Anchorage man gets 300-year sentence for 2017 triple murder in gold shop

An Anchorage man was sentenced this week to 300 years in prison for a September 2017 triple murder at a gold shop on Spenard Road.

Prosecutors say Anthony Pisano fatally shot 31-year-old Steven Cook, 48-year-old Kenneth Hartman and 31-year-old Daniel McCreadie at The Bullion Brothers. Pisano was also accused of assaulting Michael Dupree, who owned the shop with Cook.

Pisano, 50, was convicted last year of three counts of first-degree murder as well as six counts of second-degree murder and one felony charge of third-degree assault. A prior trial ended in mistrial in 2020 after that jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

On Thursday, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Jack McKenna handed down a sentence of three consecutive 99-year terms for the first-degree murder charges plus another five years, three of them consecutive, for the assault charge.

As part of Thursday’s sentencing hearing, an Anchorage police detective testified that Pisano was involved in a murder-for-hire plot targeting Dupree, a key witness for the state, according to Anchorage District Attorney Brittany Dunlop.

Pisano approached another man in jail with him after the first trial and asked him to kill Dupree for money, according to a police report and other exhibits filed this month.

That information was never made public during the second trial because the other man died before the proceedings began and he could testify before a jury, Dunlop said Friday.

“The second jury didn’t hear about that but it certainly was relevant when the court was deciding how dangerous Mr. Pisano was,” she said Friday, adding that Dupree moved out of state for his own protection.

During Pisano’s trial last year, prosecutors described the killings as a botched robbery motivated by financial desperation. His attorney, Kevin Fitzgerald, said the crime was motivated by self-defense.

Pisano was introduced to Dupree and Cook by a member of the Anchorage Police Department to help with security services, according to testimony during trial. He developed a close relationship with Dupree and Cook and frequently spent time at the store.

Pisano had roughly two decades of military service and had launched a business selling weapons and providing firearm training, his attorney said during the trial. A prosecutor said he had retired from the military months before the shooting and accumulated nearly $100,000 of debt.

Pisano’s attorney couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Friday. He had requested a 90-year sentence, according to a memorandum filed in the case.