Local businesses, community members raise pavilion to violent crime victims

PALMER — It’s been about two and a half years since divers removed the body of Samantha Koenig from the icy waters of Matanuska Lake.

Palmer construction company owner Don Malone has been unable to escape the memory of Koenig, who was murdered by serial killer Israel Keyes. He and some employees use Matanuska Lake for recreational fishing, and for them, no matter what the weather, a cloud has hung over the lake ever since. Malone has six daughters, and thought about losing one of them the way that Koenig disappeared, and how he would feel if that happened. He decided to do something about it.

“This is a beautiful spot, it’s a beautiful lake,” Malone said. “Some things happened, and a stigma kind of hung over the lake, and it’s a beautiful spot. It’s a beautiful spot for representing a beautiful person that was lost.”

About a year after the grim discovery under the ice, Malone started setting aside his family’s own money to help with construction costs for a covered remembrance pavilion for Koenig and all victims of violent crime.

They’re thinking about having a plaque installed, but plaques require special approvals, so it may take some time, said Rebecca Powell, a Malone Construction Employee.

The project snowballed from there. The State of Alaska donated some land overlooking the lake. Valley Block & Concrete dedicated a foundation carved with hopscotch and other things. Malone’s company, Malone Construction, donated the labor, JD Steel donated metal brackets, Spenard Builders Supply provided discounted materials, and Alaska Pacific Rental donated equipment to help move the heavy timbers around on-site. Scoggin Excavating donated some digging for the foundation.

The surviving members of Koenig’s family tied red memorial ribbons around the pavilion’s posts, Malone said.

“We made them feel right at home, showed ‘em the pad, and showed ‘em were her name is engraved and representations for her,” he said.

The visit brought up powerful emotions, Malone said. He hopes it will help people return to the lake.

“That’s what we’re hoping: that people feel a little more comfortable coming here and spending some time, having some fun here,” he said. “People are kind of slowly in the last two years coming back. But, you know, people like Samantha Koenig’s family who were basically until today afraid to come back to this spot. By the time they left here today they were so appreciative and so happy. That’s worth so much.”

The remembrance comes with a risk, builders admit. On one hand, a memorial might inform people who don’t know about the tragedy. On the other hand, the memorial might re-cast a tragedy as something positive, if not quite worth dwelling on. The possibility of reminding people of a tragedy didn’t bother Jon-Henry Robertson.

“If you focus on the dark part, you give power to it,” he said. “If you focus on light, light makes the darkness go away, and this is a beacon of light here.”

Linda Beaman uses the lake frequently, and sat on the sidelines of construction during lunch. Beaman remembered a mysterious hole in the ice appearing about a month before the discovery. She walked by and couldn’t figure out what it meant. Then, about a month later she read in the newspaper about the discovery, and remembered the mysterious hole.

“I saw the hole that was cut for Samantha, and couldn’t figure out what the heck, why anybody would cut a hole with a chainsaw in the middle of the lake,” she said. “Usually, you do that for spearing, but that’s closer to shore.”

The discovery didn’t taint Matanuska Lake, Beaman said. Instead, she’s tried to hold more events at the lake to boost attendance.

“It just added a little sadness to it,” she said. “I refused to let it bother me because then the bad guys win.”

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.