An Anchorage jury found Tidiane Kone guilty of first-degree murder Friday in the stabbing death of Adrian Beaver on a Fairview Street in 2012.
The jury also found Kone, 32, guilty of first- and fourth-degree assault in the attack, which injured another man. Kone stabbed Beaver, 27, about 15 times and slashed the other man, according to testimony at trial.
It was August 2012, and Kone, out on bail in another case, had on an electronic monitoring device, according to the original charges in Beaver's murder. Under Kone's bail conditions, he was allowed to travel to work via a defined route, a detective said after Kone's arrest.
The monitor would be valuable to police in proving where Kone had been at the time of the stabbing.
Kone was biking along his approved route and looking for drugs when he was directed to Beaver, who fought with Kone and stole his money, watch and cellphone, said Assistant District Attorney Katholyn Runnels as the trial opened. Kone left the area for about a half-hour, then returned looking for revenge, Runnels said. He chased Beaver down near 11th Avenue and Hyder Street and stabbed him repeatedly, she said.
Kone's lawyer, Marcelle McDannel, argued that her client went back to the area in an attempt to find his things and had to defend himself after Beaver pulled a knife on him.
On Friday, Kone appeared in court wearing a gray sweater and khaki pants. There were no outward signs of reaction from Kone when Judge Kevin Saxby read the jury's verdict, convicting him on all counts. Kone faces 20 to 99 years for the murder conviction, as well as more time for the assault convictions, at his sentencing, currently scheduled for Sept. 12.
Beaver's family, seated in the courtroom gallery's front row, nodded as Saxby read the verdicts. Beaver's mother, Teresa Ackers, cried and clutched a framed picture of Beaver with his son.
"I feel a whole lot of things," Ackers said outside the courtroom. "Now I can begin healing. My son has justice. Nobody deserves to die like that."
McDannel said it had been a difficult case. The jury had taken two-and-a-half days to deliberate, she said.
"I appreciate the jury," McDannel said. "I appreciate them considering the facts of the case."
Reach Casey Grove at casey.grove@adn.com or 257-4343. Twitter updates: twitter.com/kcgrove.
By CASEY GROVE