The Hunt for James Dale Ritchie

[Music] hey you and welcome my name is mike and in this whole video we're going back once again to alaska alaska again my goodness like what goes on up there it's so isolate i mean does it even exist does it though ah sure here i have my one and so did james dale richie in the summer of 2016. james j dog was described as super intelligent unfortunately he didn't use his gifts for good uh so there you have it so let's get into the story which i'm about to tell you which which i'll do right now and my intro so now anchorage has a um well it was surprising to me to be honest um but i guess there really is just nothing to do there uh a comparatively high rate of crime compared to other u.s cities in 2018 alaska actually got the coveted spot of most violent crimes gold medal it was followed by new mexico although then again it's probably not very populated either so [ __ ] bears man though the year we're going to 2016 it was actually here when muy does were kind of low funnily enough i say that because we've already been to alaska in 2016. that was the year david grunwald died and it's the year we're going to it's the year we're going to because somebody was stalking the streets and parks of anchorage it began on the third of july a sunday with highs of about 17 degrees it was about 20 to 80 that morning and a cyclist uh cycling true ship creek trail near downtown anchorage found two people lying on the bike path they quickly called the police the two people found had been shot dead they were identified as brianna foisy 20 years old and 41 year old jason netter senior and so when the uh you know investigation that's a magnifying glass began you know please didn't really have much to go on someone did report that a couple of hours prior like around three or four a.m they had heard about six gunshots like in the area but that was about it rihanna had a learning disability she was born with a fetal alcohol disorder she loved to sing hello this is perfect too by aubrey she had struggled with drugs and had been homeless from time to time jason ii was homeless he lived right around the corner from where they were both killed in a junkyard jason also battled with drug addiction and had just been released from prison in fact a a friend of jason's who shared the storage unit they lived in you know with him he told the police when the investigation began that he thought you know maybe they had been killed it was a maybe it was a drug deal gone awry or something like that i don't like to talk smart to any tom that can harry and he he likes to run his mouth he has a few a handful of enemies for doing crappy deals all i could think of um like i said dirty drug deal man went down that's what like my gut's saying it was possible you know anchorage like most other cities in america had been suffering from some degree of opioid crisis with gangs and that kind of thing so it could be that but then well at that stage who knew all they had was this [Music] the two victims did know each other but the police didn't know the extent of their connections it wasn't believed to be to be strong no shell casings were found at the scene which you know out of were killed by gunshots it was believed that the weapon used was a revolver this was confirmed when tests revealed they had been shot with a 357 cult python so now they had a weapon to be on the lookout for it would be a little over three weeks later that it would be used again on the 29th of july a few hours after midnight three teenage girls were playing outside when they saw a man standing underneath a lamppost shortly after they saw a guy who approached on a bike this whole kind of thing creeped them out so they went inside and then not long after heard gunshots the guy who was just creepily you know creeping on a lamppost standing there shot the guy who was riding the bike just riding past them took the bike went off this was captured on cctv [Music] the victim was 21 year old travion kindell thompson he was by all accounts a smart good guy good-natured guy he wasn't involved in gangs or drugs at all no connection to either brianna or jason he worked and when he wasn't working he was gaming that's it the three teenage witnesses you know said that well from what they saw the two guys didn't interact like at all so it was quite different from the first case in fact you wouldn't even think they would be linked at all if you know the same gun hadn't been used so this time there was not only witnesses to the scene the crime scene there was footage due to the cctv the police surmised that the shooter was a tall fella over six feet and thanks to the tree teens and an fbi artist they now had a sketch of the shooter and he was wearing a camo jacket but other than that didn't have much else and once again days and weeks would go by they are looking for a tall guy with long hair wearing a camo jacket and they were also on the lookout for the yellow bike he stole but they didn't find them and that's when you know words and whispers began to spread you know that um well there might be a serial killer in anchorage it was like one of those you know my girlfriend's uncle's dog's baby told me there's some guy going around here with like a rocket launcher and just killing people for the fun and he's laughing while he does it until recently detectives publicly declined to make any connection among the shootings is there evidence that there's a that they're related to a serial killer yes we are investigating and you know again any talk about the serial killer speculation [ __ ] and rumors was just like bubbling up all the time and then it happened again almost a month you know to the day later on the 28th of august