Crime & Justice

Man charged with fatal beating of brother in Venetie

FAIRBANKS -- Alaska State Troopers say a 36-year-old Venetie man found fatally injured in the village northeast of Fairbanks had been beaten by his younger brother.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports 20-year-old Chance Isaac John Moe Erick is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Earl Erick Jr.

A witness on March 12 reported going to Earl Erick Jr.'s home to pick up an all-terrain vehicle and seeing Chance Erick repeatedly clubbing his brother. Troopers say the weapon was a dense stick the diameter of a small tree trunk.

Earl Erick died March 14 at an Anchorage hospital.

An autopsy indicated he had cracks to his skull and the left side of his brain had collapsed.

Chance Erick is being held without bail at Fairbanks Correctional Center.

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