Guide accused of charging for Kenai fishing trips, failing to provide them

Thomas Murray, who operated Wise Guide Outfitters out of Cooper Landing but lived in Cedar Hills, Utah, also failed to pay more than $27,000 to area lodges and other guides for their services, troopers said. And despite his Utah residency, Murray, 35, collected Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend checks for three years, according to a charging document filed Dec. 8 in Kenai court.

Murray, who was served with a summons in Utah on Wednesday, is charged with one count of fraud and four counts of theft.

Murray used the online payment service PayPal to collect money for the all-inclusive fishing vacations from 29 separate groups of anglers totalling 69 individuals, according to the charges. The would-be fishermen were never provided with the five-day fishing trips, meals, lodging, campfires or sightseeing tours Murray promised for $1,100 per person, the charges say.

Murray advertised on eBay, offering the discounted rate to fill in gaps in his summer schedule, said Assistant Attorney General Clint Campion.

"It was a pretty good deal, it seemed like," Campion said. "The concept there is those people are paying everything for the trip, not just a deposit."

Murray first became a licensed fishing guide in Alaska in 1991 and started Wise Guide Outfitters in 2003. He started using eBay in 2005, the charges say. Mostly, Murray coordinated the trips, picking up the clients and driving them to Cooper Landing where they stayed and fished with other guides, Campion said. But on some occasions he would do the guiding himself, Campion said.

Bayard, Neb., farmer Mike Leever found Murray's business through eBay three or four years ago, Leever said by phone Thursday.

Every summer, Leever turns his attention from raising corn and feeding cattle to fishing for salmon and trout in Alaska, he said. Murray provided a great fishing experience at a lower cost than other guides, and Leever fished with Wise Guide two summers, he said.

"I kind of liked the guy. He was a likeable guy," Leever said. "But I guess he was a wolf in sheep's skin."

Things turned sour with Murray after an August 2010 fishing trip, Leever said. Leever's group didn't catch any king salmon and Murray cut short their trip, Leever said. Afterward, Murray said he'd make it up to Leever if he booked another trip for the following year.

According to the charges, Leever paid $2,250 for the next year's fishing trip. About a month after the payment, Murray said in an email that he was having surgery for a brain tumor and wouldn't be returning to Alaska to guide Murray or anybody else. Then Murray stopped writing, the charges say.

"And it was just, chop, nothing anymore, like he fell off the world," Leever said. "Around here, a man's word is as good as gold. But he was just a fraud."

The charges paint a similar picture for three other alleged victims. Troopers say there were many others. An Alaska investigator flew to Utah to interview Murray in March, Campion said.

Murray told the investigator he decided to leave Alaska early during the 2010 fishing season and left about a dozen people without the vacations for which they'd paid. According to the charging document, Murray said he "took off in August 2010 from Alaska because he just 'kind of lost it.' "

"He had 'no idea' if he was going to provide the fishing trips he had sold for 2011 and he had not notified any of his clients that he was not going to be in Alaska during the 2011 fishing season," according to the charges.

Campion said Murray did not explain the comment about how he "lost it," nor did he provide any specific details about any medical procedures related to a brain tumor.

Reach Casey Grove at casey.grove@adn.com or 257-4589.