Family, friends question loved ones’ deaths

WASILLA — Friends and family of Chelsi Cox-Baun and Tobias Siegel gathered at the corner of the Parks Highway and Crusey Street Wednesday to ask for the public’s help solving an April 21 shooting that left the two dead at a residence just outside city limits.

At the time, Alaska State Troopers reported the deaths seemed “to be the result of a murder and suicide.” Troopers said then it appeared the man shot the woman, then turned the gun on himself.

But family and friends said Wednesday they believe both Siegel, 26, and Cox-Baun, 25, were murdered by an unknown third party, a point of view not shared by law enforcement working the case.

In April, troopers said four people were at residence at 1050 S. Serrano Drive the night Cox-Baun and Siegel died there from gunshot wounds. Troopers said the four had returned to Siegel’s residence after a night out at a local bar.

AST spokesman Tim DeSpain said in April that it appeared the two men in the group got into a fight. The struggle was enough to break a table and leave holes in the walls.

After the fight, a witness leaving the scene told troopers he saw Siegel come out of the room with a handgun, heard gunshots and when the witness turned back toward the house he saw Siegel and Cox-Baun on the floor.

But Siegel and Cox-Baun’s friends and family say this explanation doesn’t make sense to them. They say the angle and location of the entry wound on Siegel’s side don’t seem consistent with suicide. Based on that, they say they’ve asked law enforcement to reclassify the case as a double homicide.

Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said Thursday that the case remains open and the investigation is active. Also, based on evidence the Alaska Bureau of Investigation has gathered, she said officers still consider the case a murder-suicide.

Cox-Baun’s parents Mark and Joan Cox lived in Palmer for 10 years before moving to the Denver, Colo., area a few years ago. Mark Cox said his daughter was shot and killed last April while visiting Alaska with her 4-year-old son so the boy could spend time with his father.

In an email to the Frontiersman, Cox wrote that neither he nor his wife believe Siegel murdered their daughter.

“Our families are working together to try to figure this out,” he said by phone Wednesday.

Both Siegel and Cox-Baun’s families have asked for the public’s help in solving the case.

Jacob Thompson was at the memorial event Wednesday and said he attended Chugiak High School and knew both Siegel and Cox-Baun.

“TJ was more like a brother to me than a friend,” Thompson said of Siegel.

He said he doubts that his longtime friend could have killed Cox-Baun and then turned the gun on himself. “It just doesn’t make any sense,” Thompson said.

Cox Baun’s friends Donna Ratcliffe-Woosley and Kazi Warner were among the first to brave the cold winds Wednesday at Wasilla Lake to ask drivers on the Parks Highway to honk in support, to ask questions and to remember Cox-Baun and Siegel.

Warner and Ratcliffe-Woosley described themselves as Cox-Baun’s best friends. They said they were furious with Siegel initially when they were told he had killed her. But they, too, question investigators’ murder-suicide explanation.

“I was mad at Tobias for several weeks because I thought he killed my best friend,” Ratcliffe-Woosley said Wednesday. “And he didn’t.”

Mostly, Cox-Baun’s father Mark Cox said the family needs answers to close this painful chapter and move forward with their grief.

“Chelsi can’t speak for herself now,” he said. “We fully own that responsibility to speak for her.”

Anyone with information — anonymous, or otherwise — is asked to call Mat-Su Crime Stoppers at 745-3333 or submit a tip online at matsu-crimestoppers.org.

Contact managing editor Heather A. Resz at 352-2268 or heather.resz@frontiersman.com.