Alaska Village Tales

This is from theAnchorage Daily News, online edition, which I'm accessing at 0512hrs on 01 Sat 2007

Murder over $20 in drugs nets 75 years in prison
ALASKA DIGEST

Published: September 1, 2007
Last Modified: September 1, 2007 at 01:50 AM

FAIRBANKS -- A 19-year-old man has been sentenced to 75 years in prison for shooting another man twice in the head over a bungled $20 marijuana deal.

David Cox was sentenced Thursday in Fairbanks Superior Court.

Cox went to trial in February on charges of first-degree murder and evidence tampering in the death of Gary Lee Titus, 22, on July 22, 2006. But Cox pleaded no contest to the murder charge before the case went to a jury.

Cox's attorney, Susan Carney, maintains that Cox drew his .22-caliber handgun and began firing because he thought Titus, who was accompanied by six or seven other young men, had planned to rob him.

Prosecutor Jeff O'Bryant said that Cox meant to kill Titus in an act of bravado. A tattoo on one of Cox's forearms says "blood money."

"I don't know why you did this," Titus' mother, Lou Ann Williams, told Cox at Thursday's sentencing. "I don't think you even know."

She sought the maximum prison sentence of 99 years.

"It's like all of the life I had in me just went with my boy," she said.

Cox has been in jail since shortly after a worker setting up for the Golden Days parade found Titus' body near the Carlson Center last summer.

"I regret ever touching drugs," Cox said. "I feel horrible for everything that happened. I just wish there was something I could do to make what I did right.

"Anything the court decides to do, I believe, is fair -- 100 percent fair," Cox said.

-- The Associated Press--------------------------------

theSam!! says;
I just finished late night work and was sitting up, awake in my Apt room,

Drinking, eating my left over restaurant food and surfing theInternet and found this news story.

I lived and worked in theVillage that was home to Gary T, the murder victim of this news story.

I do not like to speak ill of theDead, but I will speak as to what Truths that I experienced, firsthand and of an occasional story that I heard or incident which supports his alleged criminal behavior, when I was an VPSO,

Gary T was tall, bald-headed for the most part, and handsome.
To me he fit the typical mold of Native Alaskan males, a little bit rebellious, a whole lot of independent and never afraid to face the world even if he stood alone against it,

When I first contacted Gary T in theVillage, I liked him, and I only liked him to the degree that he so closely resembled my little brother (deceased, by Cancer, 1991)

for my little brother-when he was alive was tall, lean and bald too and had an aggressive streak in him as well. So, to that end, I stayed my hand many times when ever I had to contact Mr Gary T for any alleged involvement regarding various criminal activities in theVillage!!

We can read newslines like this young man's death and theTrial of his killer, and we can grieve and sorrow in some fashion for his family and for all the other people touched by this tragedy, this loss of Gary T's life under such dubious activities,

But we'll never truly know even part & parcel of the pain that such an story as this death & trial brings unless we've been there,

And I as an former VPSO was there for a time, in a most beautiful place on earth, amongst some of theNicest Villagers I've ever met that was Gary's home village, Minto Alaska.

Personally I do not grieve for Gary Titus at all, I do not shed any tears for him but rather, in my concern I do feel for his mother and for his younger sisters,

for his family truly loved him, and they took considerable steps to defend him when ever he was in trouble and I came calling to their home looking for Gary,

as well any family member or friends should do if they honestly love you, as Gary's family honestly loved him,

I remember one day having to arrest Gary and take him into custody, and I do believe that we transported him to Fairbanks, drove from theVillage!! to theCity,

or maybe theState Troopers flew out to get him, I don't know exactly, because of some people and their criminal circumstances, if I didn't have to keep records then I didn't and I also put such memories Out of mind for good,

