A 44-year-old North Pole man is accused of acting as an accomplice in the November murder of a Fairbanks resident, according to an indictment handed down in the case Wednesday, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
The indictment against Sean Cameron Jenkins charges him with hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence, both felonies, in connection with the death of 51-year-old Michael Pope -- which the indictment said occurred "on or about" Nov. 27. Monica Forbes, 49, was previously charged with second-degree murder and evidence tampering in Pope's death.
Troopers began looking for Pope on Dec. 4, when they received a report that he hadn't been heard from since Nov. 25. During the investigation, they made contact with Forbes at her home, where they found a bloodstained mattress containing two bullets in the bed of a pickup truck, according to a charging document previously filed against Forbes.
In the charging document, Alaska State Troopers said she told them she shot Pope with a gun she later pawned because he "was not taking care of her," then buried his body near an outhouse on Pope's property in the Chena Pump area. The charging document against Forbes said she and "another person" had buried the body, but didn't identify the other party. Troopers discovered Pope's body on Forbes' property on Dec. 14.
Online court records list a $10,000 arrest warrant issued for Jenkins, and the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Friday that he was sought over the Christmas weekend. Troopers spokesperson Megan Peters said Monday afternoon that there is still an active warrant out for Jenkins' arrest.