A 31-year-old traveling nurse from Virginia was charged with murder on Thursday in the killing of her Soldotna landlord.
LaShaunda Lewis is charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder for the death of 78-year-old John “Skip” Dove Jr.
He was found on Tuesday stabbed to death in his home off Sports Lake Road north of Soldotna on the Kenai Peninsula.
Dove was a U.S. Navy veteran and avid golfer, once winning a car for sinking a hole-in-one at Kenai Golf Course, according to Peninsula Clarion files.
Lewis is a traveling nurse who was renting a downstairs space in the home while working at Central Peninsula Hospital.
Before Dove was found dead on Tuesday, he and Lewis both spoke with Alaska State Troopers on Monday. According to an affidavit included in charging documents, troopers entered the home around 7 p.m. that evening. Lewis’ family had called troopers, concerned because Lewis had been crying and seemingly confused during a FaceTime that morning and then did not respond to further messages or calls.
Troopers spoke with Lewis, who said she didn’t know what was going on, and with Dove, who said Lewis seemed unwell. The affidavit says that Lewis declined “offers for immediate access to mental health resources.”
On Tuesday, around 4 p.m., a phone number registered to Dove called 911 and a “difficult to understand female was on the line,” according to the affidavit. She cried, breathed heavily, and told dispatchers that police couldn’t help her, the affidavit said.
When troopers arrived at the home around 15 minutes later, they found Lewis covered in dried blood and stab wounds that they said appeared to be self-inflicted, the affidavit says.
Dove’s body was also found, cold and showing signs of having been dead for some time, with stab wounds, according to the affidavit. A walking stick was also found covered in blood, though the affidavit says troopers were uncertain how or if it had been used. Blood was found in multiple areas of the house, and a bloodstained kitchen knife “consistent with the sizing of the wounds” was found in a bed, according to the affidavit.
Lewis was taken to Central Peninsula Hospital, where later that night she told troopers that she had felt confused since the weekend but hadn’t taken any drugs besides her prescribed medication, according to the affidavit.
Her family told troopers that she had no history of mental or behavioral health issues, the affidavit said.
Troopers said in the affidavit that a video found on Lewis’ phone includes her voice saying, “he tried to kill me.” The affidavit says Lewis never accused Dove of injuring or threatening her and she did not deny killing him.
Lewis was scheduled for an arraignment on Thursday morning. As of that evening, no further court dates were available in the state’s court database.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
