WASILLA -- Alaska State Troopers arrested 69-year-old Michael Wolverton early Wednesday morning after he told a 911 dispatcher he'd just shot his daughter at the house they shared near Wasilla, court documents show.
The call came just before 11 p.m. Tuesday from a house on Mariah Drive just off Wasilla-Fishhook Road, according to a sworn affidavit filed with charging documents Monday.
Troopers got to the house and detained Wolverton, then found 47-year-old Shannan Wolverton dead in a bedroom with an apparent bullet wound in her eye, according to trooper Sgt. Michael Henry's affidavit.
"Michael told the dispatcher he shot Shannan after an argument about her bringing a man to the house he didn't approve of," Henry wrote. "Michael said he shot Shannan one time in the face, killing her."
Troopers were told that Wolverton is a retired mechanic, spokesperson Megan Peters said. There is an Anchorage Superior Court judge of the same name who was not involved.
Wolverton told investigators that Shannan moved in with him in March, according to Henry's affidavit. He said she occasionally had episodes in which she yelled or became violent, and had previously been physically violent with family members, and the family suspected she suffered from an undiagnosed mental health disorder.
Wolverton said that on Monday night, his daughter had a male friend over and he told her the man needed to leave, the affidavit says.
Though he initially told an investigator his daughter followed him into his bedroom and started "nagging him," Wolverton later told the sergeant he went to sleep and woke up with his daughter "screaming at him from the end of his bed," Henry wrote. She didn't leave when he asked her to, so he pulled a .44 pistol out of his nightstand and held it up.
Wolverton told the sergeant that seemed to make his daughter more aggressive and she started moving toward him, daring him to shoot her and cursing at him, the affidavit says.
Wolverton told the sergeant his daughter was 4 feet away when he shot her, Henry wrote. He told the sergeant he didn't know where he was aiming but thought it was at his daughter's head and that he was trying to kill her.
According to the affidavit, Wolverton told the sergeant his daughter was unusually aggressive and he felt vulnerable because his health is poor: "Michael said he guesses he shot her mostly because he was sick of dealing with her fits, but also because he was a little scared. He didn't want her to hurt him."
Wolverton said he drank three shots of brandy Monday night, according to the affidavit. His estimated blood-alcohol level was measured at nearly twice the legal limit for driving almost two hours after he reported the shooting.
Troopers arrested Wolverton on Wednesday on charges of first- and second-degree murder and fourth-degree misconduct involving weapons. He remained jailed at Mat-Su Pretrial Facility without bail Wednesday afternoon.
In his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon, Wolverton was arraigned by Palmer District Court Judge John Wolfe on closed-circuit video feed from Mat-Su Pretrial. He politely answered the judge's few questions. A yellow inmate scrub shirt hung loosely on his lean frame.
Wolverton's lawyer, Anchorage defense attorney Michael Moberly, asked Wolfe to set a bail hearing promptly.
Mariah is a short, half-gravel road with views to the nearby Talkeetna Mountains in a woodsy area not far from an elementary school. The semirural neighborhood of one- and two-story homes, some decorated for Halloween, was quiet Wednesday afternoon.
The State Medical Examiner Office will conduct an autopsy on Shannan Wolverton.