Snowmachiner charged in doctor's death

Alaska State Troopers say 20-year-old Patrick L. Tickett had been drinking, smoking marijuana and doing cocaine the day his snowmachine slammed into an Anchorage physician who was trying his hand at mushing.

A Kotzebue grand jury indicted Tickett on Friday for assault and drunken driving in addition to the murder charge.

He's accused of killing Anchorage pediatrician Roger Gollub, 53, on Nov. 19. Gollub sometimes traveled north to treat children in the Kotzebue area.

"He (Tickett) did say that his goggles were fogging up, yet he never slowed down," said Trooper Sgt. Karl Main, who estimated Tickett was going as fast as 60 miles per hour on a dark trail used by skiers, snowmachiners and mushers about three miles outside of Kotzebue when he hit the dog sled.

In accidental deaths, state law allows drivers to be charged with second-degree murder -- rather than, say, a lesser charge of manslaughter -- if their actions show an "extreme indifference to human life," Main said.

In this case, troopers say Tickett's drug use, drinking and high speed factored in the charge.

Authorities couldn't find Tickett in Kotzebue on Friday to arrest him, and said he has family in Anchorage.

TICKETT LEAVES THE SCENE

The night of the crash Gollub was driving a dog team owned by local musher Tracey Schaeffer, who rode in the sled.

Schaeffer, who was critically injured in the collision, later told troopers she tried to shine a headlamp to alert Tickett and his passenger, 20-year-old Clarissa Cleveland, as the snowmachine quickly approached.

Tickett told troopers he didn't see the dog team until it was too late, according to Main.

The crash severed Gollub's right leg and caused "serious internal injuries," Main said. Schaeffer, an occupational therapist, frantically tried to tend to the doctor as the pair waited as long as an hour for help to arrive, Main said.

Schaeffer said that after the crash, she told Tickett and Cleveland that one of them should stay while the other went for help, according to troopers.

"Even though she was begging them to stay, they got up and left," Main said.

Tickett tried to re-start his snowmachine to go for aid, according to troopers. When that didn't work, Tickett started walking back to Kotzebue.

Cleveland, who had tried to help Schaeffer call for help on a VHF radio, left too, troopers said.

"In her words, she panicked and ran away from the area. Caught up with Patrick Tickett, and eventually, you know, they made their way back to Patrick's house where they called the police and reported the collision," Main said.

Under Alaska law, you're required to help an injured person after a crash, Main said. But that only applies to drivers. Since Cleveland was a passenger, she wasn't charged with a crime, the trooper said.

Tickett admitted he'd been drinking and smoking pot that day, Main said. His blood-alcohol level was .067 about four hours after the accident, leading investigators to believe he was above the legal limit of .080 at the time of the crash.

Toxicology tests showed signs of cocaine in his system too, Main said.

The crash put Schaeffer in critical condition, and her husband told The Associated Press in November that doctors in Anchorage operated on her heart and removed her spleen. Main said she's since returned to Kotzebue.

A pediatrician for the Indian Health Service, Gollub moved from New Mexico to Anchorage in late 2001 and worked at the Alaska Native Medical Center.

He had retired from full-time work in September after a 30-year career.

Find Kyle Hopkins online at adn.com/contact/khopkins or call him at 257-4334.