early morning you know once again two more bodies were found [Music] once again on a bike path in a popular area the valley of the moon park the victims this time were 34 year old kevin turner and 25 year old bryant dehussen the two victims had no known connections kevin was recently homeless it seemed he had been shot while sitting in a pavilion not not bothering anyone police have released very little about the valley of the moon killings turner's family wants answers somebody took his life and i really hope that the anchorage police department finds her i really hope that the fbi has given them all the help that they can bryant was an environmental activist who was simply cycling through the area when he was shot shot with the same gun he probably he probably just stumbled upon the killer killing kevin with it was at that point that the police maybe started wanting to deny some rumors but you know they they released some information to the public not the sketch and not the gun type obviously because if they released what type of the gun what type of gun the killer was using the killer might stop using it many arrived from the very trail that became the scene of a double murder nearly two weeks ago the people were getting murdered and people were afraid close to 200 came to valley of the moon park feeling the weight of recent events you know are we actually safe it doesn't feel safe we really feel for you and we're here tonight for you both anchorage's chief of police and its mayor are meeting here following demands from this neighborhood for increased safety it don't permit you know the the drug dealers and the pimps and the predators and the thugs to take over blocks and parks we're not going to roll over and surrender any part of this town to people that want to make it unsafe for anybody the mayor said community policing does work but the police department with its 386 sworn officers is too few ideally according to professional standards there should be almost 450 officers the city has advised the public to stay away from certain areas of the trail system if you say don't go out then then we've failed as a society we've given up our public space we can't do that i think the advice i was trying to give is you know it's tough out there it really is and you got to look out for yourself and we got to look out for each other that's the real message the chief was also pressed about who might have committed recent murders i have heard that there might be a serial killer the worst thing we can do is speculate and cause rumors to go about and so on a chance to brainstorm ways of improving the city but why don't we put cameras on the park strip i just read something in light of crimes so they did come out with this just a little bit of friendly advice you know so you don't get killed since june 27 2016 there have been 15 homicide victims this came out on the 30th of august so um it's a lot fair for you of those victims six were engaged in high risk behaviors and or lifestyles such as drugs guns and criminal activity several of the homicides have involved individuals under the age of 21. there have been four deaths associated with domestic violence and five deaths of individuals that have been outside in the late night early morning errors most of which in isolated areas such as bike trails parks and unoccupied streets criminal activity often increases late at night and during early morning hours apd wants to remind our citizens to be cautious when they are out during these errors if you plan to be out late at night make sure you travel with several friends and are not alone and you know just trying to get killed it's more work for us chief recently there's a nixel sent out though kind of a cryptic nick solution there's nothing unusual about this we advise and try to keep the community informed as best we can should the average person in anchorage be worried are these tied together in any way so that it it's a lifestyle choice or is it something the average person we need the community's help so much no matter how little you think that incident if you're woken up in the middle of the night you hear loud bangs or whatever please call the police department because that piece of information is vital to us figuring things out in september 2016 with uh public one a bit more they released more including the sketch and tips started coming in tips like i seen that yellow bike in a neighborhood called airport heights a ten thousand dollar award was offered by the fbi for information leading to the killer and then it went quite too quiet jews that thing people say but it would get real loud real soon because of a chance encounter in early november this would happen almost three months after the killer last struck in the valley of the moon park with the double homicide in the wee hours of november 12th 2016 talking 4 30 a.m hour of the wolf is it cops are on the beat that morning was a saturday after the friday night busy night in anchorage as people were on the sauce having a few subs getting goosed then a 911 call made the phone ring ring someone had taken a taxi ride and then when then just stiffed did a legger stiff the taxi driver a patrol officer 38 year old aaron salau popped on downtown to check it out while driving he saw a fella out for a stroll in the area the suspect was supposed to be in so solo asked this guy to stop sir anchorage police can i get you to stop he didn't 1183 doesn't want to stop i'll try to come off here at hope depot this is the anchorage police you need to stop this is the anchorage police you need to stop [Music] then he suddenly turned around and started walking towards the patrol car taking something out of his pocket he then opened