BETHEL -- In the remote Western Alaska village of Shageluk, Everett Semone "went crazy" Tuesday night and went after his family with an ax, a trooper statement filed in court Thursday said.
Now Semone, who turned 21 last month, faces two first-degree murder charges in what troopers say were the ax killings of his parents, village residents Flossie Semone, 46, and John Arrow, 57.
Something took over his mind, Everett Semone told his sister after the attacks, according to the trooper statement.
Semone made his first court appearance Thursday afternoon by video from the Yukon Kuskokwim Correctional Center. He seemed to struggle to hear and speak as District Court Judge Nathaniel Peters went over standard questions about his address, phone number, and whether he needed a court-appointed lawyer. He couldn't remember his phone number.
He was wearing what prison officials call a "suicide smock," a long, blue gown made of heavy-duty nylon that can't be ripped or torn. He's on suicide watch, Sherrie Daigle, Department of Corrections spokeswoman, said in an email.
The judge asked whether he understood what he was being charged with.
Semone paused for a few breaths, then answered.
"Murder," he said.
Trooper Sgt. Nicholas Zito tells of terror, danger and heroism in the 1 1/2-page sworn statement filed in support of the charges. Shageluk, with fewer than 100 people, has no health aide or village public safety officer. Troopers in Aniak, a chartered plane ride away, handle calls. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. is seeking a health aide.
At 9:17 p.m. Tuesday, the Bethel Police Department dispatcher alerted troopers that Shageluk resident Alana Notti called for help about an ax attack in the village.
Notti told the Aniak-based sergeant that Everett Semone "'went crazy' and attacked his parents Flossie Sermone and John Arrow with an (ax)," the statement said. Semone was running loose in the village.
Notti's husband, Shageluk tribal chief Roger Hamilton, was at the family's home trying to treat them, she said.
When Semone began attacking their parents, a sister, Madeline Semone, was in the house and jumped out the back window, Hamilton later reported to troopers. Madeline told another brother, Jarrett, about the attacks and he alerted Hamilton, the tribal leader told troopers.
Hamilton spoke with the trooper sergeant at 9:20 p.m. from the Semone home. Both Flossie Semone and Arrow had visible ax injuries to their heads, he said. He determined that Semone was dead. Soon Arrow would be too.
Just before 4 a.m. Wednesday, Hamilton called troopers again. Everett Semone had surrendered to him at the family house. Leaders were holding Semone in the city office building.
"Roger advised that Everett is cooperative and that everyone is okay," the trooper statement said.
Troopers called Hamilton again just after 8 a.m. Semone had told Hamilton he dropped the ax on the hill, the statement said. He had blood on his pants and cuts on an arm and finger. Another sister, Geraldine Semone, asked why he did it.
"Something took over something in my mind," he replied, according to troopers.
Trooper investigators arrived in the village Wednesday. They found Arrow's body in the front hall leading to the main living area. He had at least seven large gashes to his back and side of his head, but "relatively none to the body," troopers said. Flossie was found dead in the main living area, her clothes covered in blood. She had gashes to her torso, arms and head. The cuts on her arms appeared to be defensive wounds.
In the village Thursday, children went to school but for a shortened day. City offices were open. A YKHC crisis team offered counseling. Using the fundraising website gofundme.com, friends raised more than $4,400 in just a day for the couple's funeral expenses and family travel, above the goal of $3,000. The family is planning a memorial potlatch.
In court, Peters set bail at $500,000 and also put in a requirement for a third-party custodian, as assistant district attorney Blake Circle requested. Peters also said he would appoint a lawyer for Semone.