Murder With My Husband - 166. Sophie Sergie - The Dorm Room Victim

Episode Date: May 29, 2023

On this episode of MWMH, Payton and Garrett discuss the murder of college student, Sophie Sergie. Links: https://linktr.ee/murderwithmyhusband Episode Sources: Foxnews.com, “Alaska’s cold case murder of Sophie Sergie: Audio of Maine suspect played at trial,” by Associated Press, February 3, 2022   Cbsnews.com, “Man found guilty 29 years after woman found dead in Alaska college dorm bathtub,” by CBS/AP, February 11, 2002   Alaska Public Media, alaskapublic.org, “Sophie Sergie cold case murder trial ends and goes to jury,” by Robyne, KUAC – Fairbanks, February 8, 2022   Alaska Public Media, alaskapublic.org, “Man sentenced to 75 years in prison for 1993 murder and sexual assault of Sophie Sergie at UAF,” by Robyne, KUAC – Fairbanks, September 27, 2022   WABI5, wabi.tv, “Steven Downs sentenced to 75 years for 1993 murder of Sophie Sergie in his Alaska college dorm,” by WABI News Desk, September 27, 2022   Oxygen.com, “Maine Nurse Gets 75 Years For Raping, Killing Woman in Alaska Dorm in 1993,” by Dorian Geiger, September 28, 2022   Findagrave.com, Sophie Sergie   Darkdowneast.com, “The Case of Sophie Sergie: Arrest in Maine,” by Kylie Low, January 17, 2022   Worldpopulationreview.com, Pitkas Point, Alaska   Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, newsminer.com, “Convicted Maine man gets new lawyer for murder appeal in Sophie Sergie case,” by Christopher Williams, January 4, 2023   Copper River Country Journal, “Finally, A Trial. Sophie Sergie Was Killed In a Fairbanks Dorm in 1993,” by Trooper News, 2022   Usda.gov, pitkas point, “Who Will Get the First Bath?” by Tasha Deardorff, Rural Alaskan Village Grant Porgram Manager Posted in “Rural,” September 26, 2011   Alaska.edu, Bartlett Hall (UAF)   Web.archive.org, “Death in Bartlett Hall,” by Michael Kern, no date provided   Newspapers.com, Daily Sitka Sentinel, “UAF Sets Up Hotline for Parents After Murder,” by Roseanne Pagano, April 27, 1993   Newspapers.com, Journal and Courier, “Slaying unnerves campus,” by The Associated Press, April 30, 1993   Newspapers.com, Daily Sitka Sentinel, “UAF Bids Solemn Farewell to Former Student Killed in Dorm,” by Jim Clarke, April 30, 1993   Newspapers.com, Daily Sitka Sentinel, “Students Moving Out of Dorm Following Slaying,” no author provided, April 29, 1993   Newspapers.com, Detroit Free Press, “Slaying gives college students ‘wake-up call,’” by Jim Clarke, May 2, 1993   Newspapers.com, Daily Sitka Sentinel, “Troopers Say Campus Killer ‘Very, Very Angry at Women,’” no author provided, May 10, 1993   Newspapers.com, Daily Sitka Sentinel, “UA Fairbanks Campus Made Safer After Woman Slain,” no author provided, June 14, 1993   Newspapers, com, Daily Sitka Sentinel, “Family of Woman Slain at UAF Sues for $4 Million,” no author provided, October 27, 1995   Newspapers.com, Daily Sitka Sentinel, “UA Seeks Settlement in Suit Over Campus Death,” no author provided, December 24, 1996   Newspapers.com, Daily Sitka Sentinel, “Troopers Using Internet In Murder Investigation,” December 30, 1996   Sunjournal.com, “Anatomy of a cold case: A breakdown of the Steven Downs murder trial,” by Christopher Williams, February 19, 2022, updated March 1, 2022   Anchorage Daily News, “25 years after Sophie Sergie was found dead in a UAF bathtub, Maine man charged with murder,” by Madeline McGee, February 15, 2019, updated February 22, 2019   Pfr.Maine.gov, Regulatory Licensing & Permitting, Steven Harris Downs   News Center Maine, newscentermaine.com, “Maine man appeals convictions, sentences in Alaska murder,” by Associated Press, October 26, 2022   Assisted research and writing by Diane Birnholz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Yes, you energy, energy for everything. Caste of Inter now to learn more. Hey, everybody. Welcome back to our podcast. This is murder with my husband. I'm Peyton Moreland. And I'm Garrett Moreland. And he's the husband. No, my husband.

Before we get over into Garrett's 10 seconds, I just want to take a second to thank every single one of you who supports our podcast. Thank you for listening every week. Thank you for reviewing. Thank you for leaving comments. It really means so much to us. I can't even believe this community

that we get to be a part of. And it's all because of you guys. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And then also as this episode is coming out, a bonus episode will be coming out in a couple of days. As well, you probably see on

the feed, there is something called dear daisies. We are doing those. Those are those are available for everybody. We're going to do one a month right now. It's your guys' stories, your guys' situations that you've been in. Please write them into us. Please tell us more so we can keep doing those. And again, we're going to release those once a month and for Patreon and Apple subscriptions, you get two bonus episodes that we do every single month and add free content for my husband, binge, rise in crime, all of it.

So if you're interested, go and check it out. Okay. And that will lead me into my 10 seconds. So Peyton and I spent a ton of time working in the studio. This last week we still have some more lights to add. It probably won't look that much different, but it looks different to us. Yeah, for those of you that don't know, we have this huge light that hangs above us and it used to just be held up by polls, but Garrett, he climbed up there in the attic and he hung that light from the ceiling.

