Arkansas man tied to slaying in Alaska
His suicide trails visit from police
An Arkansas man who killed himself last week after being questioned by police in the 1996 murder of a teen in Alaska left a note to his wife saying he couldn’t take it anymore, according to a report.
Steve Branch, 66, of Austin, shot himself Aug. 3 just a half-hour after he was interviewed by Alaska state police detectives about the rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl in Sitka, a small town in southeastern Alaska. The detectives had developed Branch, who lived in Alaska at the time of the homicide, as a suspect through DNA.
During the interview, Branch denied any involvement in the crime and refused the detectives’ request for a DNA sample, according to Alaska authorities.
Shortly after the troopers left, Branch’s wife contacted authorities in Lonoke County, who went to the residence at 277 Aimley Road outside of Austin, according to an incident report from the sheriff’s office.
She told deputies that Branch left his wallet, extra keys, pocketknife and a note saying “I can’t take it anymore. I’m so sorry. I love you so very much,” the report said.
Authorities issued a “be on the lookout” alert for Branch and were later contacted by his wife who said security footage from the property showed him driving his truck toward the back of the property and not returning.
When deputies searched the area, they found Branch dead in his vehicle with a gunshot wound in his chest. The truck had been backed into a wooded area, and there was a 9mm handgun in Branch’s lap, they reported.
A DNA sample obtained from Branch after his suicide matched a sample found at the scene where Jessica Baggen was sexually assaulted and killed in Sitka in 1996, troopers said. Alaska authorities said the match proves that Branch committed the murder.
“While Branch will never face a jury of his peers in this case, we can finally say that Jessica’s case is solved,”
Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner Amanda Price said at a news conference Tuesday.
Baggen disappeared on May 4, 1996, a day after her 17th birthday. She vanished in the early morning hours while walking home from her sister’s residence.
Two days later, her body was found buried in a hollowed-out area under a fallen tree in some woods near the campus of the former Sheldon Jackson College, troopers said.
Within days a man confessed. Troopers said that while there was circumstantial evidence, no physical evidence connected the man to the case. He was found innocent of all charges.
Over the years, DNA comparisons have cleared more than 100 other potential suspects.
Hoping to give the case new life, a DNA sample was uploaded to a public genealogy database in February 2019. By the end of last year, Branch emerged as a new suspect, troopers said. About the same time Baggen was killed, the investigation found that Branch was arrested in the sexual assault of another teenager in Sitka. He was later acquitted at trial.
Earlier this year, police in Sitka obtained DNA from one of Branch’s relatives. The DNA analysis in May determined that Branch was likely the source of the DNA found on Baggen’s clothing and body, leading troopers to visit Branch in Arkansas.
Branch moved to Arkansas from Alaska in 2010. Since then, his only legal problem was a traffic citation in Wagoner County, Okla., for traveling with an overweight vehicle, according to court information.
Officials with the Lonoke County sheriff’s office and Austin police say that to their knowledge, Branch had no interactions with law enforcement personnel near Austin.
A call to the Branch residence Wednesday afternoon went straight to voice mail.
The Arkansas State Police assisted Alaska law enforcement officials in the investigation, according to spokesman Bill Sadler.
“Based on a review of the case file, the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division did have agents assigned to assist Alaska State Police with evidence in Arkansas and conducting interviews in Arkansas,” Sadler said.