Couple arrested for murder

BIG LAKE -- A Big Lake couple was arrested Sunday for the murder of David Glenn McKinney, whose death had remained a mystery for 10 months after state troopers and firefighters, responding to a residential fire, discovered his body amid the charred remains of his Big Lake home in November.

On Sept. 19, Alaska State Troopers arrested Richard Barton Deremer, 33, and Cynthia Jean Estes-Deremer, 44, on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree arson, second-degree theft and tampering with evidence, according to a press release issued Monday by Alaska State Troopers.

The Alaska Bureau of Investigation Mat-Su Unit had been investigating McKinney's death, and on Sept. 16 received a tip from Deremer's employer, who named him and Estes-Deremer as the ones responsible for McKinney's murder.

An affidavit filed by Investigator Leonard Wallner stated that Deremer told his employers and another person he worked with that he wanted to take his son to Washington and leave Estes-Deremer but was concerned she would turn him in and that he would be extradited for first-degree murder.

On Sept. 14, Deremer told his employer's wife he killed Estes-Deremer's cousin last winter but there was no evidence and it was a "he said-she said" thing. About three weeks before, a fellow employee told troopers Deremer visited his house and said he wanted to leave his wife but was afraid she would turn him in for the murder of her cousin last winter. According to the affidavit, Deremer told the fellow employee, "I was the man who pulled the trigger . . . I blew half his f—— skull off."

Deremer's boss confronted him Sept. 18 about his claims and Deremer confirmed them, adding that he and Estes-Deremer discussed various scenarios and developed a plan to kill McKinney and steal his prescription pain pills, the affidavit stated.

Deremer and Estes-Deremer allegedly were upset with McKinney over a confrontation about pain medication, Wallner said. Estes-Deremer had been cleaning McKinney's house daily and McKinney had been giving her pain medication.

Estes-Deremer became addicted to the pills, allegedly trying to steal some from McKinney several times. McKinney became upset with Estes-Deremer and told her never to come back, but he later went to the Deremers' house and demanded the return of stolen pills. Deremer forced him to leave by threatening him with a baseball bat.

Eventually Deremer and Estes-Deremer decided to kill McKinney and steal his medication for personal use and for profit.

The Deremers were in a dire financial condition, according to the affidavit, and Deremer told a fellow employee he was after $3,000 and pills he claimed McKinney kept in a safe. Deremer and his wife plotted McKinney's murder for a week and, in the early morning hours of Nov. 23, Estes-Deremer dropped off her husband near McKinney's residence. They used two-way radios to communicate with each other that night.

Deremer reportedly kicked in McKinney's front door and found him sleeping on the couch. When McKinney started to get up, Deremer shot him in the head with a 12-gauge shotgun from about eight feet away. Deremer then concealed the body with a rug and called Estes-Deremer on the two-way and said, "The job's done. Come over."

Estes-Deremer knew the combination to the safe containing the pain pills was in McKinney's wallet, but the numbers on the slip of paper were too faded to read so Deremer went to the shop at his workplace for a crowbar.

They returned to McKinney's house and forced their way into the safe. Deremer made about $7,000 from the sale of the pills from the safe and destroyed all the evidence used in the murder, according to the affidavit.

Before leaving McKinney's residence the night of the murder, the couple allegedly set fire to the house by setting a torch against the wall. By the time firefighters and troopers responded, the house was engulfed in flames.

Troopers launched an investigation after McKinney's body was found with a shotgun blast to the head and the floor safe was discovered with a hole cut into it.

Deremer was arrested at work and Estes-Deremer at her home in Big Lake.

Troopers questioned Estes-Deremer Sept. 19, the day of her arrest, and she confessed to participating in McKinney's murder and stealing his pain medication. She said her husband hatched the plot and she just drove the car. Deremer denied any involvement in the murder even after his arrest, according to the affidavit.

Deremer and Estes-Deremer were sent to Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility. Bail for each was set at $600,000, cash only, and a court-approved third-party custodian. A hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. today in Palmer District Court.

Contact John Davidson at john.davidson@frontiersman.com.