A Fairbanks woman faces a murder charge after she confessed to killing a man who had been reported missing weeks earlier and then pawning the murder weapon, state troopers say.
When troopers questioned Monica Forbes about the disappearance of Michael Pope, she initially told them that he was in California, then that he was somewhere in Fairbanks, according to the troopers' criminal complaint.
Troopers then learned that Forbes had pawned four guns. When they returned to Forbes' house, they saw a mattress in the back of her truck with a large red stain on it. Forbes claimed Pope had stabbed her with a knife while he was "sleep-drunk walking," troopers said.
Troopers examined Forbes' truck and confirmed the stain on the mattress was blood. They also found two bullets in the mattress, as well as a bloody blanket and pillowcase in trash bags.
On Monday, troopers said in the complaint, Forbes confessed to shooting Pope with one of the guns she later pawned. She initially claimed she shot him in self-defense while he was attacking her. She then changed her story and said she was "feeling hurt and scared" and Pope "was not taking care of her," so she shot him, according to the complaint.
Forbes said Pope's body was buried in a tarp near her outhouse. Troopers then found it there, they said in the complaint.
At Forbes' Wednesday afternoon arraignment, she appeared by video from jail. When asked if she could afford an attorney, she said, "Absolutely not."
"I can't afford to post bail," Forbes said.
Forbes is due back in court next week.