On August 10, 2003, a younger lady named Sonya Ivanoff disappeared after having an evening out along with her associates. A number of days later, the authorities found Ivanoff’s physique inside a gravel pit. After an intensive investigation, the police discovered that an officer named Matthew Owens was chargeable for Ivanoff’s loss of life.
At the preliminary stage of investigation, the police interrogated a person that Sonya Ivanoff dated. However, they couldn’t discover any proof in opposition to him. As a end result, the police cleared him, reported The Sun. The outlet additionally talked about that the authorities acquired an nameless tip from a girl who mentioned she noticed Ivanoff getting inside a police automotive. A number of weeks later, one in every of police’s autos went lacking, and authorities began looking for it. Eventually, Matthew Owens discovered the automobile and famous that unknown assailants fired at him. The different officers arrived on the scene and noticed that the home windows of the automotive have been damaged.
The police investigated the automobile and located a letter, together with Sonya Ivanoff’s lacking ID. Citing the letter, The Sun reported that the nameless author threatened the cops who have been investigating Ivanoff’s case. The letter reportedly learn, “Pigs. I hate cops, I hate everybody of you.“ Meanwhile, Owens advised different officers about what occurred after he discovered the automobile.
As per the outlet, the officers had suspicions about what Owens mentioned and requested him to take a polygraph take a look at. He, together with one other officer who was on obligation on the time of Ivanoff’s disappearance, took the polygraph take a look at. Owens failed the polygraph take a look at, whereas the opposite officer handed. The police arrested Matthew Owens in October 2003 and despatched to jail after the jury discovered him responsible. The court docket sentenced him to 101 years in jail.
Sonya Ivanoff’s homicide case explored
As talked about above, Sonya Ivanoff disappeared after having fun with an evening out. According to The Sun, Ivanoff’s roommate reported her lacking a number of days later, after which the authorities began a large search operation in and round Nome, Alaska. The police didn’t take a lot time to seek out Sonya Ivanoff’s physique.
As per The Seattle Times, the police discovered Ivanoff’s bare physique on the outskirts of Nome. The outlet additionally talked about that Sonya Ivanoff died of a “single gunshot fired at close range to the back of her head.” In 2003, the authorities arrested Matthew Owens and charged him with first-degree homicide and tampering with proof.
The homicide trial of Matthew Owens started in January 2005, and the prosecutors introduced many items of proof to show Owens was certainly the killer. During the opening statements, the prosecution group famous that Owens killed Ivanoff and staged the theft of the police automobile in order that he received’t be questioned within the case. The prosecution group additionally talked concerning the letter that the authorities discovered within the lacking automobile.
According to the outlet, the prosecutors based their case on the truth that the authorities have been unable to seek out any hint. In the assertion, the prosecutors additionally indicated that the killer had “evidence awareness.” On the opposite hand, the prosecution group additionally urged that the killer is likely to be somebody who has coaching in police work.
Owens was discovered responsible and sentenced to jail
The trial additionally noticed the prosecution group speaking about how Matthew Owens tried diverting the eye from himself by staging a automotive theft. Meanwhile, the protection saved arguing that Owens had nothing to do within the case and was harmless. However, the jury discovered Owens responsible of the homicide of Sonya Ivanoff and sentenced him to 101 years in jail, reported The Sun.
The brutal homicide case might be featured on this week’s episode of Dateline NBC. The episode will air on the community on Sunday, January 28, at 9 p.m. ET.
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