Beebe pleads guilty to 2015 murder

PALMER — Joshua Beebe, 32, appeared in Palmer Superior Court Monday afternoon where he pleaded guilty to the June 2015 murder of 23-year old Christopher Seaman in Houston after reaching a plea agreement with the State of Alaska. In return for his plea, assistant district attorney Melissa Wininger-Howard asked the Court for a 60-year sentence with 25 suspended.

Beebe was indicted on nine counts in August 2015 stemming from what authorities alleged were the shootings of two individuals in the span of a week. He faced charges of first-degree murder, three different counts of second-degree murder, two counts of first degree robbery, one count of first-degree assault, and two counts of third-degree weapons misconduct. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

Seaman's mother, Terria Walters, said her son was an aspiring rap MC and recovering heroin addict at the time of his death. Troopers found Seaman’s body the morning of June 23 in his parked vehicle behind a fireworks stand on Parks Highway in Houston. Authorities also charged Beebe for his alleged involvement in the June 17, 2015 shooting of Joshua Jenson.

Beebe was well known to law enforcement prior to his arrest on the Seaman incident. His court records stretch back to 2001. He avoided his first felony charge in 2004 thanks to a plea deal, when felony theft charges were reduced to misdemeanors. His last previous felony charge was in 2010.

In January of 2016 while incarcerated at Goose Creek Correctional Facility, Beebe was steadfast in his innocence of the Seaman murder. The following are excerpts from a published Frontiersman letter to the editor:

"We know that I have had minor run-ins with the law and struggled on-and-off with drugs and alcohol. But that does not make me a murderer. The police have been very quick to use every mistake, trial and tribulation throughout my life to try to add it all up to murder. But, what about speaking on my accomplishments? For more than a decade and a half I have been a hard working and accomplished construction worker and carpenter, building houses, stores, hotels and even banks throughout the Valley and Anchorage," Beebe wrote. "I am a victim to unprofessional, malicious, and sadistic police investigators. It is very difficult to have trust and faith when there is absolutely no evidence to support these horrific charges...the real killer is on the loose."

Walters, a recovering drug addict and founder of Fallen Up Ministries, posted the following on social media after learning Beebe was due in court Monday:

"I know people may not understand my stance or reasoning for not demanding 99 years for Joshua Beebe. There is many reasons... I don't want to go to trial, I see things from Christ's point of view and I'm not allowing bitterness to take root in my heart over my son's murder. I've done everything I can to honor my son in a positive way because I know in my heart God and my son would want it that way. My relationship with God is the reason I am the way I am.

While I believe Beebe should be held accountable (along with others who commit murder or manslaughter due to neglect), I also believe in forgiveness. Forgiveness is more for myself so that I don't carry hatred and bitterness around with me. My son was a good man. I want him to be remembered as the man's life who help transformed others. My mission is not based on vengeance, it is based on saving others lives so that (no more lives are lost) to this epidemic. Drugs are ravaging our children and community. We must be the change we want to see. We must be the solution.

Beebe will get 60 years with 25 suspended with no possibility of parole. He will spend 23.3 years in prison and my hope for him is that he accepts Jesus into his life while he spends that time. Maybe he will be one of those lives saved due to my son's death! My son's death at his hands! No one will ever know what I live with daily, why I do what I do or why I think the way I do until they've walked in my shoes! I can only think of when Jesus prayed for those murdering Him and how He forgave the criminal on the cross in His last moments! I'm not the Judge. I'm just doing what I feel is right in my heart because God has laid it on me to do so....Chris is with Jesus. I'm at peace with my decision. "

Beebe is scheduled to be sentenced in Palmer Superior Court Aug. 17 which, ironically, is Seaman's birthday and the date Beebe was originally arraigned on the charges. In addition to the sentencing before Judge Vanessa White, Beebe faces 10-years of probation plus yet-to-be-determined restitution to Walters.