Yeah, I mean, I see. Geez. Jump scared. Yeah, so I climbed up in the ceiling. I made a track, put the light on the track, put the light on the ceiling in a couple of studs, two by fours, you know, just the whole 90 yards.

Yeah. So it's up there. It's holding good. We're feeling good. We feel like we have more room in the studio. Yeah. We ate lunch in here just so we could bask in it. It's amazing.

And off that, no, I would like to say that we saw Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and it was awful. Amazing. Amazing. If you haven't seen it yet, and you're a Marvel fan, go and see it. Nope, zero out of 10 recommend. Do not go see it.

And cried like 95% of the time. Oh my gosh. I bald the entire movie. Looked at Garrett in the middle said, take me home. I don't want to sit here anymore. I said, I'll tell you what, you go wait in the lobby with those 13 year old,

it'll be out in a bit. No, but it was really good. It was good. There were some sad parts. I don't know if you would call it animal cruelty. It's like, they're like fake animals. I mean, they died just in like, I'm not gonna spoil it. Basically, if you haven't seen Garnt's Egoxie 3,

go see it and Peyton will probably go with you. Oh my gosh, like, scarred for the next couple days, couldn't stop thinking about it. That's how bad it was. Yeah. And it is currently my birthday. We are recording on my birthday,

Friday, May 26, 1994. Okay. All the 94s. Mother's made a name. Social security number, credit card numbers, anything you want, let me know. But we're recording on my birthday and I'm gonna try to get paid in the place

and pick a ball with me. I can't go crazy yet because of my foot, but I can move a little bit. Oh, I've been watching so much pick a ball. I think I'm gonna jump immediately in and be a pro. So we'll see, I'm gonna go play with her probably after this. And so let's get into today's episode and we will go play some pickleball. Our case sources are Fox news.com CBS news Alaska public media, oxygen.com,

find a grave darkdown east.com, fairbanks daily news, newspapers.com, Detroit free press, sun journal.com, Anchorage daily news and news center main. Okay. This isPress, Sunjournal.com, Anchorage Daily News, and New Center Main. Okay. This is in a laskin case. Okay. And I think we have done maybe one or two, but it's definitely not like Florida where there's just an insane case coming from there every week. So this one is a little different because it's over in Alaska. But I'm transporting us back to 1991 in Fairbanks, Alaska, where the population is 31,000 people. The number of violent crimes per capita in Fairbanks is slightly above the average for the state of Alaska, but the total numbers are still quite low given the relatively low

population. For instance, there were only two murders in Fairbanks in the year 1992. And to move even further away from murder, our case takes place in the Woodsy forested area of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, or UAF. And as of 1993, no one had been killed on the UAF campus for the past 20 years. The last murder was in 1972. And the Woodsy setting gives a feeling of security and safety to families who are hoping to send their kids to college in a less urban,

less dangerous location than where they may have come from elsewhere in the US. But some students who attend U.A.F. have the exact opposite issue. They come from tiny remote villages that are scattered all around Alaska. And such was the case for a young female student of UAF named Sophie Surgy. Interestingly, Sophie was born in 1972. If you remember, that was the last time there was a murder and she comes from a tiny very remote native American village in Alaska She is UPEC native American and grew up in Pitcus point, which is comprised of a hundred percent native American and in 2020 had a population of only 130 people

According to USDA.gov in 2011 the water water and wastewater conditions in PICCUS Point and other Alaskan communities are staggering. Drinking water is hauled from local watering points, which clearly do not meet safe drinking water standards, and wastewater is hauled by utilizing honey buckets. So the same path that kids play and walk to and from school is the same route that individuals routinely walk with their five gallon buckets of wastewater to honey bucket transfer stations. Okay. So just a very remote village. So for Sophie, heading the 500 miles east to University of Alaska Fairbanks was quite an adjustment from the life she grew up in. Sophie is very petite, standing only 4 foot 9 or 4 foot 11 depending on the source. Her mother is Elena Sergi, and she has a little brother named Stephen, who she helps take care of as he's only three years old. She also has an older brother

who's in the Navy. And speaking of the Navy, Sophie originally aspires to join the Navy like her older brother, but she's too short in stature to be eligible for the position she wants in the Navy. Got it. So she instead decides to attend college, the first to ever do so in her family and study marine biology. Sophie is incredibly bright and studious and driven, and she makes everyone in her town proud when she receives a full ride scholarship to UAF. She is a serious student, and she knows that her success is extremely important to her family and her village. And although described as shy, Sophie has friends, but she is not a partier by any sense in college. She does make one particularly good friend, a girl named Shirley Wasouli, whom she meets

through an organization called Rural Student Services. No way. Yeah, that provides support for students making the adjustment from places like Pitcus Point to the large UAF campus, which is such a cool service that the college provides. And with her new friend Ann Warkethick, Sophie begins making the adjustment into college, and she actually completes her first two years at the university. But by April 1993, Sophie has to take a leave of absence for medical and family reasons. Sophie has been suffering from a severe overbite and needs major orthodontic work and jaw surgery to correct it.

And on top of that, her mother is having her own medical issues and needs help taking care of Sophie's little brother. So once home, the surgery that Sophie needs is expensive. And so she gets a job needing the health insurance that an employer back home can provide in order to help pay for the surgery. So basically she moves home and gets a job because she needs that health insurance to get the surgery. Sophie works at a school in nearby St. Mary's as a clerk and academic aid during this time.

