Free Mac!
Seeking Justice for One Wrongly Imprisoned
P I Report, February 2000
Additional Case Information Gathered by Private Investigator Rollie Port, 2000
Excerpts from a letter to Commissioner Glenn Godfrey, Juneau, AK, February 2001
The following information concerns the current incarceration of Donald McDonald for the kidnapping and murder of Laura Henderson Ibach. There is a very real possibility that Mr. McDonald is in fact in prison for a crime he did not commit.
This is a tragic story involving a broken a broken marriage, drugs, assumptions, leaps to conclusions not supported by evidence, a very inadequate investigation and, finally, the incarceration of Mr. McDonald.
There have been many theories projected by the State's Department of Law on how the murder was committed and who was responsible for it. There are conspiracy theories involving a corrupt Kodiak Police Department (which has had numerous Federal, State, and local investigations for corruption). There are also allegations of key businessmen being involved in the corruption and involved in numerous drug activities.
Although some or all of this may play a part in the conviction of Mr. McDonald for murder, I would like to deal with the facts.
In the later part of 1984 Laura Henderson Ibach and her husband, Jack, lived with their children in Kodiak. They were going through a contested divorce where the custody of the children as well as asset distribution were issues. Ms. Ibach hired attorney Matt Jamin of Kodiak to represent her. Mr. Ibach hired William Ford. Mr. Ibach sued for divorce on November 12, 1984.
At the time of Ms. Henderson's disappearance a judge had not yet ruled on the custody matter. The children's guardian-ad-litem had recommended full custody be awarded Mr. Ibach. Ms. Henderson's psychologist recommended shared custody.
My investigation revealed that Mr. McDonald had known Laura Ibach for years. They had been introduced to each other by Jay Buckalew. Mr. McDonald was an acquaintance and friend of Ms. Ibach's. They had dated three times in the past. At the time of Laura's disappearance Mr. McDonald was staying at an alcohol recovery group home where he had gone to stay voluntarily after his drinking had become a problem. Mr. McDonald owned a white Dodge cargo van which was not in good repair. The drive shaft on the van was wired together and it shook at speeds over 35mph.
On March 28, 1986 Laura Henderson reported to her attorney and told him that she received a call from a man in possession of a tape recording which would help her get custody of her kids. Allegedly the tape was of a conversation between two prominent Kodiak businessmen and Jack Ibach. An unknown person was providing the tape to Laura. The recorded conversation concerned illegal drugs. The unidentified man explained that he was helping Laura because Jack Ibach had burned him on a $20,000.000 deal and he wanted to get even.
Cathy Wilson, a co-worker of Laura's, later told the police that the only way Laura could identify this man was that he drove a white van. Further, that a friend of Wilson's, Tom Healy, told her and Laura that Jack Ibach was involved in a $20,000.00 drug deal. (People have assumed that because Laura was seen with McDonald he must be the mystery man Laura was going to get the tape from.)
Cathy Wilson was Laura's best friend and talked to Laura immediately after this stranger had talked to Laura. There was no mention of a "Matt McDonald" in her March 29, 1986 statement to the police. Cathy Wilson was one of several persons who searched for a white van in the downtown area and observed McDonald's van at the Hope House across from where Laura worked. She was even asked by the police department to watch it.
Suzanne Hinson was a co-worker with Laura. Suzanne supposedly identified Laura's visitor as a person by the name of Matt who drove a white van. Laura also then told her story of the drug deal. (This statement was given after the evening's events and after Ruble had told her that Laura was last seen in McDonald's van.
Janet Carter, a third co-worker, saw a man matching McDonald's description visit Laura at work. She assumed that this person was the same person who identified himself as Matt or Mac earlier in the day when he called on the phone.
McDonald did stop and see Laura, there is no question of this. I have to ask myself why a contract killer would boldly contact Laura, with witnesses present, then meet her later, again in public, and kidnap her.
