A 24-year-old man has been charged with beating an Alaska man and his wife to death and sèxually assaulting their 2-year-old great-granddaughter. Jerry Andrew Active was arrested Saturday night as he fled the east Anchorage homicide scene dressed only in boxer shorts and socks. He is charged with first and second-degree murder, sèxual assault and burglary in the deaths of Touch Chea, 71, and his wife, Sorn Sreap, 73. Police said Sreap and the toddler were raped.
Police
Sgt. Slawomir Markiewicz said Sunday that nothing has indicated the
victims were connected to the suspect before they died. “It doesn’t
appear that he knew them,” he said. “It looks like a totally random
act.” Both Chea and Sreap suffered significant blunt force object
injuries. Department spokeswoman Anita Shell said on-scene investigators
were affected by the brutality and the ages of the victims.
“They
said this was the worst thing they had ever seen in their lives, and
these are seasoned detectives,” Shell said. The victims were part of an
extended family that lived in a ground-floor, east Anchorage apartment
with their granddaughter and her husband, who are the parents of the
toddler and her 4-year-old brother. The younger couple’s 90-year-old
great-grandmother also lives in the apartment and was at home during the
incident.
Police said the younger couple, who are in their 20s, went to a movie Saturday night with their son and left the 2-year-old in the care of Chea and Sreap.
Police said the younger couple, who are in their 20s, went to a movie Saturday night with their son and left the 2-year-old in the care of Chea and Sreap.
The
parents of the child and their son returned shortly before 8 p.m. and
found the door locked from the inside. They told police they forced
their way in through a window and discovered the bodies of Chea and
Sreap. A man in his 20s, they said, was naked in a bedroom with their
daughter.
The
woman called 911 and police dispatchers heard screaming over the phone.
The woman reported a man had broken into her home and killed her
grandmother, Sreap. The woman described the man as naked with several
tattoos. The woman, who is pregnant, and her husband tried to keep the
suspect from leaving and a struggle began, Markiewicz said. The suspect,
by then wearing boxer shorts, was able to get away after a few minutes
of fighting, Markiewicz said.
Officers
found Active about a block away. “He did offer some resistance but he
was arrested,” Markiewicz said. The magistrate set bail with a $500,000
appearance bond and a $1 million performance bond with a third party
custodian. His next court appearance will be Tuesday, May 28.
“It’s
certainly very rare to see this kind of violence — a complete stranger,
sèxually assaulting and murdering someone,” he said.
The bodies of Sreap and Chea were taken to the state medical examiner’s office for autopsies. Names of the toddler and her parents were withheld.
The bodies of Sreap and Chea were taken to the state medical examiner’s office for autopsies. Names of the toddler and her parents were withheld.
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