Former Medical Examiner Testifies in CommSta Murder Trial

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A former state medical examiner says the two men killed in 2012 at the Coast Guard’s Kodiak Island Communication Station each suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
Dr. Meredith Lann testified Thursday in the trial of 62-year-old James Wells, who is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Petty Officer James Hopkins and retired Chief Petty Officer Richard Belisle.
Lann testified that Hopkins had been shot twice, and that Belisle was shot three times.
Out of respect for family and friends of the victims, KMXT will not publish the graphic details from Lann’s testimony, though they can be found elsewhere online.

Beaufort Testifies About Finding Victims in CommSta Killings

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Coast Guardsman who discovered the bodies of two murdered men nearly two years ago says he thought at first they were playing a prank on him.
Petty Officer Cody Beaufort testified Wednesday in the trial of James Wells, who’s charged with shooting to death retired Coast Guardsman Richard Belisle and Petty Officer James Hopkins, both of who he worked with at Coast Guard Base Kodiak Communication Station.
Prosecutors say Belisle used a security card to open the Rigger Shop, a satellite building at the communication station, at 7 a.m. April 12, 2012. Hopkins’ truck pulled in eight minutes later.
Beaufort arrived at about 7:30 and found Hopkins lying in a break room. He spoke to Hopkins but received no response.
Beaufort found the body of Belisle in an office near Belisle’s desk. Beaufort returned to the break room to phone for help.
The trial will continue Thursday at Federal Court in Anchorage.

CommSta Murder Trial Underway

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An attorney for the Kodiak man charged with killing two co-workers at Coast Guard Base Kodiak’s Communication Station says his client was elsewhere when the fatal gunshots were fired — a Kodiak airport bathroom.
Federal defender Rich Curtner says James Wells suffered from intestinal issues after gallbladder surgery.
Curtner says Wells on April 12, 2012, detected a problem with his truck tire but spent 20 minutes in the restroom of a Kodiak air service with chronic diarrhea before going home to change the tire.
The timing is crucial.
Federal prosecutors say Wells had a 34-minute time period to commit the murders between times when security cameras recorded him driving toward and away from the facility.
Wells is charged with killing two of his coworkers at the CommSta, retired Coast Guardsman Richard Belisle and Petty Officer 1st Class James Hopkins.

Judge Denies Wells Bail in ComSta Killings Hearing

[listen here]
Jay Barrett/KMXT
A federal judge in Anchorage has denied bail to the accused killer of two men at Coast Guard Communications Station Kodiak last year. Presiding Judge John D. Roberts said Monday afternoon he was not convinced that bail for Jim Wells was appropriate.
Wells’ public defender Richard Curtner argued their client has been a suspect for some time and did not attempt to flee the island before his arrest.
“As we filed this motion we’ve pointed out to the court that Mr. Wells was identified as a suspect – his vehicles were published in the newspapers in Kodiak from the very beginning of the investigation, yet the FBI would tell the community of Kodiak that there was not a risk to the community, knowing that Mr. Wells was their suspect and was living in the community,” Curtner said. “And now, they’re saying there is a risk to the community, even for 10 months during this investigation they claimed publicly just the opposite.”
Prosecutor Bryan Schroder however argued that the risk increased after Wells was charged with double homicide.
“Now is a very different time. He’s got charges over him. He’s got charges – at least at this point – charges with the ultimate sanction of death, and at a minimum of life imprisonment. If he’s got any inclination to flee or any inclination to harm a witness to try to affect this case, now is the time that would give him the opportunity to do that,” Schroder said. “And another factor is before the charges were levied, he didn’t know who the witness are, now he’s gotten discovery, now he’s seen the complaint and the other documents and he knows who the witnesses are now.”
Wells had requested bail and release to a third-party custodian to Kodiak. Hank and Jan Pennington told the court they would host Wells at their home in Chiniak, and Victoria Geyer said she would serve as a third-party custodian. Judge Roberts said the distance between Anchorage and Kodiak, and between Kodiak and Chiniak, was problematic for monitoring, and he brought up the fact that Geyer had just met Wells.

FBI Mum About ComSta Murder Motive

Brianna Gibbs/KMXT
The U.S. Attorney in Anchorage announced Friday evening that an arrest has been made in the double-murder at the Communications Station on Coast Guard Base Kodiak nearly a year ago. James Michael “Jim” Wells, long considered the prime suspect by the FBI, was taken into custody by members of the Coast Guard Investigative Service and the Alaska State Troopers.

On April 12, 2012, U.S. Coast Guard Electrician’s Mate First Class James Hopkins and retired Chief Boatswain’s Mate Richard Belisle were found shot to death in one of the buildings at the communications station by coworkers. Belisle was working for the Coast Guard as a civilian contractor at the time. Wells was also employed at the communications station.

FBI spokesman Eric Gonzales said Wells’ arrest came after an officer filed a criminal complaint and a federal arrest warrant was issued.  Gonzales said the complaint, or affidavit, is sealed, and will remain so until Wells appears in court, which is expected sometime next week in Anchorage. This means the underlying details and facts leading up to the arrest remain confidential. Gonzales did not say what the motive in the killings might have been.

The arrest came after 10 months of investigation led by the FBI and the Coast Guard Investigative Service, along with the Alaska State Troopers.

Jim Wells Arrested in 2012 ComSta Double Murder

James Michael “Jim” Wells, left, was arrested Friday (Feb. 15, 2013) in the slaying of retired Coast Guardsman Richard Belisle (second from left), and Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class James Hopkins (second from right). The victims were found shot to death on the morning of April 12, 2012, at Coast Guard Communication Station Kodiak. Also pictured in this photo is Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Cody Beauford, right, as the men work on a 120-foot communication antenna on Shemya Island in the Aleutians on July 2, 2011. U.S. Coast Guard photo by PA2 Charly Hengen

Jay Barrett/KMXT

The U.S. Attorney in Anchorage has announced that James Michael “Jim” Wells of Kodiak was arrested today (Friday, Feb. 15) in the double homicide of James Hopkins and Richard Belisle at the Communications Station on Coast Guard Base Kodiak nearly a year ago. More details to follow.