Laura had an appointment with Matt Jamin that same afternoon. A private investigator by the name of Al Ruble was requested to conduct surveillance the evening of March 28, 1986, along cannery row. Although Laura had never mentioned Matt McDonald to anyone up to that point Mr. Ruble, after the fact, told the police that Laura had told him that she was meeting a person by the name of "Matt McDonald." Ruble was caught in this lie during grand jury.
- Juror: She never said anything about McDonald?
- Ruble: No.
My investigation revealed that Laura did see McDonald downtown that evening and she talked with him momentarily in his vehicle (a white van) after which she left the van. (I would note for the purpose of clarification that McDonald had known Laura since he had arrived in Alaska. It would not have been unusual for Laura to see McDonald on the street and hop into his vehicle with him. Further when PI Ruble saw Laura she was smiling and appeared normal with McDonald.)
Ruble observed Laura in the front seat of McDonald's van laughing with him. He then went out of sight and when he returned the van was gone and he could not see Laura. He did not check any of the bars in the harbor area but rather just assumed Laura had been kidnapped. As a matter of fact while Ruble observed Laura with McDonald, Jack Iback was only 800 feet away having just come into the harbor area on the Kodiak King tug boat. Ruble, while conducting surveillance never saw Mr. Ibach until a half hour later at which time Ibach was driving a white Ford Bronco.
The police's theory was initially that Laura had been killed and her body dumped into the inner harbor in Kodiak. The theory later changed when a white van was seen that evening out in Bells Flat. The theory changed a third time when clothing started appearing on Monashka Bay. After the film was developed from McDonald's camera it showed he had once been at a cabin which overlooked Monashka Bay. Going with the last theory, Laura would have been kidnapped shortly after 9:00pm, driven 9 miles out an icy road then carried or walked several hundred yards to a bluff overlooking Monashka bay, killed, then her 165 - 180 lb. body thrown over the bluff into the bay.
The log-in sheet at the group home showed McDonald being there at 10:00 pm. A witness by the name of Jim Clyde positively identified McDonald as being at the group home at 10:45 pm and in fact watched a movie with him.
I personally drove from where McDonald was last seen parked and used the most direct route to drive to the point where the police theorized Laura's body was thrown over the bluff. Traveling at the speed limit it took me 1 hour and 15 minutes round trip. There are 5 separate witnesses who said that McDonald was home between 9:50pm and 10:00pm and the log shows other people logging in after McDonald at 10:00pm. McDonald's vehicle was not in good repair. The drive shaft was wired to the transmission and the van could not be driven over 35mph. This was verified in testimony. The speed limit on the road to Monashka bay is 55mph. How would it be possible for McDonald to kidnap Laura, drive to Monashka Bay, kill and disrobe her, throw her body over the cliff and then be back at the recovery house by 10:00pm?
The police, when questioning Donald McDonald at the recovery house, referred to Laura as Laura Henderson confusing McDonald temporarily. Donald McDonald knows Laura as Laura Ibach. McDonald had been asleep in his room for four hours when Palmer contacted him in the middle of the night. Once McDonald realized who the police were talking about, he became frightened they were investigating Laura for drug usage and initially denied seeing her that night. McDonald did admit to seeing Laura that night after the Police told him that Laura was seen in his van. McDonald, being caught in this lie fueled the fires for further assumptions and false speculation. McDonald told the Police that Laura was in the van, however, she had gotten out moments later. This is supported by James Kerwin.
At this point in the questioning of McDonald at the recovery house, there is a difference in what McDonald remembers and what Sergeant Palmer and Al Ruble remember. McDonald adamantly denies that he ever told anyone he went around the block with Laura and then let her out. James Kerwin's testimony supports this as well. Palmer states this is what McDonald told him. Al Ruble states he overheard McDonald tell Sgt Palmer that McDonald went around the block with Laura then let her out.
I have been to the location Ruble allegedly heard the comment from and not only could I not hear any conversation taking place, I could not even see who was talking. Mr Ruble testified at Grand Jury he could not hear anything but later at the 1st Trial, stated he overheard the conversation.