But i do believe that my first contacts with Gary T was regarding theVandalism and break in of the Minto school,

some candy $/money was taken, an digital camera or camcorder was taken from the school offices too and a few other non essential but valuable to somebody!! items were also taken,

and I had to go interview people in theVillage!!,
and Gary's mother had recalled cleaning his room or being in it for a moment and of seeing an large amount of spare change money and of seeing an expensive camera in his possession at that time,

which puzzled her, because, Gary didn't have an job or didn't do any work at that time or previously to support the notion that affirmed his possession of such an expensive camera item, or even money for that matter,

but before I could get to their home and into Gary's room, the School's camera and what else that Gary had in his possession conveniently disappeared!!

it is memories like this of certain people that I put aside for good,
for this young man was no good,

consider that he was a suspect in the death of a friend of his many years earlier while out hunting upon theMintoFlats,

various stories that people told me when I was VPSO say that Gary T and his friends were out hunting and drinking,

they all got into some type of arguement and they started fighting and eventually somebody got shot & killed,

Consider that from this Hunting Party death episode, there was an survivor that was also shot and horribly maimed by a shotgun blast to the side of the face,

I had met this survivor too while I was VPSO, and I looked into his functioning eye, did behold his scarred and mishapen face and could tell that what stories I heard about that hunting death, was not what had truly happened,

but I will not comment further at this time upon that alleged Hunting Party episode of long ago and nor will I speak any more of theMaimed survivor suffice to say,

that in most criminal circles, or groups of friends you do keep close to you or else you keep under your thumb any people that might break away and speak out against you,

for that is how Gary T always treated some of his village friends, to include theMaimed young man,

and I too, did hear with my own ears, the drunken slurred shoutings of Gary T as he yelled at his friends and other people whom were with him at that time,

"That if they didn't stick with him and shut up, they'd end up dead!!, because I did it once before and I can do it again!!"

But I was new to being an VPSO and was still unfamiliar with events that happened prior to my time in theVillage!!, so I didn't say much to my State Trooper Oversight Officer if anything,

Gary T did have violence in him, but he never acted up against me theVPSO directly,

he just threatened and intimidated many of the friends that hung around him, and at times when he would pass me on the street walking,

he'd pantomime with his hands, acting like he was working an rifle or shotgun and would "shoot" me, and even in theVillage school or theGeneral store or in theLodge or even in his home, he did "shoot me",

I recall one winter night, just after I had acquired an electronic Taser for use & carry in theVillage!!,

I wanted to see how theRedLaser light looked in theDark of winter,
and I pulled theTaser out of the front pocket of my BallisticVest and energized it with a flick of the small switch,

for theTaser model that I had at that time, was small like an firearm pistol and you held it in similar fashion to shoot theElectrodes at someone from 2 or 3 ft away out to 21ft,

and theTaser had an RedLaser light built in that indicated, but Not exactly, where theElectronic Leads would strike when you fired theTaser,

And that one winter night standing outside theLodge where I was staying, I did satisfy my curiosity of theLaserLight by drawing theTaser and activating theLight and did briefly shine it upon the nearby Lodge wall, an door, and then at an house 100yds away,

It was apparent that somewhere in the winter darkness close by was Gary T, because later on, his Mother did approach me and wanted to know why I was threatening her son Gary with my weapon that night before?!

Gary T was violent but he was also careful whom he fought with, and he chose his situations.

In this recent News posting, of Mr Cox and his testimony, I do not doubt his fears of robbery by Gary T, as his one court arguement alleges,

Gary T was like that, he'd surround himself with a few people that he could control or manipulate and use that for strength,

And as such,it was Gary T along with his friends that met with me for an final encounter that I will now relate,

Some kids were drinking in theVillage!!, as the village of Minto was an "Dry village", meaning that it's residents and leaders had opted to keep the community drug and alcohol free,

thus the "Dry" term,
But for all intents and purposes, Minto was very wet due to all theAlcohol and Drug importation that took place during my time as VPSO.

Gary T and his friends were in my Holding Cell all night.

