A man who killed a leasing manager at an Alaska apartment complex has discovered how he will most likely spend the rest of his life.
On July 11, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Andrew Peterson sentenced 28-year-old Jesse Jones to 77 years in prison for the murder of 34-year-old Josiah Goecker and the assault of Rosemarie Ortiz, who was 33 at the time of the 2023 attack.
On October 23, 2023, Jones walked into the leasing office at Alpine Apartments of Weidner Apartment Homes in Anchorage and “confronted” Goecker and Ortiz about a non-renewal notice that had been placed on his door, according to the Alaska Department of Law. Jones lived in the apartment complex with his girlfriend.
“Within seconds Jones produced a handgun,” the state’s press release continued, adding that Jones and Goecker had a “brief struggle” before Goecker “retreated with his hands up.” ” Jones then shot Goecker at least seven times right in front of Ortiz.
Jones is said to have fled the leasing office and disposed of the firearm, for which he was later charged and convicted of tampering with evidence. Jones fled the area and “spent the bulk of his time high on methamphetamine,” according to the state, before being apprehended three days later.
Jones was convicted in February of murder, assault, and tampering with evidence charges. Jones admitted to the murder, according to the Alaska Department of Law, but claimed during his trial that he shot Goecker in a “heat of passion”. His lawyers reportedly asked for the murder charge to be reduced to manslaughter, claiming that the shooting was in self-defense, but the jury rejected this argument.
Before sentencing Jones, Judge Peterson heard from nine members of the Goecker family about how the murder affected them. Goecker was survived by his pregnant wife, daughter, unborn daughter, parents, and nine siblings, according to his obituary.
His murder, according to his brother, “deprived his wife of a husband and his two little girls of a father.”
“His youngest daughter was born a few months after his death, so she will never meet her father in this life,” he said in a text message to local news outlet KTUU. “His loss is deeply felt by all of us.”
Jones faced over 99 years in prison. Nonetheless, the 77-year sentence he received virtually guarantees that he will spend the rest of his life in prison. In the courtroom where he presided, the judge dismissed any suggestion that the killing was a “honest mistake, or snap decision.”
According to Peterson, the suspect-turned-convict had several opportunities to “change the course of the day” but instead made repeated choices that killed Goecker. Goecker, on the other hand, “demonstrated compassion and peacefulness” in his approach to Jones, with the judge noting that the murder victim “put his hands up, backed off, and gave the defendant the opportunity to walk away.”
Jones was furious about the non-renewal notice and asked the apartment building employees, according to a criminal complaint reviewed by KTUU, “are you really kicking me and my pregnant girlfriend out onto the streets[?]”
Peterson also acknowledged Jones’ prior criminal history, which demonstrated “disproportionate” and “unbalanced and violent responses” to “perceived slights,” and determined that he needed to confine Jones to “protect the public and ensure that Jones does not hurt or kill someone in the future.”
Loved ones remember Goecker as a hero for the actions he took before his murder. His obituary states that he “gave his life to protect a colleague,” and that his “selfless act of heroism surprised no one who knew him in his 34 years of life.”