It is a fair statement that my investigation and review of the records disclosed that Al Ruble lied when he stated he heard the conversation between Sgt Palmer and Donald McDonald.
Eight months after Laura disappeared and several days before the murder trial Sergeant Michael Andre of the Kodiak Police Department called a psychic hotline he had seen advertised in a magazine. The psychic, over the telephone, supposedly tells Andre that he should search the front of the van again. The van is searched again and an earring similar to the one Laura wore was found dangling from a speaker wire above the gas pedal. This is after Officer Rhodes and Officer Walton spent 20 hours looking for evidence in this van immediately after it was impounded on March 29, 1986. They had removed everything from the van and did not find an earring. The state's crime lab also searched the van and did not find an earring. This is also after the van had been moved from the secured police impound lot.
I have reviewed the FBI reports concerning hair and fibre analysis which was done on all of McDonald's and Kerwin's clothing, their persons, the interior of the van and virtually everything in the van. The FBI did not find one drop of blood, not one hair or fibre, that came from Laura or anything she was wearing. The Alaska State Trooper's lab found no finger prints or palm prints belonging to Laura, although they found nearly 60 others. This does not support the state's theory that a major fight took place in the van. The lack of any physical evidence in the van does not support that theory at all.
The state's theory was that a rear window of McDonald's van was broken, therefore there must have been a struggle. Investigation revealed that the window was broken before the van was sold to Mr. McDonald by Jay Buckalew.
Although there were two footprints on a folder inside of McDonald's van the state neglected to have them match the two tennis shoes that were found near Monashka Bay.
One of the most troubling items in this report is how a jury could find James Kerwin, who was with McDonald during the time Laura was in his van, not guilty. Mr. Kerwin is now dead so could not be interviewed.
I learned from Kathy Jackson Murray that James Kerwin wrote a letter prior to his death stating that McDonald had nothing to do with the murder of Laura Henderson Ibach. In this eight page handwritten summary of events James Kerwin was clearly bothered by the fact he could not testify as an alibi for McDonald in the first trial. He could not do this because he was also indicted in the murder. After Kerwin's acquittal he could have accepted all responsibility for the murder of Laura Henderson and not have been convicted, but he did not. He didn't because he maintains that he and McDonald are not guilty. Kerwin explained in this letter that it was himself who had possession of a .357 handgun. He also explained that he had given that gun to Jack Ibach so that it would not be on the F.V. Nordby while he was there because he was drinking on the boat. At some point Ibach returned the weapon to Kerwin who gave it to McDonald for safekeeping.
This appears to be an honest explanation regarding the weapon from a man who had nothing to gain or loose by lying.
Lastly, I would like to state that there never was a connection between McDonald and Jack Ibach. The police went over the assets of both persons and revealed no financial exchanges whatsoever. Not one!
Back to Top
P I Interviews, 2000
The following information was gathered during various interviews with Kodiak Police Department Officers over the course of this investigation.
Findings from February 2, 2000 Interview with Officer Mark Gregory.
He states Bill Rhodes did most of the evidence work on the Henderson homicide. He states he has always remained friends with Bill Rhodes and on one occasion Bill Rhodes told him of a fiasco that occurred in reference to the Henderson homicide. He states he was sent out to McDonald's van where he observed an earring on the floorboard. He then contacted Sgt. Paris and Paris got a search warrant and an earring was found that was later identified as Henderson's. This occurred two weeks before the trial of McDonald, Kerwin and Ibach. Rhodes reportedly shook his head and scoffed at the idea that a psychic in Chicago came up with this information and indicated to Gregory that the earring was probably planted. Gregory maintains that Rhodes never used the words planted or manufactured, however Rhodes left the Police Department and is now a probation officer.
Findings from February 3, 2000 Interview with Officer Anthony "Tony" Wills
He graduated from High School in 1980 at Bell Fourche, SD.
In June of 1996 he came to work for the Kodiak Police Department and he left in April of 1997. Prior to this he had been a Military Policeman for ten years.