The job surgery itself plus all of the appointments and follow-up work are all actually happening in Fairbanks. So Sophie will be flying back and forth to Fairbanks even while on leave from school. So she's at school in Fairbanks, but she moves home, but then she has to fly back to Fairbanks to get to these follow-up appointments and the actual appointment itself. And for financial considerations, instead of paying for a place to stay, Sophie typically stays with her friend Shirley at UAF when she flies back to go to these appointments. So Sophie's ultimate plan is to eventually go back to UAF in the fall of 1993 after her

surgery and her mom is a little bit better. She really does want to resume her college studies. So at UAF, there is a three dorm complex, which is made up of Bartlett Hall, Moore Hall, and Scarland Hall. Now Bartlett Hall is eight stories high and sits between the two other dorms. And the three halls are separate structures on their upper floors, but they have a common lobby and roughly 670 students live in the three hall complex.

Back in 1993, the second floor of Bartlett Hall is for girls only. The floors back then are designated either all male or all female. However, opposite sex visitors are allowed on various floors, and because it's an all-girl floor, the boys have to use the dorms' women's bathroom while visiting. So it wasn't uncommon to see a boy in the dorm bathroom like during the day or evening in the night.

And although there hadn't been a murder on campus for 20 years at the time of our story, that didn't mean there wasn't any crime on campus. In 1991, a female student is the victim of an attack and an attempted rape in a bathroom in the adjoining Scarland Hall. And just to give you a glimpse of the state of campus security at UAF back during our story,

in 1989 due to budget constraints, UAF stops having clerks at the desks and all that people have to do to gain entry into the dorms is to follow a resident in through the locked doors, which I did this in college as well. You just wait for someone open the door. In about February of 1993, another sexual assault is reported by a female student. The victim says that two basketball players raped her while another one watched. And later in February 1993, in another incident, quote, a drunken naked man was found

in the woman's bathroom at Bartlett. Student? No. Just a random man. Yeah, and the man is arrested after he was found on the fourth floor bathroom okay but this is just to show you how little security is is going on at these dorms and how easy it is to gain access so in April 1993 Sophie has another appointment in Fairbanks relating to her jaw surgery so her plan is to stay with her friend and former roommate Shirley at Bartlett Hall where Shirley's now living. Shirley's room is on the second floor of Bartlett

Hall which as I mentioned is designated for female students only. Shirley is living in a single dorm room so she doesn't have a roommate. And when Sophie comes to visit that April, Shirley decides to give Sophie the keys to her single room while she stays at the next dorm over with her boyfriend so that Sophie will have a comfortable and private place to stay. I was gonna say I'm sure they sleep over at each other's apartments all the time. Yeah. So on Friday, April 23rd, 1993, Sophie flies from her village of Pitcus Point to Bethel,

then on to Anchorage where she stays overnight, then on Saturday, Sophie flies on from Anchorage to Fairbanks. And after she arrives back at UAF for the weekend, Sophie visits with her friend Joanne Sundown, who takes a photo of her while the two are hanging out in Sundown's room. Sophie's medical appointment in Fairbanks is scheduled for that Monday, April 26,

1993. After this, Sophie and Shirley have lunch together that Saturday on campus, and then they hang out together in Shirley's room, which is room 227 in Bartlett Hall. Next, Sophie goes into town to pick up some things in Fairbanks that are harder to find in her small village back home. The next day, Sunday, April 25th, Shirley Sophie's friend has finals coming up and so she needs to study. So, although her friends visiting, she's like, hey, girl, I got I got to get some studying in. So, while Shirley is busy studying, Sophie goes to the movies and spends time with some other friends, including sundown. And I think it's just like a girl who went to college here is on a leave of absence, but she goes back. She still has all

these friends who are in college. She's just hanging out with all of them. Sophie and the three friends go to a movie titled Indian Summer and then go for a drive to the Murphy Dome Recreation Area where it's possible to see the Northern Lights. So her friends drop her off at the end of the evening back at Bartlett Hall. Sophie wasn't partying, she wasn't drinking, she wasn't doing drugs. Then late that Sunday night, Shirley and Sophie meet up in Shirley's room. Shirley and her boyfriend Noah Naylor have a pizza delivered to Shirley's room and they eat it with Sophie on the floor of the dorm room. The dorms this weekend are full as finals week is approaching so every student is at school. The three friends finish eating the

pizza at about 1 a.m. on what's now Monday April 26th. And as usual Sophie's going to stay in Shirley's room and Shirley's going to stay with her boyfriend in his room. Sophie is wearing what's described as a Native American style sweater with a hood, it's bright and multi-colored. She's also wearing her older brother's navy sweatpants. And just before Shirley and Noah leave to go to his room for the night, Sophie asks where she can go have a cigarette. She doesn't want to smoke in Shirley's room, and given that's Alaska in April it's too cold to comfortably smoke outside. So Shirley suggests that Sophie should smoke

in the girl's bathroom down the hall. I'm surprised there is just zero moderation it seems at all. In those dorms. I kind of agree. No security, no RA is not what they're called. Yeah, like the people who. Yeah, the managers are the H O A's of the floor. Basically, yeah. Yeah, I'm just seems like there's zero moderation. You and I didn't live in dorms, so we don't know, but I know it seems like there's nothing going on. I feel like if it's not called an RA,

we are gonna get absolutely obliterated. Yeah, if it is. I know the name, like I know what you're thinking. It's fine, just send a name. We didn't live in dorms, we didn't live in dorms. Yeah, we didn't live in dorms. Don't send any mail. Yeah, just pretend that it's right, please.

