Ashley Johnson-Barr.Photo: Kotzebue Police Department
An Alaska man pleaded guilty this week to first-degree murder and first-degree sexual abuse of a minor in the death of a 10-year-old girl who was abducted from a park in 2018.
Peter Vance Wilson’s guilty plea Monday came after he entered an agreement with the State of Alaska. He had initially pleaded not guilty.
Wilson was accused of the murder and sexual assault of Ashley Johnson Barr, who disappeared near Rainbow Park in the Iñupiat town of Kotzebue at about 5:30 p.m. on September 6, 2018.
Peter Vance Wilson.Facebook
The phone was later turned over to police, according to theDaily News.
Wilson told police he found the phone near a building and denied knowing the fifth grader.
Investigators traced her phone and found her body eight days after she went missing in a remote and rugged area of the tundra about two miles from where she was last seen, according to theDaily News.
The autopsy concluded that she had been sexually assaulted and her cause of death was asphyxia due to obstruction of her airway and constriction of her neck.
Prosecutors said Wilson was linked to the slaying through DNA, video and other evidence and that he eventually confessed to the murder after the case investigator confronted him with the evidence.
“It’s a good sigh of relief, knowing that he decided to finally admit what he did, and he finally understands what he did was wrong,” Ashley’s father, Scotty Barr, told theAssociated Press. “But there shouldn’t be any excuses for taking another person’s life, especially a younger child.”
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Members of Wilson’s family told theDailyNewsthat Wilson had a history of raping young girls. A cousin told the newspaper that Wilson had raped her numerous times when she was 12. His younger sister also accused him of sexual abuse.
As part of the plea deal, Wilson had to admit that four statutory aggravating factors should be considered in his sentencing, which included similar prior conduct involving one or more other victims. It is unclear if those victims include his cousin and sister.
Wilson is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 21 in Ashley’s case. If the court accepts the plea deal, Wilson will be sentenced to 198 years in prison with 99 years suspended pursuant to the terms of the plea agreement.
source: people.com