He stated he had come to Alaska from the lower 48 seeking job opportunities in the law enforcement area and KPD is the first department he tested and was accepted by.
He stated in 1996, after he was hired, he had a 90 day breaking in period and his field training officers were Officer Massie, Officer Dochater, Officer Mahoney, and Sgt. Mulroney.
He stated Massie was a shift leader and that he, Wills, worked mainly in the graveyard shift.
He stated on one occasion he and Trooper Chris Hill and Officer Bradbury were riding with Chief Palmer who was acquainting them with the City. They drove by the impound lot and inside the impound lot was Mac McDonald's white van. Chief Palmer told all three of them that the van had to do with the disappearance of Laura Henderson and that Henderson had been murdered, cut up, put into a crab pot and taken out to sea by a fishing vessel. (This is absolutely contrary to the Police investigation and should be followed up with interview of Chris Hill and Officer Bradbury to support the statement Palmer made to Wills.)
Findings from February 3, 2000 Interview with AST Tom Schwantes
Tom Schwantes is an expert in the area in and around Kodiak and has been in the Marine Enforcement position for the AST since the early 1970's. He is considered an expert in the tidal and currents of the island of Kodiak. He was present in Kodiak when the Henderson homicide occurred and he was in charge of the Trooper vessel the Vigilant stationed out of Kodiak.
He stated that in 1986, Kodiak king crab was not being fished in the Monashka Bay area whatsoever or in the Kodiak area in general. He stated the crab pots that were being used at the time were for tanner crab and the pots had four to six inch netting on the pots. He states he feels 99.9% sure that if a body and clothes even taken off the body had been placed in a crab pot, that the clothing would have remained in that crab pot and not surfaced.
He stated there is a lot of sand fleas in the Monashka Bay area.
He stated it is possible that clothing that is put into the Narrows Channel at the mouth of Monashka Bay where Monashka Bay meets the Channel, that the clothing could be found from the VFW Hall along Pillar Beach and all the way through to Monashka Bay. He states if a body was thrown off a cliff, and if it could hit the water, which he does not think it would, that the ebb tide could take a body out into Monashka Bay, and then the flood tide, bring the body back into the beach.
He states the clothing coming off the body in this situation is extremely doubtful.
He states he has recovered numerous bodies from the ocean and those bodies have all been fully clothed.
He stated the City Dock is the dock on the extreme south end of Shelikof Street.
He stated the Kodiak King has always berthed at the same location in the small boat harbor. He states that the entrance to the small boat harbor off of Shelikof Street onto the dock where the Kodiak King is berthed, was in existence in 1985 as it is now in 2000
Findings from February 7, 2000 Interview with Officer William Walton.
He stated he was a Police Officer at the Kodiak Police Department from 1983 to 1993.
He stated at the time of Laura Henderson's disappearance he was in Detectives with Bill Rhodes and Cpl Paris was the supervisor.
He stated the only person who ever knew the big picture of the investigation and what was being proven was Paris. He stated that other Officers would be assigned small portions of the Investigation to go out and do things, however it was Paris who formulated whatever meaning he wanted to on what was found.
He stated Barry Paris was the person in charge of the evidence room during that time.
He states he remembers being called out the night Laura disappeared and the night was notable in that he fell down in the parking lot because of extreme icy conditions and slipped underneath a vehicle and injured himself. He remembers very well that entire night the roads in and around Kodiak were in the same condition and he states to get out where Barry Paris says the body was thrown off the cliff, a person would not have been able to drive more than 5mph.
He stated his job was to collect evidence and he remembers searching McDonald's van for approximately 10 to 12 hours and seizing 8 to 900 pieces of evidence in that case with the majority of that evidence coming from the van.
He stated he remembers searching the entire van on March 29, 1986 with Rhodes and that would include the drivers compartment where later the earring was found.