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of Shirley's dorm heading for Noah's. They leave a note for Sophie to say that they're now gone for the night, and they have to leave the note because although they waited to say good night in person, Sophie hasn't yet returned from her smoke. So Shirley and Noah walk down the hall to the stairwell and they see three people. Two male, one female, still out and about at this hour. One man, Shirley sees in the hall is a stranger to her. She doesn't know him, she doesn't think he lives there. They make eye contact as she leaves. And unbeknownst to her,

Shirley will never see Sophie her friend alive again. So she went to the bathroom to smoke. Never came back. Well, she left to smoke. Okay, we didn't know if she was going to the bathroom for sure. Yes, I mean, Shirley said go to the bathroom. So we're assuming that's where she went. Got it. And I think it's important to note here now that we know that possibly Sophie went to the bathroom. So we're assuming that's where she went. Got it. And I think it's important to note here now that we know that possibly Sophie went to the dorm bathroom, that according to death in Bartlett Hall, quote, in those days, the lights in the bathrooms could be shut off by anyone standing by the entrance.

So you could be taking a shower and someone could walk in and turn the lights off. Yep, yep, yep, okay. And the bathroom on the second floor of Bartlett Hall also has several individual shower stalls and then one of those stalls has a bathtub. And the stall with the, yes, and the stall, again, it's the 90s. Like, I don't think that would happen now.

The stall with the bathtub has like a swing door to get into it, but it's completely separate from the other stalls. So after Shirley Leaves, a girl who also lives on floor two in the dorm takes a shower in the second floor bathroom in the stall that shares a wall with the one with the tub. And the female student hears some noises coming from that stall that she describes as, quote, thumping and muffled voices. But this is college. Nobody's going to go open that door to that stall and check what's going on when you hear muffled voices and thumping coming from the tub shower stall. So it's now Monday morning. Sophie is scheduled to have her appointment that Monday and then fly back home. Shirley comes back to her dorm room at about 8.50 a.m. after sleeping in her boyfriend's and is surprised and unsettled to find the bed made

and not looking at all slept in. The note she left for Sofia at 1.30 a.m. is still hanging on the door right where she left it and the lights in her room are on so is the TV. In fact, it all looks exactly as when Shirley and her boyfriend left the room at 1.30 a.m. So Shirley decides to go to the bathroom to check and see if Sophie is possibly awake and taking a shower. Shirley calls inside the bathroom, Sophie, are you here? And according to one source, Shirley hears a voice say, yeah, I'm here. No other sources confirm this. Okay, that's really confusing's really confusing and like seems really important in any event Surely herself then takes a shower and goes back to her room and gets ready for the day because here's the thing if she said

Yeah, I'm here. I feel like there'd be more of a conversation than just that Right or did someone else say yeah, I'm here. Was there another Sophie? I don't know I feel like there'd be more of a conversation than just that. Right. Or did someone else say, yeah, I'm here. Or are you in the sofa? I don't know. Yeah, it's confusing. However, the fact that Shirley hasn't heard from Sophie as the day wears on, like, it feels wrong to her.

She starts asking people if they've seen Sophie that day, Shirley even calls the orthodontist, where Sophie was set to have her appointment. And she finds out that Sophie was a no-show. So clearly something is very wrong. Sophie would never travel all the way to Fairbanks and then miss that appointment. And while at class on campus that day, surely, then here's a rumor that will confirm her fears. People are whispering around campus that the police are at Bartlett Hall and that they've found a body in the second floor bathroom. Okay.

So it was on the afternoon of Monday at 2.42pm that UAF janitors are cleaning the bathroom on the east side of the second floor of Bartlett Hall. There, one of the janitors comes upon a shocking scene when they open the door to the bathtub stall. It's a girl's body in the bloody bathtub. Her pants have been left pulled down around her ankles. According to death in Bartlett Hall, the janitor runs out of the bathroom screaming. And the horrible truth is that female students have been in and out of that very bathroom all morning. And I'm sure no one uses the bathtub as well. Right. So no one's going to check. But it's incredibly eerie because that girl's body has been

sitting there in the private tub while everyone else has been showering and using the bathroom. The campus police and medical staff are immediately called investigators, housing staff and medical staff will respond to the scene and possibly students will come to the scene as well. According to one source, 19 people are on the scene before the arrival of James McCann, the lead Alaska State Trooper investigator who will take on the case. Surely rushes to her dorm room once she hears the news about the police and the rumor that a girl's body has been found in the bathroom on her floor. A police officer stops her at the entrance of Bartlett Hall and tells her

she can't go up to her room. This is when Shirley explains that her friend may be missing. She's like, listen, I live here. I last saw my friend here and I think she might be missing. After discussing further, Shirley and the police officer realized that they're likely talking about the same girl. Shirley presents the police with Sophie's ID card, which was still in Shirley's dorm room. And using the ID card, police make a heartbreaking confirmation. The murdered girl in the bathtub stall is, in fact, Sophie Surgey.

That's so crazy to me that there can be so many people around and somebody gets murdered. Right. Just right there in the bathroom. Investigators and forensic experts amass at the dorm searching for evidence. They're at the dorm until at least 9 p.m. that night. The Alaska State Troopers are busy canvassing the dorm, looking for witnesses, and somehow no one the police talk to actually heard or witnessed the attack, which this might not seem strange until you learn how Sophie died.

Okay. Sophie was shot in the back of the head in that shower stall the morning of Monday, April 26, the 1990s. There's no way that nobody hears that. There's no way. In the back of the head, in a public dorm bathroom and no one heard a gunshot. No one heard screams or a struggle. Investigators have difficulty even knowing who all had been present on the second floor at the time of the murder, given that the dorm room was full of students who were walking

around room to room, floor to floor, many of whom were drinking. I mean, this is college. This is a college dorm room. This is exactly why you have security as well right or some type of organization. In autopsy is ordered but even before the result are in everyone knows this is clearly a homicide and trigger warning this is going to get a little graphic but this is how Sophie's body was found as detailed later in a document written by criminal authorities. Quote. The tub room was a small, separate room next to the shower stalls in the East bathroom. The tub room had a shower stall-type swinging door at the entrance of it.

