Crime & Courts

Kenai man accused of killing woman in hotel room

A 29-year-old Kenai man is facing murder charges in the killing of a woman found strangled Sunday in a Kenai hotel room.

Nicolas Andrew Bushnell turned himself in Sunday and said he killed 33-year-old Sterling resident Breann Lang, according to an affidavit written by Sgt. Ryan Coleman of the Kenai Police Department. Bushnell was arrested on charges of first- and second-degree murder.

Bushnell told police he and Lang were friends and planned to do psychedelic drugs together at Main Street Hotel, according to the affidavit. They took acid, which is a hallucinogenic drug, and also ingested nitrous oxide, Bushnell told the officer. Police later found drugs, including the ones Bushnell described, as well as paraphernalia, in the hotel room, the affidavit said.

Bushnell told police that during the night, he decided he would kill Lang because he believed “she was a demon/the devil,” Coleman wrote.

He waited several hours before going to the police department just before 3:45 a.m. Sunday, the affidavit said.

Lang was briefly a resident at the Freedom House, a Christian-based addiction recovery program in Soldotna, the organization said in a Facebook post. In an online fundraiser, a longtime friend wrote that Lang was recently rebuilding her life.

In the fundraiser, Lang is described as a loving mother and a loyal friend.

As of Wednesday, Bushnell was in custody at Wildwood Pretrial Facility in Kenai.

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