Young Woman Self Exits W/ Gun Longer Than Arms In Mayor's Home - 2 Yrs Later Another Girl Is Dead

TL;DR

Jennifer Kirk was ruled a self-exit despite the gun being longer than her arms, strangulation marks on her neck, and the killer being the mayor's son.

Key Points

• 1.Jennifer Kirk, 25, was found dead in the mayor of Northwest Arctic Borough's home in May 2018. She had been shot under the chin with a .22 rifle measuring 27⅛ inches — longer than her 26-inch arm — making self-infliction physically impossible, yet police ruled it a self-exit within one day.
• 2.The medical examiner found clear handprint strangulation marks around Jennifer's neck, indicating she was strangled before being shot. Despite this, police never tested boyfriend Anthony Richards for gunshot residue, never searched the house thoroughly, and barely questioned him before releasing him.
• 3.Anthony Richards, the mayor's son, had a documented history of strangling and assaulting Jennifer Kirk. Police reports from 2016 and 2017 show Jennifer called 911 twice reporting Anthony punched her, choked her, and sat on her to suffocate her — all on the mayor's property.
• 4.Mayor Clement Richards Senior held near-total executive power as the Northwest Arctic Borough's strong-mayor, controlling a $60 million construction contract. His political dominance from 1999–2018 is alleged to have enabled a culture of silence around his family's violence.
• 5.All three of Mayor Clement's sons have been charged with assaulting women on the mayor's property, totaling at least 31 criminal cases involving six victims. They collectively faced 16 domestic violence counts, yet none resulted in felony domestic violence convictions.
• 6.Two years after Jennifer Kirk's death, 30-year-old Susanna 'Suzu' Norton was found dead in the same mayor's house on March 9, 2020. She had been beaten and had strangulation marks on her neck; she shared Jennifer Kirk's birthday of August 21st.
• 7.Suzu Norton had previously reported abuse by Amos, the eldest Richards son, while six months pregnant. She walked into the police station with a swollen-shut black eye and documented strangulation marks — the officer's only response was noting he 'was unable to locate the defendant.'
• 8.Mayor Clement Richards himself had a felony domestic violence charge for kicking his pregnant wife Annette repeatedly in the stomach until she bled profusely. He pleaded no contest and served 6 months — yet this public record was never raised when he ran for and won the mayoral office.
• 9.Three months after Jennifer Kirk's death, Mayor Richards inserted himself as a public spokesperson for the case of murdered 10-year-old Ashley Johnson-Barr. Ashley was essayed and strangled by 41-year-old Peter Vance Wilson, whose 40+ prior assaults on relatives had been repeatedly reported to police and ignored.
• 10.Ashley Johnson-Barr's murder exposed systemic failure to protect indigenous women and children in Katsbu, Alaska. The mobilization of boats, helicopters, K-9 units, and 50 searchers proved resources existed — her father declared 'no more silence,' launching advocacy for missing and murdered indigenous peoples.
• 11.Rather than investigating Jennifer Kirk's suspicious death, the local police launched a citywide manhunt for the strangler of the fire department's pet husky. ProPublica journalist Kyle Hopkins conducted the only serious investigative reporting on the case; Mayor Richards refused all comment when approached.