ANCHORAGE — An Anchorage man who spent three years in jail awaiting trial on murder charges has been acquitted.
The Anchorage Daily News reported a jury Thursday acquitted 37-year-old Thomas Skeek, who had been charged with first- and second-degree murder and evidence tampering in the disappearance of his wife, 32-year-old Linda Skeek, formerly of Juneau.
Linda Skeek’s family believes she is dead. Her body has not been found.
Defense attorney Emily Cooper told jurors that the state could not even prove that Linda Skeek was dead or that Thomas Skeek killed her.
Prosecutors contended that Thomas Skeek killed Linda Skeek after an argument on New Year’s Day in 2016 and disposed of her body.
Cooper in her closing argument said Linda Skeek could have fallen victim to a random act of violence or purposely disappeared.
• This is an Associated Press report.
