Anchorage Daily News

A man who held a woman hostage at knife point and ordered her to disrobe while in the midst of a police stand-off was sentenced Friday to serve 13 years in prison, according to the Anchorage district attorney's office.

Prosecutors say Mark Wayne Talbert, 46, arrived to his job at A.C. Hair Design in Northway Mall Dec. 18, 2006, in possession of alcohol, a knife and a plan to take a hostage.

Once he grabbed a woman, he threatened to kill her if police entered the room he was holed up in, assistant district attorney Gustaf Olson said.

At one point, he ordered the woman to undress for his viewing pleasure, but the victim, upon hearing that demand, fought her way free, Olson said. The woman suffered a knife wound in the process.

Meanwhile, police tossed a flash grenade in the room and burst inside to arrest Talbert, he said.

Talbert pleaded no contest to kidnapping in September in a deal that took an assault charge off the table, Olson said.

On Friday, Superior Court Judge Patrick McKay ordered Talbert to a 25-year sentence with 12 years suspended after two hours of argument.

The judge also ordered Talbert to serve 10 years of probation and to undergo mental health and sex offender treatment.

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