BETHEL -- A Bethel man is accused of strangling his girlfriend and leaving her body in a Bethel apartment for days, police said Tuesday afternoon.
Mark Charlie, 27, of Bethel, is being held at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Correctional Center on charges of first-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence.
A relative of Charlie's called the police because the family hadn't heard from him for several days, Bethel police Lt. Joseph Corbett said in an email Tuesday afternoon. Police went to his apartment in the Bethel Native Corp. complex around 4 p.m. Monday. Inside were Charlie and a dead woman, police said in a written statement.
Police said they later identified the woman as Leeann Berlin, 26, of Bethel. Charlie was taken into custody and brought to the Bethel Police Department for questioning.
"Upon interview Mr. Charlie admitted to strangling Ms. Berlin to death with his bare hands," police said in the statement. "No motive or reason was given by Mr. Charlie except he mentioned arguing with Ms. Berlin on Wednesday night."
He wouldn't tell police the nature of the argument, Corbett said. They were a couple, the lieutenant said.
Charlie told police that he killed her four or five days before his arrest, the statement said.
Alcohol appears to have played a role in the killing, police said.
Berlin's family is in Kasigluk. It took some time to notify relatives in the village of her death and the circumstances, Corbett said.
Charlie has previously been convicted of two felony assault counts in 2008 and a misdemeanor assault conviction last year.
His arrest on a murder charge comes just as there's a void in the Bethel district attorney's office. June Stein, Bethel district attorney, is being removed from her job effective March 9. Six assistants will handle cases and the most experienced of them will oversee the office administration until a new district attorney is named.