Alaska News

Alleged Pennsylvania 'Craigslist killer' has Alaska ties

A woman accused of murdering a man in what's been dubbed a "Craigslist killing" appears to have Alaska connections.

Police in Sunbury, Penn. say Miranda Barbour, 18, and her husband Elytte Barbour, 22, separately admitted to participating in the killing of 42-year-old Troy LaFerrara after meeting him online through a "companionship" ad on Craigslist in Sunbury last month. Miranda and her husband were charged with numerous counts related to the incident, including criminal homicide. Sunbury Police Chief Steve Mazzeo said LaFerrara's death may have circumstances that will lead the investigation of the Barbours into other states, though no further detail was immediately available.

A spokesman for the Anchorage FBI office said Monday that no one was investigating the Barbours in Alaska. Alaska State Troopers Spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said a trooper in Wasilla had been contacted by Pennsylvania law enforcement in November looking for information on where Miranda Barbour had lived.

"It was a phone call, it was brief," Ipsen said Tuesday.

Calls to the Sunbury Police Department were not returned Monday.

A Facebook profile for Miranda Barbour (née Dean) lists her hometown as North Pole, Alaska.

Reports in the Daily Item, the local newspaper in Sunbury, said that Miranda moved to Coats, N.C., from Alaska in early 2011 and met Elytte Barbour there. They began dating in June 2013, and married Oct. 22 in Lillington, N.C.

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The killing of LaFerrara took place just three weeks later.

Miranda Barbour reportedly met and picked up LaFerrara at a mall on Nov. 11, while her husband hid under a blanket in the backseat. From there, the three drove and parked. When LaFerrara allegedly began touching Miranda, she pulled a knife from between the seats and stabbed him, though reports on the incident appear to vary. The New York Post reports that Elytte, hiding in the back seat of the red Honda CR-V, struck first, wrapping a belt around LaFerrara's neck so Miranda could stab him. The couple allegedly dumped his body in the back garage of a house in Sunbury and then went to celebrate Elytte Barbour's 22nd birthday at a local strip club.

According to the Daily Item, Elytte Barbour and Miranda Barbour are due to appear before Sunbury District on Dec. 20 in separate hearings.

Suzanna Caldwell

Suzanna Caldwell is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News and Alaska Dispatch. She left the ADN in 2017.

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