explained that he did so because he was angry at Johnson for searching his room and taking away his vapor cigarette charger.

In exchange for Henry’s guilty plea, the State agreed that Henry would be sentenced to 80 years in prison with 20 years suspended – 60 years to serve, and 10 years on supervised probation. Judge Saxby will determine whether he will accept the plea agreement at the sentencing hearing.

CONTACT: District Attorney Clint Campion at (907) 269-6300 or clint.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.