Surgey's body was found lying on her back in the bathtub with her legs together and bent over to her left. Her feet were in contact with the bottom of the tub. She was wearing shoes and socks. Her pants and underpants had been pulled down past her knees. The right cup of her bra had been pushed up exposing her breast. The left side of her face was lying against the bottom of the tub over the drain. Her arms were above her head.

She had multiple stab wounds on the right side of her face, and her face was covered in dried blood. Sophie's clothing and hair were damp, indicating that the water had been run after she was placed in the tub. And when her body was removed from the tub, investigators discovered she had also been shot in the back of the head.

Under her body, in the tub drain, investigators recovered Sophie's cigarette lighter. And I feel like there's no way there was no screaming considering she was stabbed in the face. Right. The police begin questioning many people. Surely this case is going to be solved quickly. Like this happened in a dorm.

There's hundreds of people nearby. No way. The university reacts with horror and shock and grief at the news. The flags are flown at half-staff and a large memorial is held for Sophie on campus. Shirley Wasuli is one of the speakers, her friend. She reads letters from Sophie's mother and her friends back home and she also speaks her own words. Quote, it's important to know how much Sophie enjoyed life.

Don't be bitter. We should continue to pray for the person who took Sophie away from us. One of Sophie's university professors pays a tribute as well, speaking as to how Sophie always asks questions and wanted to learn more. But at this point, police don't even know if the killer lives in the dorm or is an outsider, the lack security for gaining entrance to the dorms and to the women's floors make it difficult to know. I am sure that there have been multiple events before where there have been non-students or random people in the dorms and you would think that after that, they would fix everything. Maybe after the naked man that was found in the bathroom just months before. You would just, I don't know, you would assume that they would fix something or get some sort of security. Right. At this point, students are in

fear and calls to campus security and for campus escort skyrocket. The university provides counseling and a telephone hotline for students and parents to call. As a short term solution to the obvious security issues, the campus police announced that they'll be working extra hours to patrol the dorms until the killer is caught. And as of Tuesday, April 27th, the next day, the university has installed no additional security measures for Bartlett Hall or for the bathrooms. So still, no one is checking identification of visitors to the dorm. Also, how many people went through the bathroom? At least 19 before the lead investigator

got there. That completely corrupts. Right. Like so much evidence. Yes. Access to the student floors and bathrooms remained as simple as following a resident through the locked main door. A former residential advisor, wait, is that an RA? Yeah, so it is an RA. I think it is. A former residential advisor is quoted as saying, the funny thing is I wrote that and didn't realize it is RA. Yeah, it's been an accident waiting to happen. I'm not surprised it hasn't happened sooner. He says he and the other RAs had asked for more security and the dorms, but that their requests were denied.

At a residence meeting several weeks ago, it was suggested that locks be put up on the bathroom, but no action was taken. So just weeks before this, at a meeting, someone had suggested they put locks on the bathroom. Oh man, the school's gonna get a load of heat for this. Yeah. At this point, there's only one week of school left,

and final exams are about to start. At least 60 students leave the dorm within two days of the murder, which I'm only including this because there's your suspects who would normally live, who are there, whose friends are there, gone, gone. They're leaving. And so this is hard for the investigation. Another difficulty is that along with the university's budget issues, the police have one as well.

They're short on detectives to investigate a murder case. Crime stoppers offer $20,000 for any information leading to the killer's arrest. But one problem facing investigators is that there are no obvious suspects. No one who would want to harm Sophie. She had no enemies, no jealous X's. Investigators follow up leads on many people who could possibly have done this or had been present, had the opportunity, but it leads nowhere. Investigators follow up leads on many people who could possibly have done this or had been present Had the opportunity, but it leads nowhere. Of course, there are no cameras. No cameras

So at this point police decide Sophie probably did not know her attacker and this was just a random attack They believe that any girl that had been in the bathroom at that time could have been the victim. I They believe that any girl that had been in the bathroom at that time could have been the victim. I assume. I mean, you kind of foreshadowed it a little bit. The guy that Shirley saw, maybe he has something to do with it. Yeah, because it was a stranger in the dorms. Maybe you're foreshadowing, maybe not just throwing it out there.

I'm just telling you the story as it goes. All right, let's hear it. So on Tuesday night, Native American students hold a prayer meeting. This will be the second memorial on campus for Sophie. And around this time, Sophie's autopsy is performed and Seaman is found. So the swabs will be sent to the Alaska State Crime Detention Laboratory. But at this time, Alaska is not yet using DNA technology. So they swab it, they keep it, but they're not going to be testing it. You think that there'd be like, okay, let's send this to California, Oregon, Washington. Right. Let's have them test it for us. Yeah, well, priority. Yeah, it's hard, I know.

So as of Sunday, May 2nd, it's reported that the university is now checking identification. So after a week, they decide to start checking identification. Good job, everybody. And they're also urging students to lock their doors because according to most sources Students just left their dorm room doors unlocked. It's funny. It's it's sad that it takes something like this For precautions to be in place. That's what's horrible. However other exterior doors to the dorms are often propped open making access Still easy for anyone to get in. Sar Sergeant Jim McCann of the Alaska State Troopers speaks to the media around this time a little less than two weeks after Sophie's murder.

And he announces that the police have recovered fingerprints, hair, and other physical evidence from the crime scene, but that they still don't have a suspect. He said, quote, whoever did this is very, very angry at women. Which, thank you, Mr. McCann, I agree. Whoever it was, he fit in. So he says that this wasn't like some old man.

He thinks that this was someone who would have fit in in the dorm rooms. Okay. Jumping into an ad and it is native. I use their body wash. I use their shampoo. We use their sunscreen, everything. They're deodorant.

