Woman convicted in murder of man who helped her get out of jail in Alaska, officials say
A food truck owner in Alaska known as “Uncle Buck” after the lovable John Candy character was found dead at a rest area with gunshot wounds and other injuries, officials said.
Now, a woman is convicted in his killing, which officials said happened after he helped the woman get out of jail by agreeing to keep an eye on her as a condition of bail.
Sarah Dayan was convicted on 15 charges ranging from first-degree murder to vehicle theft, according to a Dec. 24 news release from the Alaska Department of Law.
McClatchy News couldn’t immediately find attorney information for the 39-year-old Dayan on Dec. 26.
The victim, Keith Huss, 57, was found the morning of Sept. 29, 2020, at a rest area on Turnagain Pass, a roughly 60-mile drive southeast from Anchorage, prosecutors said. He’d been shot with a .45-caliber pistol four times and hit by a vehicle, officials said.
The day before, he picked up Dayan from jail in Kenai, and “their stated plan was to drive to Anchorage to work at Keith’s food truck,” according to prosecutors. Officials didn’t say what Dayan had been in jail for in September 2020.
Huss was Dayan’s third-party custodian, officials said.
In Alaska, a third-party custodian can be appointed to help make sure the person appears in court, remains safe and doesn’t hurt others or the community, according to state law.
After Huss’ body was found at the rest area by a driver passing through, state troopers “initiated a manhunt for Dayan,” who was found a couple days later, prosecutors said.
Investigators learned she’d gotten ahold of a .45-caliber pistol after leaving jail, and damage on her car “was consistent with it having been used to strike Mr. Huss,” prosecutors said.
They also found that she’d used Huss’ bank account to buy things for herself and put money into her account after he died, and “troopers additionally linked Dayan to a series of vehicle thefts in Seward as well as the burglary of a cabin in Seward that were committed while she fled from police,” according to prosecutors.
Huss’ brother, Michael, told KTUU that the jury verdict was a relief.
“We’d just like to thank everybody; it was a long jury, the jury had to sit through a lot of testimony, it was a very complicated case and we’re just so grateful that they were able to arrive at this conclusion,” he said, according to the news station.
In an obituary, Keith Huss was described as a man who led “a colorful and unfiltered life” of adventures. Friends gave him the nickname Uncle Buck and he embraced it, the obituary said.
It was included in the name of his food truck, Uncle Buck’s Rollin’ Alaskan Smokehouse.
Dayan’s sentencing is pending.
.JPG)