Ketchikan Police Department. (KRBD file photo)
A 38-year-old Ketchikan man was arrested early Saturday morning and charged with second-degree murder.
About 9 p.m. Friday, police officers responded to a report of two males fighting at a Tongass Avenue home. The caller stated that one man was injured and lying on the floor, while the other had left the area. Sergeant Andrew Berntson of the Ketchikan Police Department says, when officers arrived, they found the victim, 31-year-old Aaron Dixon, with multiple stab wounds to his upper body.
“We also found a large, approximately 8-inch blade, kitchen-style knife covered in blood on the scene. The officers performed first aid and CPR until EMS arrived and transported the subject to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.”
Berntson says there were five other people in the house at the time of the alleged murder, one adult and four children. He says police identified a suspect – 38-year-old Darrell Taylor Ryan. Ryan was arrested at a Woodland Avenue residence at approximately 1:30 Saturday morning. Bernston says Ryan admitted to stabbing Dixon.
“Part of his statement was that during the altercation he did feel threatened, and so that was the reason he stabbed Mr. Dixon.”
Dixon’s body has been sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage for autopsy.
Ryan is being held at the Ketchikan Correctional Center without bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled in Ketchikan District Court on January 22nd.