He stated in reference to the glass being broken from the inside and that showing there was a struggle inside, he states the glass expert from the FBI more or less convinced him that was plausible however his feeling was that there was no sign of struggle inside the van at all.
He stated in reference to the earring, he believes he was set up to find the earring. He states this because he was called on a Saturday to come into the Department and search the van for the earring. That meant he and Rhodes were called in on overtime on a Saturday to look in the van when Sgt. Andre and Sgt. Paris were both on duty working and could have easily checked the van out.
He stated they were told to search the front portion of the van and they started in the drivers seat and immediately found the earring behind the gas pedal of the van. Paris then concluded the search of the van immediately after the earring was found. He stated that Paris did not accompany them to the van and he now believes that he and Rhodes were both used as patsies.
He stated that he believes Paris made up his mind that Ibach, Kerwin and McDonald were guilty from day one and Paris went out to build his case from there.
He stated he does not believe that Laura was thrown off the cliff as Barry Paris has found. He stated the way the cliff came into being a possible location is that he and Rhodes had film developed that was in McDonald's camera and as soon as those photos came back, Paris immediately took the photos and decided that the pictures showed that McDonald and Kerwin were "practicing throwing a body over the cliff" and therefore Paris immediately knew that's where Laura was thrown into the ocean. He states the problem was that you would have to throw the body straight out over 50 feet, that the body would actually land on the slope or land on the top of the rocks that were above high tide. He stated when he brought this information to Paris, he discounted it and was so arrogant that there was nothing else that could be said.
He stated he was in the Navy and he has recovered 20 to 30 bodies from the ocean. This included a lot of clothing. He states when clothing is in the salt water for a limited period of time it becomes highly bleached out.
He stated he believes that there is a very good possibility that the clothing was planted on Monashka Beach by someone. He bases this on the fact that when he observed specifically the coat and blue jeans, they did not appear to have been in the water very long and they were not bleached out enough for being in the water the amount of time that Laura had disappeared.
He stated he became aware that Jim "Mac" McLaughlin was saying he had knowledge where Henderson's body was and that the body was actually in a landfill across from his house.
He stated he discussed this with Paris and Paris immediately discounted it and nothing was ever done. He states he wrote this up in the Police report, however does not know if it found its way into the Police report as Paris was the person responsible for putting the report together. (This information was not found in the official report.)
He stated he remembers talking to District Attorney Sue McLean about the McLaughlin theories, however McLean was being run over by Paris and she would say she would look into things but never did.
Findings from July 19, 2000 Interview with Sergeant Barry Paris, currently with the Tacoma, WA, Police Department.
Paris realizes that the evidence against McDonald was the slimmest of any evidence he has seen in a murder conviction, however he believes McDonald is guilty because Rubel said he was the last one with Henderson; McDonald ended up with a .357 handgun that Ibach had; Ibach, Kerwin, and McDonald were seen together at Kerwin's apartment behind the McDonald's Restaurant in Kodiak.
He states that both James Kerwin and Donald McDonald were "street bums" who didn't have any money to their name and it is his belief that McDonald and Kerwin both were involved in the killing of Laura Henderson for a "promise of money" from Jack Ibach.
He stated the only connection between Ibach and McDonald was a .357 magnum that Kerwin stole off the F.V. Nordby and later sold to Ibach. McDonald ended up giving it to Gladys Baldwin.
He states he realizes that it is extremely slim, however, that's all they had to make the circumstantial case.
He states he at one point thought that Jim McLaughlin was responsible for the death of Laura Henderson. That was based on numerous statements from persons stating that McLaughlin had in fact told them of killing Laura.
He stated Michael Putnam was a Police Informant. Putnam had been arrested for something else and the Police made a deal with him to go back into McLaughlin's house to solicit information from McLaughlin. Putnam came back out and made a report that McLaughlin had made the statement that he was responsible for Laura's death. Paris felt this information was unbelievable. (Beyond stating he felt it was unbelievable, Paris could come up with no other reason why he felt this way).
He stated Guy Carroll was another unbelievable person who stated McLaughlin was responsible for the killing of Laura Henderson.
