A Dillingham jury on Tuesday found 44-year-old Leroy Dick Jr. guilty of the 2013 murder of Thomas Madole, a village public safety officer in the Southwest Alaska community of Manokotak.
Madole was killed on March 19, 2013, after reporting to Alaska State Troopers that he was going to respond to a "possibly suicidal person" in Manokotak, a community of about 490 people 25 miles from Dillingham located along the Igushik River.
Madole knocked on the door of Leroy Dick that day after speaking to Dick's mother about an altercation involving Dick's stepfather. According to court documents filed shortly after the shooting, Dick had retrieved a rifle in anticipation of police arriving and chambered a round after Madole's continued knocking upset him. An affidavit said Dick shot Madole as the VPSO tried to run from the residence after Dick opened the door with the weapon in hand.
Madole's murder led to a bill in the 2014 legislative session allowing VPSOs to carry weapons. In the past, VPSOs -- employed by nonprofits as first responders in communities without another permanent law enforcement presence -- have not been armed.
Dick's trial began Nov. 3 in Dillingham. On Tuesday, the jury handed down a unanimous guilty verdict on the charge of first-degree murder. According to Tom Bendinger with Dillingham radio station KDLG, Dick's defense attorneys called no witnesses and presented no evidence, and Dick did not testify at his trial. The defense instead was seeking a reduced charge of second-degree murder, arguing Dick did not intend to kill Madole, Bendinger reports.
Sentencing in the case is scheduled for March 2015, according to troopers.