Anchorage Daily News

A Dillingham cab driver was sentenced this week to 104 years in prison for the 2006 murder of Natalia Timurphy in a small Southwestern Alaska town where murders are rare.

A jury convicted Cress Carney in April of strangling Timurphy and hiding her body in a wooded area off one of the town's main roads. His sentencing was held in Dillingham on Thursday.

Carney, 45, was allowed to drive a cab despite having a lengthy criminal history, with more than 30 prior convictions over a 20-year span, including being charged with assault and sexual assault, according to prosecutor Ben Hofmeister.

Timurphy, 41, was a mother of five who was engaged to be married at the time of her death. When last seen, she was highly intoxicated and leaving a bar, according to Hofmeister. An autopsy put her blood alcohol level at more than twice the legal limit for driving, he said.

An investigation revealed that Carney picked her up in the cab along with two other people, according to Hofmeister. Once the others were dropped off, she stayed in the cab. Carney eventually confessed to strangling Timurphy and leaving her body in the woods. He told police they had consensual sex, Hofmeister said.

"He said something to the extent she was going to report sexual assault charges. At that point he kind of lost it and strangled her."

Hofmeister said some of the evidence indicated that might not be true.

"The positioning of the body, location of the body, way the clothes were strewn, it looked like it was a rape-homicide," he said.

But the body was too decomposed to provide enough evidence to prove rape beyond a reasonable doubt, he said.

There was some evidence at trial that Carney had a traumatic brain injury that left him with cognitive impairments, Hofmeister said. Carney's attorney, Scott Sterling, could not be reached for comment.

The sentencing judge restricted Carney's parole eligibility so he cannot be released until he serves at least 69 years, Hofmeister said.

Many cities require background checks for people to drive cabs. Janice Shilanski, Dillingham's city manager, refused to provide any information on how her community regulates taxis. No one else at the city office was allowed to speak with the media. City mayor Alice Ruby was not available. Steve Hunt, a member of the city council, said the city manager didn't have to provide that information.

"Go dig it up," he said, and hung up.

Carol Shade, another member of the council, owns a cab. She said no one told her she had to have a special permit or check the background of drivers to run a cab in the city, but she couldn't speak to specific city regulations. She voluntarily does background checks on her drivers, she said.

No one answered the phone at Nushagak Cab, the company that employed Carney at the time of the murder.

Dillingham is a Bristol Bay community of about 2,500.

Find Julia O'Malley online at adn.com/contact/jomalley or call 257-4591.

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