Crime & Courts

Prosecutors: No charges to be filed in fatal stabbing in Levelock

Eagle River resident Ellis Lee Kaloke, 37, was fatally stabbed in Levelock last July. The state now says it cannot prove that S George Peterson was not acting in self-defense when Kaloke was killed.

After a lengthy investigation, prosecutors have decided not to press charges against Peterson, then 20, who claimed self-defense, despite the recommendation of local Alaska State Troopers that he be charged with manslaughter. Prosecutors say there is no evidence to prove the incident was not justifiable deadly force.

The killing the night of July 14 terrified the Kvichak River village east of Dillingham, even more so when troopers did not take Peterson into custody. But from the start of the investigation, Peterson was adamant that Kaloke was drunk and had attacked him when Peterson tried to kick him out of the house.

"First thing I thought to myself was, 'Don't be afraid to defend yourself, don't be afraid to defend yourself,' " Peterson told KDLG days after the killing. "You know there's laws that protect you, especially inside your own house. So uh … yeah, I
defended myself."

According to the troopers' investigation, during the fight Peterson grabbed a throwing knife and stabbed Kaloke once in the back, once in the side and once in the chest. Kaloke stumbled out of the house, collapsed and eventually died.

Peterson said he stabbed Kaloke more than once to break off an unrelenting assault. It was the third stab, delivered under Kaloke's left clavicle, that killed him. It "perforated his left lung and punctured his pulmonary artery, causing him to bleed internally," according to the autopsy.

The victim's "blood alcohol concentration was 0.169 g/ml and … contained THC," according to the report.

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Peterson called 911 himself to report the incident, then calmly went to a neighbor's house and joined in a game of Scrabble, not saying a word to anyone for about the next half-hour, authorities said.

Two state troopers arrived late that night and began an investigation. Peterson, who was sober, cooperated with authorities and had injuries consistent with having been in a fight, was never arrested. Now, officially, the state says he will face no criminal charges.

"First of all, I can say that it's a tremendously tragic event, there's no two ways about that," said Anchorage District Attorney Rick Allen, who sent a four-page letter to state troopers in Bristol Bay detailing his analysis of the case.

Allen told KDLG last week he credited the troopers, medical examiner and assistant district attorney Allison O'Leary for conducting a thorough investigation and leaving "no stone unturned."

There is no evidence, Allen said, that Peterson was the initial aggressor, or that he did not "reasonably fear" he might suffer serious physical injury in the fight he claims Kaloke started. Peterson's testimony, said Allen, has stayed consistent throughout the investigation, and his is the only testimony authorities had to work with.

Kaloke's girlfriend, Bonnie Apokedak, had left the house before the fight started and returned after Kaloke was dead.

This article originally appeared at KDLG.org and is republished here with permission.

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