Now theHolding cell doors and window at that time had horizontal and vertical bars that were spaced far enough apart,

say, as wide as theInside of theMonitor screen you now see to look at this story and read,

an space as wide as that, and I had seen many Village children squeeze in and out of theHoldingCell with ease, mostly because they were so small and being children they were so inclined to visit me and chat and squeeze into theHoldingCell,

I had even seen some older teen girls play around and squeeze through theHoldingCell doors and even theWindow,

And Gary T, being an adult male, was lean, was slim enough to-as I stated earlier when comparing an space as big as your Computer Monitor-squeeze through theHoldingCell doors,

Because I caught him in the act of quietly escaping later on that night / early morning when he was in my custody,

he was halfway through theHoldingCell doors and could have been able to then escape out of my VPSO office doors, run away,

my VPSO Duty bag was sitting there by my desk, just out of reach of any prisoner in theHoldingCell, I had all my tools and supplies, my food & water that I needed for theVPSO job,

Gary T could possibly have taken an Impact tool / an Baton that I had kept strapped upon theOutside of theDutyBag,

or accessed my handcuffs or my longKnives or my survival axe, I carried everything in that bag during the last few months of my time in theVillage!!

he could have taken anything and used it upon me, for I was in another room of theVPSO building, I sat upon an comfy sofa in and out of light sleep,

for I normally would sleep on the floor of my VPSO office within SIGHT and sound of my prisoners, but for some odd reason,

I had the strange feeling NOT to sleep or to rest in my office, so, that night I moved to another part of theVPSO building and rested quietly,

there's a number of things that "could have" happened, but I won't expound upon them, save to say that he could have even gotten inside theDutyBag and accessed my GlockPistols that I had, by then acquired, and kept with me while I was working in theVillage!!,

So with all this in mind, and seeing Gary T halfway in and out theHoldingCell,

My dear readers, I try to summon remorse, I try to summon regret or empathy for Mr Gary T at this time, and I can't,

I can't do any of these goodly things that I hope that many of you people could feel, could bring up and be moved by,

I try to be human and summon feelings that I don't have, for I had with me at that time in theVillage, at that time of Gary's attempted escape from my custody, with me upon my person,

a basic set of handcuffs, I had an Impact weapon/an extendable baton, I had my Taser, I had my vest,

and as I recall, I did handcuff Everyone of those prisoners in my Holding Cell that night, but I cuffed their hands in FRONT of them, just to be nice, just to be humane,

and as I stated earlier, I also had an Gut feeling to NOT rest close by my prisoners as I normally did,

I had no remorse the next moments and even until now / today years later,

when I quietly drew my Keys for theHoldingCell door and entered there in,
by then Gary T had quickly slipped back into theCell and I heard the many hushed whispers from everyone immediately cease,

I entered theCell and deliberately closed theDoor and fastened it shut behind me,

Every young man present was very quiet, stood still because they knew what I was going to do next,

I then drew my extendable baton from my BallisticVest and did administer many hard blows to Gary T upon his arms, his back and thighs, Mostly the fleshy parts of him,

and he quietly grunted and later on spent the remainder of the night moaning in pain,

I beat him hard and made an example of him to everyone else.

My dear Readers, my friends, my detractors,
It's people like this young man, whom grow up to be criminal inspite of theGoodly people that loved him,

why we have LEO's in uniform in theCity and elsewhere in the state of Alaska to protect the good innocent people of our free society,

it's people like this young man, whom in spite of his alleged murderous criminal past and in spite of whatelse drove him to choose a life of crime,

he did take some good chances, he did go to votech school and did apply himself to turning his life around

I even saw theWrite up about him in one of the publications put out by Tanana Chiefs Conference, one of the Instructors of Gary T had nothing but praise and hope for him, but then, for reasons known only to him-did quit and did cease to be gainfully employed-at even being remotely likeable!!