fire on officer salau with the 357 striking him four times so who was this guy james dale richie he was somebody who really wasn't on the police raider until he unloaded on one six foot tall uh james dale richie was nicknamed tiny that's not an ironic nickname by the way he really was tiny if you know what i mean and he was born in 1976 which made him 40 when all this occurred he was a local grew up in anchorage being big he played football and basketball and he was smart too scoring 1200 on his sats which is good i understand growing up he was good friends with bobby thompson who would go on to father trayvon kendall thompson though it's not believed that james knew who he killed who he murdered he went to western virginia university playing football but didn't really cut the mustard and returned after one semester back to alaska for all his prowess you know in the classroom and on the football field though he wasn't really interested in that he um was more interested in um well he had a dark side to him he started getting involved with drugs and also dog fighting in a letter to a judge richie once wrote that he wished he would have chosen to play sports at one of the smaller colleges that had pursued him quote i lay in bed every night thinking about how i've ruined my life then i sit up crying wishing i could go back to when i was in high school he wrote he was arrested once for selling crack out of his apartment when the cops arrived he reached into his sweatpants and out of the leg fell a handgun so uh not a good look he was next arrested for drunk driving violating his probations and a well a good few times after that with the last time being in 2005 when he broke into someone's house in the middle of the night with handcuffs and two handguns what he was gonna do with them oh yikes he served two years for that and then he moved to to virginia to broadway in virginia where he lived with his parents for a while he would stay there for a few years he traveled around uh the lower 48 uh during those years doing the fbi is actually investigating to see if he is involved in some unsolved murders around the time he was in that area investigators are now looking into his past and his travels here and elsewhere to see if they can come up with some sort of common m.o common characteristics that could possibly link him to other killings in other states places like virginia and las vegas nevada he eventually returned to anchorage in february 2016 and then about four or five months later so back to november this is the anchorage police you need to [Applause] he stop the [ __ ] out of the cops did a legger somehow made it to mexico i'm kidding they [ __ ] riddled them officer salau got shot multiple times but managed to get out of his car and returned fire while another officer mark patsky arrived and he too opened fire on james dale richie james taking fire from two sides was killed and collapsed on the pavement while aaron salaou lay bleeding out on the cold november round good morning i'm chief tally of the anchorage police department we have an officer who was ambushed anchorage had a citizen who was ambushed today i think it made it very concerning is that citizen was a police officer an officer is out on the streets in the early morning hours doing what we do each and every day and night this officer was attempting to identify an individual that potentially involved in a theft and almost immediately the person who this officer came in contact with ambushed the officer hi it's officer slaugh i want to thank everybody for everything that they've done for myself and my family my apd family my law enforcement family i want to let everyone know that i am doing very well and appreciate all aaron solo survived uh i can't say the same for james pretty badass it would be five months later before the police would formally announce that james dale richie was the serial killer they had been looking for the city breathed easier after that though homicides are still high enough there to be fair as the deadliest year on record comes to an end in anchorage many questions remain about a series of killings linked to a single gun police and the fbi continue to investigate life and alleged crimes a former east high school star james dale richie looking to establish whether he pulled the trigger in more than one murder as i said the fbi is still investigating where whether he is connected to um well any other you know unsolved homicides around you know virginia it's believed he traveled around like i said lower 48 quite a bit so places like virginia colorado and more so why did he do this well that's a question that is the question yeah i don't think uh many people have an answer for that and if they do i don't think it's a good one we don't know he never revealed i mean he got riddled and the police never revealed why what his motive was why he would do this but then again he was a serial killer so just doing it for the crack they never need a reason thank you so much for watching i really appreciate it i will see you as always real soon in the next one till then take care of yourselves [Music] you

Channel: That Chapter

Views: 903,009

Rating: 4.9228182 out of 5

Keywords: that chapter, james dale ritchie

Id: JeyEZrP_sfU

Length: 22min 7sec (1327 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 09 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/kimcat_13]

Yaaay! Adore you Mike, actually been my best mate through lockdown we hang out every night 😂

[u/GuerillaYourDreams]

I love the contrast between how his narration is now versus two years ago. He’s really gotten his confidence and come into his own as a narrator!!

[u/throw8me8beautiful]

LOL excellent into