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Go to nativedo.com slash husband or use promo code husband at checkout to get 20% off your first order. That's native de.o.com slash husband or use promo code husband at checkout. nativedo.com slash husband and use promo code husband. Sargent McCann announces that the police believe the killer is quite familiar with the location. He also announces that an unusually low number of leads have been called in, only 10 so far.

He warns people to remain vigilant and announces that the killer may not be isolated to just the university and that the public should be at large as well. Commencement for the university is held on May 9th. Students begin scattering all over after the end of the school year. With many graduating, it will make the investigation even harder. Alaska State Troopers announced that they haven't made an arrest and that leads have dwindled and the killer who committed this heinous crime right in the midst of a dorm room full of students is still on the loose and sadly will remain so. In April 1994, a year after Sophie's murder, Sophie's mother Elena Sergei sews the University of Alaska on behalf of herself and Sophie's brother,

seeking four million in damages, alleging that the University was negligent and that its poor security was to blame for Sophie's death. But here's the issue. What if the danger came from within? What if a student living in the dorms is the killer? That's true. Then that's not necessarily on this school. Okay, yeah, that's a good point. And so now you see where this civil case is going to go back and forth because the school says it hasn't been solved. We don't know that it was our fault and she says no no matter what it was your fault. Okay. Sophie's mother's lawsuit is intended in part to prevent this atrocity from happening to anyone else. And sure enough Sophie's rape and murder forces the university

to address the serious safety issues that existed in 1993. By 1995, bathroom lights are kept on 24-7, and emergency phones are in every student's room. Also at night and on weekends, people entering the dorms can only go in one door, which is monitored. The university also begins arming its campus police. In June 1996, three years after the murder, it's reported that Sophie's family

through their lawyers are demanding more information and for law enforcement to be more transparent with details about her case. Three years in, the state still has no suspect, hasn't ever, and has made no arrests. I mean, how do you find somebody? Especially, I feel like this is a case where... I don't know what you do.

If it wasn't solved immediately, it's gonna be a wire. Yeah. Unless they test the semen and it happens to come back to someone's DNA that's in the system anyways, because it's not even in the system, it's not even gonna make hits on anything. I don't know how you solve this. Well, and we're still years away from codists. Yeah, exactly. I don't know. I don't know how you solve this. Well, and we're still years away from Kodas. Yeah, exactly. I don't know.

I don't know what you do. Years still years away from even being able to test it against the system. Yeah. And the case goes cold. Her unsolved rape and murder, quote, became in many ways the symbol of Alaskan violence against women.

She was one of over 200 Alaska Native women who have been killed in similar acts of violence. Her death was a well-publicized tragedy and a real concern among UAF students who realized they might have a rapist and a killer in their midst. It was obvious that a killer had ready access to the most vulnerable buildings of the sprawling campus. This is all from Copper River Country Journal. It's reported in late December 1996 that not surprisingly the university is still trying to settle

the lawsuit. This is not a case that they want to be fighting an open court. Settlement negotiations between Sophie's mother and the university have been ongoing and Sophie's mother still seeks additional information from state authorities relating to her daughter's case. A government attorney states that there's a gag order, meaning no one, none of the parties can talk to the press. Meanwhile, as for the criminal investigation, state investigators are frustrated with the lack of leads. They want to try a fresh approach.

Why is there a gag order? Why would there be a gag order? Because it became so public, she almost became the face of danger at the school. And so they didn't, the school didn't want any more publicity on the case. And so it was probably just a bunch of fighting back and forth and eventually there was a gag order. It's not uncommon for gag orders to happen in civil suits.

It just seems like usually there's a gag order when there's something to discuss and there's nothing to discuss. So it seems like the school's just pissed off and bearish the police don't have any lead. So it's like, oh, let's put a gag order on this. I don't know. It just seems a little interesting. Yeah, it definitely seems like it's more to hurt her side.

Exactly. Yes. So the criminal investigation decides to turn to the internet, which is in its infancy for law enforcement. Law enforcement announces in late December 1996 that they're going to post an announcement about Sophie's case, quote, on the worldwide web. That's so funny. To find out whether any similar types of cases have happened elsewhere. But it's crazy that they're like, oh, let's use this internet thing, this worldwide web to see if, because at this point, law enforcement aren't working with each other. I mean, it's crazy that still in the 90s, this was happening.

I know. Their announcement will include a photo of Sophie in a short description of the crime. That's not that long ago. Oh, 25 years ago. No. Law enforcement believes that Sophie's. Oh, 25 years ago. No, law enforcement believes that Sophie's rape and murder was committed by someone who's likely to be a serial rapist and killer. Like someone doesn't come into these dorms, shoot someone in the back of the head in a dorm and not go kill and rapes elsewhere. I still can't believe that nobody nobody heard anything. Right.

Sergeant Jim McCann announces that he thinks the murderer will strike again or already has. I'm hoping to reachces that he thinks the murderer will strike again or already has. I'm hoping to reach thousands of people via the World Wide Web McCann says, I don't like having an unsolved sexual murder. In May 2000, law enforcement processes the DNA from the semen found in Sophie's body with what is now a more sophisticated advanced technology than ever existed before.

Authorities develop a DNA profile from the semen and load it into codis. And although they have an advanced DNA profile, it doesn't generate a match to any offenders in the state or federal systems. I was worried that was going to happen. Well, in contrary to their belief that this could be the work of a serial killer or rapist, this killer is not in the system. This development is very frustrating and the case grows cold again. That sucks.