He states in his mind McLaughlin was a suspect but they had more evidence showing that McDonald was linked to Ibach than McLaughlin being linked to Ibach, therefore McDonald was charged. Along with that was the .357, the meeting between Ibach, Kerwin, and McDonald, and McDonald being the last person seeing Laura Henderson alive.
He states he could not remember whether he took part in the search of Laura Henderson's apartment or if that was left to Walton and Rhodes.
He stated he was aware that McLaughlin was very involved in the cocaine trade in Kodiak.
He stated he knew Ibach was a user of cocaine and got his cocaine he believes from McLaughlin. He states he did not arbitrarily dismiss the possibility that McLaughlin could have somehow been involved with the homicide, however, he did not pick up any evidence that could be proven in court that McLaughlin was involved with Laura Henderson's death. (Paris went on to discredit Michael Putnam, although he used Putnam as an informant and felt he was credible on some issues but in reference to what Putnam told him concerning McLaughlin's involvement with Laura's death he discounted.) Paris stated it was just the evidence as he saw it pointed to McDonald and not McLaughlin. Paris concedes that McDonald was convicted on the slimmest of evidence and probably without the earring being found the chances of conviction of McDonald was probably nil.
He states he has struggled with the earring being found in the van. His memory of how that earring was found is as follows. He remembers immediately prior to the first trial, Mike Andre came to him and stated he had looked in a Police Catalog and saw an article concerning the psychic. That Andre took it upon himself with no urging from Paris to call the psychic.
The first thing Paris says he ever knew about the psychic was that Andre told him about the article and then told him that he had already called the psychic and the psychic had told him to look within three feet of the drivers seat of the van for an earring. (At this point this Investigator asked specifically if the psychic had said to look for an earring and Paris stated it is his recollection that the psychic had told Andre that the earring would be found within three feet of the drivers seat.)
He states he was cajoled by Andre into going out and looking one more time in the vehicle. He states when he went out to St. Pierre's aluminum shed the van still had the evidence tape all over it. He used a key which the Police had kept all along for the van, and he noted the van was locked and the windows were rolled up when he contacted the van. (The impound lot owner, Bruce St. Pierre, stated that the impound yard was open to the public. The window of the van was rolled down and the evidence tape had fallen to the ground.)
He states he remembers the only thing left in the van was the seat and he believes a G.I. ammo box.
He states he crawled in and out of the van and Mike Andre was in the van as well.
He states he had searched the van until he was satisfied nothing was found and then he stepped out of the van by the drivers side door and was waiting for Andre to get done.
He states he was shining the light of his flashlight into the drivers door and he saw a flash of something and he himself found the earring.
He states the earring was on top of a speaker wire and when he saw the earring it raised the hair on the back of his neck because in his mind, "how am I ever going to get anyone to believe that we had just found this earring."
He stated after he observed the earring, he then went and got a search warrant for the vehicle and went back, seized the earring, and took it to the evidence room.
At this point Paris was confronted with the statement of Will Walton that it was he and Rhodes that actually found that earring after they had been called in off duty and ordered by Paris to search the front of the van.
Paris stated that Walton was incorrect in his statement to that affect because Walton and Rhodes did not find that earring, that he was the person that found that earring. (This is contrary to his court and grand jury testimony.)
He stated he wished Walton and Rhodes would have found the earring because it was him, Paris, who ended up having to explain how the earring was found to Chief Justice Burke.
He states he remembers Chief Justice Burke basically telling him that he did not believe the story about the earring and did not believe the story about the psychic.
He discounts the notion of a conspiracy in this matter because whoever planted the earring would have had to have known that they would find a person who could positively identify the earring as being Laura's, not just simply taking a pair of earrings out of Laura's jewelry box. Someone would have had to have known that one of Laura's friends and/or her Mother would be able to positively identify the earring. However, he also notes that he could see why many people believed the earring was in fact planted.
