Crime & Courts

Kiana man found guilty of attempted murder in remote Alaska

Teddy Smith of Kiana was found guilty Tuesday of two counts each of attempted murder, robbery, theft and assault in a bizarre 2012 incident that saw him shoot two hunters at a remote cabin along the Squirrel River, according to Alaska State Troopers.

Smith was found guilty after a jury trial in Kotzebue Superior Court that lasted a little over a week. Jurors deliberated for four hours before handing down guilty verdicts on all eight charges Smith faced in relation to the incident, as well as three counts of third-degree assault related to an incident in Kiana more than a week earlier in which Smith fired a gun toward a crowd of people after the death of his mother.

Troopers had originally ruled the death of Smith's mother, Dolly, as suspicious but said in a dispatch Wednesday that no foul play is currently suspected in the 74-year-old's death.

A strange chain of events began on Sept. 7, 2012, when Smith got on the VHF radio in Kiana -- a community of about 400 on the bank of the Kobuk River in Northwest Alaska -- to announce that his mother had died. When some members of the community arrived to help, Smith was said to have fired a weapon at the group, then walked downriver.

Arrest warrants were later issued for the then-45-year-old Smith, who had recently received some notice as an actor for his role in the film "On the Ice," shot in Barrow.

Smith wasn't seen for another 10 days or so, when two hunters -- brothers Paul James Buckel and Charles W. Buckel Jr. -- floating down the Squirrel River arrived on Sept. 18, 2012, at a remote cabin, only to find it occupied. According to court documents filed at the time, Smith was already in the cabin about 40 miles from Kiana and introduced himself to the brothers as "Paul."

At some point after the brothers' arrival, Smith shot Charles in the chest, then later shot Paul in the shoulder after making him load ammunition, camping gear and a satellite phone into a canoe, according to court documents. Smith then took the vessel downriver.

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The brothers were able to radio for help, and a two-day manhunt for Smith ensued. Troopers spotted him from the air and waited downriver until they arrested him peacefully two days after the shootings at the cabin.

Both of the brothers were taken to Anchorage for treatment and survived their injuries.

Smith is expected to be sentenced in April 2015, according to troopers.

Ben Anderson

Ben Anderson is a former writer and editor for Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2017.

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