It sucks that the technology wasn't there. There is nothing else that can be done. Like, it sucks for the, that sucks. It's horrible for the family. You're just sitting there going, we sitting on your hands, there's nothing you can do. So despite all the investigators' valiant efforts at trying to compare DNA, Sophie's case goes cold again in 2003,

but the police never give up. Detectives and investigators attempt to interview every single person who was in Bartlett Hall that night, which is difficult since so many have scattered. A new investigator is assigned to the case in 2009. If investigator James Stogstill, who handles cold cases for the Alaska State Troopers. In April 2009, 16 years after the murder,

the police announced some new developments. They want to know if anyone saw Sophie standing outside in front of Hess' comments. Quote, following extensive analysis of the crime scene evidence, investigators stated an independent forensic examiner theorized that Surgi may have been killed somewhere other than the bathroom on the second floor. Interesting. Although he wasn't able to say conclusively that she was killed elsewhere and brought there, he said we should keep our eyes open for having her been having killed at another location.

But to me, this is, how do you then get a body upstairs without anyone seeing it? Yeah, there's no way, right? I don't think so. I don't think so. Yeah, I agree. No, there's no way. Especially stabbed, shot.

There's no way you can get a body. Yeah. And also, it was too, she didn't want to go outside. We've talked about this before. A dead body is not easy to carry. No. So finally, in 2010, there seems to be a break in the case. Investigators, dogs, deal questions

and individual named Nicholas Deser. Deser had been questioned before, back in 1993 at the time of the murder, it's now 17 years after the murder. Nicholas Dazer lived in room 305 in Bartlett Hall in 1993 with a roommate named Stephen Downs. Both roommates were interviewed at the same time, but weren't able to provide any helpful information

on on top of that, Stephen Downs had an alibi at the time he had spent the night with his girlfriend. However, police have now found out something very suspicious about the one roommate, Nicholas Dazer. They learned that back then, he was fired from the job that he had on campus as a security guard back when he went to school. He was actually working as a security guard the night of the murder. He even helped police keep the crime scene secure the next day. And guess why he was fired?

Because he'd been keeping a personal gun in his dorm room. All right, we're in flags. Here we go. Guns aren't allowed in the dorms. One question about it now, in 2010, Dazer admits that he was fired and he admits that it's true. He did have a gun, but when asked, he denies owning a 22 caliber gun, this is a type of gun that the murder weapon.

Dazer tells police he does know someone though who did own a 22 caliber revolver at the time of the murder. His old roommate, Stephen Nouns. Investigator Stog still continues working the case, but he ends up retiring without a concrete suspect even though he digs into these two boys who lived in Bartlett Hall. The case goes cold again. Eventually, another cold case investigator is assigned to Sophie's case in 2018. His name is Randy McFarron.

At this point, the event of genealogical testing has come to pass, and they are very popular with the public who wants to learn about their ancestry and law enforcement in the US begins emitting DNA from cold cases to see if they get a hit with these new sites. All right, I still think that this is some of the craziest stuff ever because- Yes. It's just crazy that it's not, I mean, I want to say it's comical, but it's amazing that there's these killers that are just sitting somewhere thinking,

oh, I got away with this. And then their second cousin of their great, you know, just like down the line. And ancestry.com came in and said. They just put their DNA in. Also then someone's DNA gets uploaded, it gets tested and it's like, oh, we found you. I also think it's crazy how kind of happened by accident.

It wasn't like someone in law enforcement was like, hey, that's it. Let's create a database that people can come submit. And then we'll see. No. Someone said, wait, could we use 23 and me to find a killer? It's exactly all the stuff. So it's some of the most amazing technology. Yes. I love it. So all they need now with the new technology is a family members DNA. The lab has completed the analysis and it submits the biological DNA evidence collected from Sophie's body to a company that is able to run a comparison with the genealogical sites. On October 18th, 2018, two promising matches, second cousins are closer. Oh, I just said second cousin, look at that. And three potentially promising matches, third cousin are closer, were identified.

The lab forwarded this information onto their forensic genealogist to complete the last steps in the process. So the killer here has never submitted his DNA anywhere, but some of his relatives have. I'm talking about that. And just like with the Golden State killer, the police force has finally gotten a match on December 18th 2018 the lab has identified the most likely suspect out of the family that matches the DNA so it's not like they find The killers DNA, but they get the family and then they go through the family tree and go ah no probably wasn't him Yeah, they're like which one in here probably wasn't him. I don't know. Yeah, they're like, which one in here is a killer? Probably wasn't him, but him, it probably is.

He looks like a killer. Yes, and who do you think this connection is to because you already know? It is going to be the guy that Shirley saw. Possibly. Okay, so I just assumed it was just a quick, she doesn't remember him. Yeah. But it was him or we assume it was him so we don't know for sure We don't know for sure. I guess it could have been okay. Yeah, so then I don't know who it is you do

Okay, it's Steven Downs the security guards roommate who lived at the dorms and claimed he was with his girlfriend I see I see I see they know that the only DNA found in Sophie's body belongs to Downs I mean they go through the family tree ago I see, I see. They know that the only DNA found in Sophie's body belongs to Downs. I mean, they go through the family tree and go, he lived in the same exact armarm as her. 100%. Now they just have to get his DNA to prove it. They're like, we're pretty sure it's him.