(In the KPD statement of Kitty and Gib Munro, April 4, 1986, Laura's Mother, Kitty says: "They were, I didn't recognize the earrings because they just found out. They're white with a floral paint, a painting of a flower on them." The earring was not found in the van until October 18, 1986.)
He states he has a very clear memory of himself seizing the earring after he and Andre had conducted the search of the van and knows that Rhodes and Walton are not the ones who found the earring.
He states he did not know Al Ruble that well, and concedes that Ruble would have a motive for not telling the truth concerning when he saw Laura and who he saw her with, however, he believes Ruble told the truth.
He states Ruble basically had to leave Kodiak because of this case. The fact that he lost Laura that night was the biggest issue why he had to leave Kodiak. Further, his credibility in the community was lost. Still Paris believed Ruble told the truth about what he had observed that night.
He states he could not comment on whether or not the clothing found in the bay would have been sufficiently bleached given the time they were in the water. He doesn't know what the clothes would look like if they had been in the water one week compared to two months.
He states he does not believe the Police planted any of the clothing in Monashka Bay and states the way all of the clothing was found was chronicled in the Police report. He states this homicide investigation was the very first one that the Police Department ever did and although they did not use State Troopers to do the investigation, they did travel to Anchorage to meet with Mike Grimes and have Mike Grimes help them in their investigations. He cannot remember specifically what Grimes told them about the case.
He states he was sure some mistakes were made in the investigation because it was KPD's first major homicide investigation, but that he also strongly disbelieves there was any conspiracy in the Police Force or between the Police Force and specific citizens, i.e. Matt Jamin and Ruble, to frame Donald McDonald.
Back to Top
P I Inquiry, 2001
The probability of McDonald having served 14 years in prison for a crime he did not commit is very real. I believe the questions raised by my investigation should be answered in a manner that puts the issue to rest once and for all. Even though there are appeals currently going in this case I believe an inquiry is called for now and it should not be pushed off to the side. Literally, a man's life is at stake.
I would like to see the following points addressed:
- Since the conviction of Donald McDonald for the murder of Laura Henderson the Alaska State Troopers have continued to receive reports of sightings of Ms. Henderson alive.
- The Alaska State Troopers have investigated the recovery of unidentified human remains in the Kodiak area. One of the reports concerned a female being found in a shallow grave on an island adjacent to Kodiak.
- The television show "Inside Edition" reported on a video interview of Wayne Arndt. I spoke with Mr. Arndt and he states adamantly that he made a report to the Alaska State Troopers about pulling a female body in a bag as well as having seen a woman's tennis shoe, sock and blue jeans. This all matches what Laura Henderson was wearing the night of her disappearance.
- Anthony Wills, a former Kodiak Police Officer, has reported that Sergeant Palmer, currently retired, had told him that Laura Henderson was murdered, put into a crab pot and dumped at sea. This would be contrary to the evidence presented in court. Sergeant Palmer was an active participant in the investigation of Laura's disappearance. (This information has been requested from the Alaska State Troopers and the Kodiak Police Department, however, they refuse to provide the information.)
- It is physically improbable or maybe even impossible for a 180 lb object to be thrown off of the bluff and land any where close to the waterline of Monashka Bay. (Inside Edition experimented with this issue on video and the item thrown did not even reach the water line. In the experiment two people were throwing the object.) Officer Walton told me that he had film developed out of McDonald's camera and because the bluff area was in the pictures Sergeant Paris immediately claimed this to be the murder scene. No other evidence existed then or now to support this theory. (Is it even possible for a body to be thrown in to the bay at this location?)
- I personally spoke with Dennis McMurray, the employer of Jack Ibach. Unknown to the police there is a page in the log book on the date of March 28, 1986, missing. I discovered this when I asked to review the Kodiak King log book. The missing page is very hard to see but if you look closely the margin of the paper is still in the binding. McMurray's answer was that he must of made a mistake but in the other 250 pages of the log the only mistake occurred on this date. I do not know what was really written in the log but it is very possible that the information exonerated McDonald. (There should be an investigation into the missing page and what was contained on it.)
