Alaska State Troopers have arrested a Kokhanok woman charged with murder in the death of a 25-year-old man whose body was found in Lake Iliamna, after state prosecutors say she drove an ATV drunk and failed to help him following a crash.
According to a Thursday statement from Deputy District Attorney Clint Campion with the Alaska Department of Law, 24-year-old Brenda Nowatak was indicted Thursday for her alleged role in causing the death of Trefim Wassillie Jr.
Wassillie's mother found his body face-down in Lake Iliamna on Sept. 16, 2012 and notified the village public safety officer in Kokhanok. Wassillie's remains were sent to the state medical examiner's office in Anchorage where an autopsy revealed that he died "as a result of drowning and blunt force injuries to the head," according to Campion.
An Alaska State Troopers dispatch released Thursday afternoon says additional investigation established that Nowatak had been driving an ATV, while Wassillie rode with her. Prosecutors say Nowatak was drunk at the time.
"While traveling southwest along the shoreline of Lake Iliamna near Kokhanok, the 4-wheeler struck a stump on the beach causing both to be ejected from the 4-wheeler with (Wassillie) being ejected into Lake Iliamna," troopers wrote. "Brenda Nowatak left the scene without rendering assistance to (Wassillie) who subsequently drowned as a result of the incident."Nowatak has been charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident and DUI.
After a grand jury indicted Nowatak Wednesday and an arrest warrant for her was issued, she was arrested Thursday and taken to King Salmon, where she is being held on $10,000 bail.
Channel 2's Chris Klint contributed information to this story.
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