Appeals court denies killer

PALMER — The Alaska Court of Appeals on Friday slapped down an appeal filed by a man who, for nearly five years, has been trying to withdraw his murder plea and ward off his sentencing.

Alex Headrick, 42, entered a guilty plea in 2004 to second-degree murder for the 2003 slaying of Sean Mcintire, and the attorneys involved agreed the court would impose a sentence of between 30-40 years.

The murder, according to evidence presented at Headrick’s sentencing hearing, occurred during what was essentially a drug robbery gone wrong. Headrick and three accomplices were attempting to rob Sean Mcintire of his guns and his prescription Oxycontin when Headrick beat McIntire to death with a flashlight and rifle butt.

At that sentencing, prosecutors detailed another case for which Headrick was on probation when he killed McIntire. In 1987, Headrick and an accomplice lured a visibly pregnant woman to a secluded place and raped her. The woman ran into traffic to escape and was hit by a car.

Four days before his first scheduled sentencing hearing, Headrick decided to withdraw his plea. As the case dragged on, he burned through a string of lawyers. One of Headrick’s points on appeal was that one of those attorneys, David Berry, was ineffective since he didn’t run his own investigation of the case.

Headrick also said Berry had a conflict of interest, having prosecuted Headrick previously on a misdemeanor count and having represented someone who was due to testify against Headrick in an unrelated case.

Palmer Superior Court Judge Eric Smith denied Headrick’s motion to withdraw his plea.

For his part, Headrick claimed at sentencing that he had nothing to do with McIntire’s death, that he wasn’t even there and vowed an appeal. For the murder, Headrick was handed a sentence of 40 years in prison with 10 years of probation. Judge Smith said Headrick’s prospects for rehabilitation were virtually nonexistent.

Chief Judge Robert Coats wrote that Smith was right not to let Headrick withdraw his guilty plea.

“Headrick had not provided any information from which Judge Smith could conclude that Berry had provided ineffective assistance of counsel. Judge Smith went on to conclude that the State would be severely prejudiced if he allowed Headrick to withdraw his plea and that Headrick was attempting to manipulate the system,” Coats wrote.

Headrick also failed to present evidence Berry had a conflict of interest or that the conflict, if it existed, influenced Headrick’s case.

Coats pointed out that Headrick at one point withdrew his change-of-plea request after Sidney Billingslea replaced Berry.

Headrick also claims he didn’t personally enter his guilty plea. Coats writes that the case Headrick cites, claiming to create a rule that defendants had to enter pleas themselves, doesn’t actually do that. Also, Headrick didn’t bring that up when the case was before Smith, which means that since the state wasn’t given a chance to weigh in, he can’t bring it up now.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.