Antenna Rigger Convicted, Again, of Kodiak Coast Guard Double Murder

A jury has again handed down guilty verdicts for 68-year-old James Michael Wells, charged in the 2012 murders of two coworkers at a U.S. Coast Guard communications station in Kodiak.

Wells was accused of fatally shooting his fellow civilian antenna rigger, Richard Belisle, 51, and their supervisor, Petty Officer 1st Class James Hopkins, 41. But a 2014 guilty verdict was thrown out on appeal, with a panel of judges citing issues with a prosecution witness and inappropriate remarks made by the trial judge at Wells’ sentencing.

Closing arguments in Wells’ second trial took place Monday. The jury delivered its verdicts Tuesday afternoon.

Read more at Alaska Public Media

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