Anchorage police have arrested a man in a fatal stabbing Saturday night at a Spenard hotel, after a dispute outside the building.
Police said in a statement that Matthew Alexie, 27, is accused of second-degree murder in the death of Michael Kaskey, 25.
Police spokesman Christopher Barraza initially said Monday that Kaskey was a worker at the Chelsea Inn, where the stabbing took place. But staff at the inn said Friday that Kaskey was not an employee of the inn but a tenant.
Police got called to the stabbing around 10:15 p.m. Saturday. According to a charging document in the case Kaskey, who was in the inn’s lobby, said he had been stabbed in the stomach then fell unconscious. Police and medics tried to conduct lifesaving measures, but Kaskey died at the scene.
Police said surveillance video from the inn, located off Spenard Road, showed a man later identified as Alexie stabbing Kaskey, then leaving in an SUV with a woman later identified as his girlfriend.
A witness told police that Kaskey had been standing outside an entrance to the inn, collecting a $20 charge from anyone entering the building. Kaskey confronted Alexie’s girlfriend when she tried to slip past him, the witness said, prompting Alexie to approach him. That led to a shoving match between the two men and Alexie allegedly stabbing Kaskey.
Barraza said Alexie was arrested Monday. In addition to the murder count, he is also charged with evidence tampering.
In 2020, Chelsea Inn employee Duane Fields, 48, was shot and killed as witnesses said he tried to protect a woman from being beaten.
Alexie was being held Tuesday at the Anchorage Correctional Complex.
Correction: An earlier version of this story inaccurately said Michael Kaskey was an employee of the Chelsea Inn, not a tenant.
