Anchorage police have arrested a suspect in one of two separate homicides over the weekend, after he allegedly confessed to investigators.
According to a police statement, 33-year-old Cecil Skipper called 911 around 1 p.m. Sunday from the victim’s Spenard apartment on the 2700 block of West 32nd Avenue.
Police say Skipper told dispatchers that he had murdered his “best friend,” according to a charging document filed against him. Responding officers found the victim, who hasn’t been publicly named, with a stab wound to the upper body.
When detectives took Skipper to police headquarters, he agreed to speak with them during an interview, the charging document says. Police say he confessed to strangling and stabbing the man using a cord, a spoon, a knife and his hands.
“When asked why, he said it was for no reason other than he thought by doing so it would give him power,” police wrote in the charges.
Skipper is facing a first-degree murder charge and remained in custody Monday morning.
Police are also investigating a shooting in Mountain View early Saturday that left a man dead. The shooting was reported at about 3:15 a.m. Saturday near North Bliss Street and Mountain View Drive. Officers found a man shot in the upper body in a nearby alley. He died soon afterward.
Police have not announced any arrests in the shooting or released any information about the suspect. The man killed has not yet been publicly identified.
Police spokeswoman Renee Oistad said no further updates were available Monday morning.
“While the motive for the shooting is still under investigation, information gathered thus far indicates this is an isolated incident and not a random event,” police said.
Investigators are asking anyone with information about the shooting or surveillance video from the area to call police at 311. Information can also be submitted anonymously through Anchorage Crime Stoppers.
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.
