Anchorage police have arrested a man accused of killing his 88-year-old neighbor during a Saturday evening home invasion.
Court records show Phillip M. Barger, 33, charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, burglary and fourth-degree assault in the case. Police identified the victim, Francisco Martin Jr., in a statement updated Monday.
According to police, officers responded to an assault at the 9400 block of Brayton Drive, off the Seward Highway, just after 9 p.m. Saturday. Medics found Martin inside the home. He was taken to a hospital, but was declared dead soon afterward. A woman in the home suffered minor injuries during the assault.
Police say that Barger “forced entry into his neighbor’s residence” and assaulted both Martin and the woman, then ran away. Responding officers found and detained him less than a mile away, on the 9700 block of Vanguard Drive, at about 10:30 p.m.
“The motive behind the suspect’s actions is still under investigation,” the police statement said.
According to a charging document against Barger, the injured woman told police he stepped into Martin’s home and struck Martin multiple times in the face as he asked Barger what he wanted. When the woman tried to stop him, Barger allegedly pushed her into a bookcase, causing a scrape to her arm.
One witness told police that Barger and Martin had “a long-standing feud over small neighborhood disagreements.” The same witness said he tried to stop Barger from reaching his vehicle after the attack, and ripped off Barger’s shirt when Barger tried to hit him.
Barger was listed in custody Monday at the Anchorage Correctional Complex, with his first court appearance scheduled for the afternoon.
Chris Klint is a web producer and breaking news reporter at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cklint@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Chris here.
