Alaska Native man pleads not guilty for deaths of two troopers

Wednesday, May 14, 2014  

An Alaska Native man pleaded not guilty to charges that he murdered two state troopers in the village of Tanana.

Authorities say Nathanial Kangas, 20, shot and killed Sgt. Patrick “Scott” Johnson and Gabriel “Gabe” Rich while they were trying to arrest his father on May 1. He pleaded not guilty to two counts each of first- and second-degree murder and single counts of assault and evidence tampering.

The father, Arvin Kangas, 58, pleaded not guilty to charges of evidence tampering and hindering prosecution. Authorities say the troopers were called to the village because he had a public safety officer on the night before the fatal shooting.

The Tanana Tribal Council is moving to banish the men forever from the village.

Get the Story:
Tanana man pleads not guilty in shooting deaths of Alaska State Troopers (The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner 5/14)
Father, son from Tanana plead not guilty in incident that left 2 troopers dead (The Alaska Dispatch 5/13)
Tanana tragedy renews interest in tribal justice (KTVA 5/13)

Alaska Native man faces charges for deaths of 2 state troopers (05/02)