There was a reason that I went out to theVillage!! for so short a time, and sadly, Mr Gary T was one of those reasons why,

for at one time or another, I was contacted by his own family or extended relatives in theVillage!! to look out for him, to keep him away from them,

to keep Them safe from Him!! and I did my duty, I did what was asked of me,
and though I live today, this young man does not,

and he should still be alive today if only to still be a nuisance to everyone in his home Village!!

Mr Gary T should be at home with his family and running around with his "friends", but then again, maybe it's best that he isn't there now,

because I have seen him face to face, and have looked into his eyes and I did not like what I saw there, and I did not like what I felt in my Gut when I was around him,

Later that morning just before Gary & his friends left my custody and went away,

I told others, theStateTroop Dispatch lady, theOther Village Police Officer there in theVillage!! of what had happened that night / early morning,

and I once again faced Gary T and told him why I beat him, I also told him that he could tell everyone what I did, and he could tell theState Troopers and anyone else,

He could tell others for sympathy, for revenge, or for a lawsuit etc, but he said "No",

he acknowledged somehow that I did what I had to do,
and even his friends had that option to tell others and complain against me or sue me or what have you,

but No one did,

and They all did nothing because they were wrong in the first place.
They should not have been being criminal and met up with me and have been my prisoner and should not have been an part of an escape plan,

In some way, I was absolved, I was cleared, I was, dare I say-Pardoned!? or Forgiven by those I label criminal?!

Yes I was, but I still don't forgive myself, at least in that fashion or way, I sorrow. But I don't feel that sorrow as I would like to, or feel it like I think I should,

I just to have to tell you people, that in retrospect, that in theLawEnforcementOfficer's world, there are Victim's and Aggressors and Witnessess,

and often the three all cohese, all combine and become one Other or even all 3 at once,

and in the whole process, even the Responding Officers to an incident become Victim's, and bear witness via Report writing and / or court testimony, and often later on become Aggressors somehow

unless their feelings are dealt with,

I have God to lean on, I have Jesus Christ to turn to, and I have my own family as well.

And in processing everything that happened to me in theVillage!!, I deal with all this,

If there be any amongst you Readers that are at a minimum, criminally inclined, but you want to change, please do so, don't become a statistic later on in your short life. Don't end up behind bars and in custody.

You don't want to be there in that small place, it's cold and unforgiving, it is stark and bare, void of comfort and only you sit there for a time,

and also, if you depart this world in an untimely manner and under heavy suspicion of criminal intent and activity than what you ever accounted for,

God has also prepared an place for you, it too is unforgiving and cold, barren, void and you will be there forever if you are found guilty,

For in some recent dreams I have had of some deceased Villagers!!, whom by their own hand or that of another they died,

and some are caught in that moment, they can't change and they can't progress until God sees fit to let them continue,

some are out there in theVoid, in theWilderness, close to home,

But stand with the trees, rooted to their consequences of their actions and unable to move, unable to feel anything but pain and the bitter cold,

Once out in theVillage!!, my pickup broke down and I needed help, so I called an Officer friend of mine to assist me, and for a moment I heard theWind, and I heard screaming, pleas for forgiveness and much sorrow,

but I'll write of that experience and of others later on,

And also, on this side of Life, You don't want to meet up with me or my fellow brothers and sisters in Uniform, We have the strength that you'll never know

to endure much in order for us to do our jobs in Public Safety, Public Service,
Do you criminals ever think of what you're putting us through by your actions?! I think that one day, you will find out,

We are human, we are frail, we go into darkness where no one else will go and by theGrace of God we emerge safe but scarred,

we emerge tested and tried, and often find even ourselves True.
We are LEO's, and we will Judge ourselves, I will judge myself one day.

These are my words, these are some of my memories of and surrounding Gary Titus.

I am Samuel L Flyinghorse, former VillagePublicSafety of TananaChiefsConference, to Minto Alaska
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slflyinghorse
Anchorage, Alaska