Plea Deal Offered in Salcha Slaying

A Salcha man pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing his landlord in December 2009.

Tools

By Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Story Created: Apr 7, 2011 at 1:45 PM AKDT

Story Updated: Apr 7, 2011 at 1:45 PM AKDT

 FAIRBANKS — A Salcha man pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing his landlord in December 2009.

Joshua M. Whiting, 32, had been accused of the first-degree murder in the death of Davey McEachern, 54, a man who had befriended him, worked with him and given him a place to live. 

As part of a plea deal Whiting pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder. 

Superior Court Judge Michael MacDonald accepted the plea deal but reserved the flexibility to sentence Whiting to up to 99 years in jail at a sentencing hearing scheduled in September.

A few weeks before Wednesday’s hearing, friends of McEachern gathered at the Boondox bar in Salcha. They signed a letter asking MacDonald to reject a plea deal because they believed he should be tried for first-degree murder. 

After the hearing, McEachern’s friend Michael Mutschler said he was thankful to people in Salcha for signing the letter and to MacDonald for listening.

“Keep your faith in the people you vote for,” he said. “And let your elected officals know what you think.” 

According to the case against him, Whitling shot McEachern in the back of the head with McEachern’s own pistol.

McEachern’s body was found in the cabin Dec. 9, 2009.

Alaska State Troopers investigating the case had a woman who had lived in the cabin with Whiting record conversations with him. Troopers reported in Jan. 2009 he confessed shooting McEachern and washing his hands with Ajax to clean off the gun residue.

Contact staff writer Sam Friedman at 459-7545.

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 1000 Characters Left

KTVA CBS 11 | Anchorage, Alaska News and Weather and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.