- The clothing found at Monashka Bay is certainly suspect. Lieutenant Tom Schwantes, now retired, is a 30 year veteran of the Marine Department of the Alaska State Troopers. I spoke with Lieutenant Schwantes who told me he did not believe that a 180 lb body could be thrown off of the bluff and land in Monashka Bay. Further, that the clothing being found in Monashka Bay from the VFW to Pillar Beach means the clothing would have gone into the water at a place called the Narrows Channel at the mouth of Monashka Bay. He bases this statement on being an expert in the area of tides and currents in the Kodiak area. He also finds suspect that Henderson's clothing came off of her body because of current or tide action. He has recovered numerous clothed bodies from the ocean. If Lieutenant Schwantes is correct then the states entire theory of Laura being thrown from a bluff is incorrect. Not only is it physically impossible to throw a 180 lb object into Monashka Bay it is ludicrous to believe that tidal action took the clothes off. Officer Walton of the Kodiak Police Department has recovered 20 to 30 bodies from the ocean. He believes that Laura Henderson's coat and blue jeans could have been planted. He bases this theory on the fact that the coat and blue jeans were not faded as if they had been in the salt water for an extended period of time. To further add credibility to the clothing being planted on the beach is the discovery of a clutch purse identified as Laura Henderson's. I spoke with Jack Ibach who told me the purse was a play purse used by his children. Laura had a current Alaska Driver's license so why would she be carrying a clutch purse with an expired Oregon Driver's license in it? Jack Ibach stated that in the year previous to Laura's disappearance he purchased a new velvet purse with a strap for her. He watched as Laura changed purses and then gave the old one to the kids. Officer Walton remembers taking numerous photographs of the clothing and other items located in Laura's apartment. I believe it would be prudent to match the items found by the police to the photos taken in the apartment. Again, I see no reason why Laura would have been carrying an expired Oregon Driver's license. (This also needs to be investigated.)
- It should also be noted that Lieutenant Tom Walters of the US Coast Guard, along with Lieutenant Richardson and Lieutenant Bartlett, searched for two hours in Monashka Bay on March 30, 1986, and found nothing along the beach or in the water. On April 21, 1986, Lieutenant Commander Mayey and Lieutenant Musarra searched the mouth of Monashka Bay between Termination Point and Miller Point. They found nothing. Yet on that same day a pink woman's shoe and a goose-down coat were found on the beach in Monashka Bay. What is interesting is that stuck to the inside of the left tennis shoe was a band aid. This band aid would have been worn under a sock on Laura's right foot according to a statement from her doctor who had removed warts from her right foot. How did the band aid get into the left tennis shoe? Some sort of transference may be an explanation but it is more likely, given the other circumstances of this case, that the band aid was put in there to prove that the shoe was Laura's. The only mistake made was that they put it in the wrong shoe. Alex Pederson provided a statement to the police that the tennis shoe looked almost new. This does not make sense when it was not found until April 21, 1986. How could a tennis shoe look new after being in the water over three weeks?
- The entire situation on the finding of the earring must be investigated. Keep in mind that the owner of the impound lot has testified while the van was in the impound lot it was not secured. Further, the only time he was denied his request to be present at a search of a vehicle in his lot was when the earring was found.
- James Kerwin was acquitted of this charge. He died after his trial but left behind a letter stating that he was with McDonald the night of Laura's disappearance and that McDonald did not kill Laura.
In this summary I have attempted to stay away from the conspiracy theories and only deal with the facts. From the beginning I think that small assumptions were made and that those assumptions snow balled. There was no turning back until these snow balls avalanched into a conviction of Donald McDonald.
Sincerely,
Rollie A. Port
Rollie Port Investigations, Inc.
Private Investigator
Back to Top
** All content of this website is the property of the author, unless otherwise noted. **
** The content of this website cannot be used, in whole or in part, without procuring authorization from the appropriate party. **