Alaska State Troopers say Jacob Allen “Riddles” Dvorak, 17, shot a Palmer man three times and threw his body over a cliff along the Glenn Highway because he wanted “justice” for a sexual assault he believed the man had committed against a friend.
Court documents show Dvorak admitted to shooting 45-year-old Frank Pushruk once in the face and twice in the back of the head just before midnight on Wednesday.
A charging document made available by the Palmer court shows Dvorak told investigators he was taking revenge for what he claims was a rape of a female friend by Pushruk earlier this week.
That friend, a 17-year-old female from Palmer, told investigators that three days prior to the murder, she was “partying” with Pushruk, passed out, and woke up naked in his bed. She told investigators Pushruk was standing at the foot of the bed, holding her underwear and saying “I’m sorry.”
The alleged victim says she told a friend, a 16-year-old boy who was also at the party. He confronted Pushruk, who denied any kind of sexual assault.
That’s reportedly when the alleged victim and the 16-year-old boy told Dvorak about the alleged sexual assault. While driving around Wasilla, the three made plans to “punk” Pushruk and beat him up. Later that night, when only the 16-year-old and Dvorak were driving, Dvorak claimed “he had stolen a gun and that they should shoot” Pushruk. The boy told investigators he told Dvorak that was a “bad idea” and that they should only beat him up.
The alleged female victim later told investigators she “didn’t feel like she’d had sex, wasn’t injured, and wasn’t even sure (Pushruk) had sexually assaulted her.” The 16-year-old told investigators he believed the female and Dvorak had once been in a relationship.
On the night of the murder, investigators say Dvorak and the 16-year-old called Pushruk “to go get ‘shrooms,’” and with Pushruk in the car, the three drove to the overlook near Mile 52 of the Glenn Highway and walked up the pathway to the overlook.
That’s when investigators say Dvorak confronted Pushruk “for what he had done” and pointed a .45-caliber handgun at his face.
Pushruk told Dvorak, “just shoot me,” investigators say. Court documents detail that Dvorak then pulled the trigger, shooting Pushruk in the face; Pushruk dropped to the ground and Dvorak told investigators he shot him twice more in the back of the head.
Dvorak told the 16-year-old to get Pushruk’s valium prescription from his pocket. The boy told investigators he “froze in place,” and Dvorak then yelled “Help me, help me. This could be you! You need to help me.”
Dvorak then tried to lift Pushruk’s body over the fence separating the overlook from the cliff leading to the Matanuska River. The 16-year-old told investigators that he thought “if he didn’t help throw (Pushruk) over the fence and down the cliff (Dvorak) would would kill (him), too.” The two admitted to investigators that they pushed the body over the fence and drove away.
Court records report that the 17-year-old female, along with two other minors, were in a car "parked a short distance away" at the overlook. All three told Troopers they "heard three gunshots" and the 17-year-old female told investigators "(Puhsruk) was shot by (Dvorak) and thrown off the cliff."
The two drove to Scott Road in Palmer, where Dvorak allegedly wiped his prints from the gun and hid it somewhere in the woods, according to court documents.
Before dropping the boy off outside a grocery store, investigators say Dvorak tried to call and message others, possibly including the 17-year-old female. Dvorak dropped the boy off at his home and said “if the cops came, to tell them ‘Riddles’ did it,” according to the 16-year-old’s statements to police.
Just after noon on Thursday Pushruk’s body was recovered. Police say the bodily injuries match the events described by the 16-year-old.
By 4:30 p.m. Thursday, investigators reached Dvorak at his home in Palmer. He admitted to the shooting and dumping Pushruk’s body down the cliff, and told investigators “he wanted ‘justice’ for what Pushruk had (done)” to the 17-year-old female.
Dvorak is charged with first-degree murder and is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in a Palmer court.