Bonty’s death was self-inflicted

WASILLA — A Wasilla Police officer did not kill a man during a 2014 officer-involved shooting incident, authorities said.

Instead, Michael Bonty, 23, died of a wound to his neck likely self-inflicted some time prior to when he was shot by officer Andrew Kappler, one of two Wasilla Police Department Officers responding to the scene, according to a Nov. 25, 2014, letter from the Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals to the Alaska Bureau of Investigation.

The letter, written by Assistant Attorney General Greggory M. Olson to ABI investigator David DeCour, lays out the state’s determination not to charge Kappler in connection with the incident.

“It is my opinion that (Kappler’s) use of deadly force was legally justified,” Olson wrote.

The summary of fact confirms several details already widely reported about the incident, while adding some new details. The account contains some information from autopsy results, as well as interviews with “everyone present” at the scene.

As previously reported, two Wasilla Police officers responded to a call for assistance made by a dispatcher about midnight Sept. 15, 2014, from a home along Jack Nicklauss Drive.

“According to the dispatcher, it then sounded like the phone had been taken from the female and the call then went silent,” Olson wrote.

Responding officers could see a large amount of blood, a knife in Bonty’s hand, and large gash in his neck, according to the letter. They ordered Bonty out, but he refused to come.

“As the officers kicked in the door, Cynthia Bonty (Michael Bonty’s mother) came from the back area of the house,” Olson wrote.

Michael Bonty grabbed his mother and held two knives to her throat, according to Olson’s report. Officers ordered Bonty to drop the knives.

“Officer Kappler observed some distance between Bonty and his mother, and believing that her life was in danger, he shot (Michael) Bonty,” Olson wrote. “He believed he shot (Michael) Bonty in the throat.”

Curtis Martin, a lawyer for Cynthia Bonty, told the Frontiersman that she initially believed two gunshots had been fired, but later said no evidence existed of a second gunshot.

Bonty fell to the floor, but kept his grip on the knives and would not release them, according to the letter.

“Ultimately, Officer Kappler used his Taser to get Bonty to release the knives,” Olson wrote. “Bonty was handcuffed and the officers provided first aid until medics arrived. Bonty was declared dead at the scene.”

Officials had said at the time of the incident that no Taser was involved in the incident. When pressed about that discrepancy, Wasilla Police officials referred questions to the Alaska State Troopers. Cynthia Bonty reported hearing a Taser discharged, according to Martin.

An autopsy revealed that Kappler’s bullet struck Michael Bonty in the top of the head, a “perforating tangential gunshot wound,” according to the letter.

The autopsy also revealed that the gash in Michael Bonty’s neck had severed his jugular vein and two sets of neck muscles. Another cut had wounded, but not perforated, his trachea, according to the letter.

“Blood testing done on Bonty revealed that at the time of his death he had “acute methamphetamine, amphetamine and oxycodone intoxication,” Olson wrote.

The presence of deadly weapons, blood, and Bonty’s mother apparently in danger at the scene, ultimately made the use of deadly force legal, according to the letter.

“My review indicates that Officer Kappler’s use of deadly force was reasonable under the circumstances,” Olson wrote.

The state’s finding made sense, Martin said.

“It’s hard to disagree with the state’s case,” he said. “This young man’s death was a tragedy.”

While the case will not result in criminal charges, Wasilla Police Department officials said Monday an administrative review of the case was still underway, according to Officer Dan Bennett, a spokesman for the department.

Kappler has since returned to regular duty.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269 or brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com.