We just got to get his DNA. The police began investigating Stephen Harris Downs in earnest. He was born on August 31, 1974 in Maine. He graduates high school in Maine in 1992. He has no criminal history either before or after the crime. This fact will seriously hamper the investigation because what is the chance it was a one-time thing? Yeah. Downs has never previously been arrested. He was a freshman at University of Alaska Fairbanks and was

18 years old at the time of Sophie's murder. He's a student there from 1992 to 1996 and starts in the fall of 1992. After graduating, he lives in Arizona for a while and then he eventually moves home. Once they're on to downs and found out that he was actually living in Bartlett Hall at the time of Sophie's murder, law enforcement gets a court-approved wiretap to listen to his phone calls and puts him under surveillance with a camera mounted to a pole near his house. They also follow downs around for a month, waiting him to throw something away, a cup of coffee, a cigarette, nothing. They can't get his DNA. Did you think he knows other following him no Still with no DNA from him. Please go to Downs home in Maine on February 13th

2019 and they interview him they ask about Sophie in the murder He claims he didn't know Sophie. He says he didn't go to the second floor that night He was with his girlfriend. He says I remember pictures of her. I remember the murder, but I don't know her He was living on the third floor at the time, and again says he spent most of the night with his girlfriend. So law enforcement executes a search warrant at Downs Home the next day. They also get a warrant to obtain a cheek swap from Downs. The DNA sample from Sophie matches the cheek swap they've just obtained from Stephen Downs. He's arrested on February 15th, 2009, and taken into custody.

Police have now interviewed him for two hours on tape, and he just the whole time says, no, I'm innocent, I'm innocent. If they did not have this DNA, he would never have been caught because he has zero criminal history. Never. How would a jury have convicted him? Right. What if happened?

He's extradited from Maine to face rape and murder charges in Alaska. He's now 44 years old. Wow. But he denies knowing her and police are like, okay, but if you didn't know her, how was your semen found inside her dead body? Yeah. Sir, like that doesn't make sense. Downs appears in court for the first time at his arrangement on August 14th, 2019. He pleads not guilty. And I'm going to kind of just fast forward through the trial here. I mean, obviously you have both sides.

No fingerprints of his were ever found or anything like that, but his DNA was found in her body. Yeah. What more do you need? Tragically, Sophie's mother dies in 2021. So he'd been arrested, but she still died. Had not having any justice for her daughter. The trial is delayed twice because we're now in COVID time, and it ends up being a COVID trial with witnesses appearing remotely over a screen

and everyone in the courtroom wearing a mask. I did not know that was a thing. The jury begins deliberating on the afternoon of Monday, February 7th, and they deliberate for four days. On February 10th, the jury convicts downs of first degree rape and first degree murder, and he's now 47 years old. Four days.

Yes. Well, person in that jury was like, ah, maybe it wasn't him. Well, they were just taking their job serious. Come on, man. I respect it. As reported in CBS News, Sophie's brother, Alex describes the relief he fills upon the guilty verdict

despite the fact that his mother had already passed away. This is the first case in Alaska history where a conviction is obtained by using a DNA comparison to genealogical sites. Well, that's pretty awesome. As for the viciousness and senselessness of the crime itself, they go on to say, he committed it against someone he'd never met and committed it for no discernible reason. Surgery is a woman who downs overpowered in every way, height, weight and weapons. The way he committed the crime, it's pretty shocking. It wasn't caught earlier because this crime is really one that should have been easily detected.

It was in a public place with a bathroom stall separating murder from washing and brushing teeth as students came and went fairly busy with having to make it. Never admitted to it. So we never know like if it was outside inside, he just never admitted. No. On September 26th, Downs is sentenced. Downs says nothing at a sentencing, but his attorney states that Downs still claims he's innocent. The prosecutor asked the judge to consider the multiple aggravating circumstances, how the defendant used both a knife and a gun, how he prevented a victim from reporting a rape by murdering her to permanently silence her. And as quoted in Wabi.TV, the prosecutor says, quote, he committed the crimes with a brazen ness that is still unfathomable and said it was shocking that he wasn't caught earlier.

The defense, however, asked the judge to be, quote, practical. They go on to say, I think that his life expectancy is not going to be, you know, 103 years old here. Anything in an excess of a 20 years? That was your argument? Yes. Oh my goodness. They say anything in excess of a 20-year sentence, that that's gonna be bringing him to near the end of his life.

The defense excuses his behavior as he was very immature, he was drinking and partying a lot as much as a fifth of whiskey every night, somehow maintaining his grades, doing a lot alienated, like a lot of 18 year olds, that's his defense. And it's important to pause here and note. So stupid. Other alienated 18 year olds don't go around defense. It's important to pause here in notes. So stupid. Other alienated 18 year olds don't go around raping and stabbing

in one of the fates. Yeah. So the defense attorney goes on to say that downs isn't a monster and that with a long sentence, he won't ever be able to hug his parents again. This comment makes the judge mad. The judge responds, since April of 1993, Miss Surgey hasn't been able to hug anybody. No one's been able to hug Miss Surgey. No one will ever hug her again. The judge sentences down to 75 years in prison, 67 for the murder plus eight for the sexual

assault. Under Alaska law, if Downs has no problems in prison, he can be released after he serves one-third of his sentence, so 25 years. Downs is appealing his conviction and sentence. We'll keep you updated on developments on this case, which is such an amazing example of police work and family persistent for answers that finally leads to some form of justice after how many decades of darkness. But why? That is such a big question here. Why would Downs do this? Why did he do it just one time? No reason. I mean... There may never be an answer to these questions, but at least someone has finally been convicted in sentence for this terrible crime. And may Sophie Sergi rest in peace in Pitka's point

where she was buried in 1993 next to her grandmother. It sucks. I mean, all these are horrible, but it's just no reason. No, she went to go smoke a cigarette in the bathroom. She didn't even live there. She didn't even live there. Like, I don't want to say what are the chances, but she was just visiting. I just, like, like you said, why?

Why did he just kill her? And then never do it again. Well, it's likely it's probably he sexually assaulted her knew he would get caught. So he killed her. So he killed her? Why did he lose her? Like what, he just horrible person.

I can't. Yeah. All right, you guys, that is our case for this week. Don't forget to listen to Dear Dazies and don't forget to sign up for Patreon or subscriptions to get our bonus episode. I love it. And I hate it. Goodbye