Murder charges filed in Williwaw subdivision stabbing

WASILLA — A man set fire to his bedroom and then stabbed his foster mother to death Monday morning, authorities said.

Kenneth Adams, 19, of Wasilla, was arraigned in District Court on charges of second-degree murder, attempted murder, and arson at Tuesday afternoon in Palmer, Alaska court documents show. The deceased is Mollie Ragonesi, 66, of Wasilla, authorities said. Another man, Daniel Ramsey, 57, was injured in the attack. A spokesman with Providence Hospital, where Ramsey was admitted, said he was in fair condition Tuesday evening.

A grand jury inquiry will be held before Adams — who interrupted proceedings at least twice — must enter a plea, court officials said.

Prior to the hearing, Adams appeared on the closed circuit court connecting the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility to Courtroom 1 at the Palmer Courthouse, and spoke somewhat incomprehensibly before being silenced by someone off-camera.

“What makes you that of which,” he said at one point.

“There’s an understanding, but at the same time, you want more power,” Adams added.

Adams was listed as a respondent in a guardianship case in 2013. According to the Department of Administration Office of Public Advocacy website, a respondent is “the alleged incapacitated person for whom a petition (for guardianship) has been filed.” Guardianships are typically appointed to represent the interests of minor children or incapacitate adults, according to a definition on the Cornell Legal Information Institute website.

Adams also repeatedly said he would prefer to hire a lawyer, though Roy Roistacher, an attorney for Denali Law, and Adams’s acting guardian under a contract with the Office of Children’s Services told Magistrate Craig Condie that wasn’t feasible.

“I can tell you on informational belief that my client does not have the assets to hire a private attorney,” he said. “He needs the immediate assistance of a court-appointed criminal attorney, and I would ask this court not to require any further of him answers to questions which could be answered sufficiently by a court-appointed public defender, especially concerning the nature of the rights, none of which he’s giving up today, for the specific charge.”

Condie said the question of guardianship lead him to believe a public defender was necessary, in part because he’d been involved with the guardianship hearing.

“I have serious concerns about his ability to represent himself in this matter and his own interests,” he said. “I’m just not confident that he’s going to be able to do that.”

Condie appointed a public defender for Adams, though not before Adams interjected.

“Profiling me because of who I am, that is actually one of those things that you should not do,” he said.

According to the affidavit, Adams was in the modified trailer’s back bedroom contemplating suicide and started a fire in a furnace in that room. Ragonesi smelled something burning and discovered the fire, and yelled for Ramsey to grab the fire extinguisher and help put out the fire. Adams tried to close the door against the two of them, but Ramsey was able to force it open, and a struggle ensued. Adams stabbed Ramsey several times with a kitchen steak knife. In the struggle to put out the fire and subdue Adams, Ragonesi was stabbed at least once in the neck, according to the affidavit.

Ragonesi went to the residence’s kitchen, where she called 911, and told authorities “’he’ tried to burn the house down, before the line was disconnected,” the affidavit reads in part. Ragonesi collapsed on the floor, and was later pronounced dead, authorities said.

After dispatchers called the number back, a male voice told them Ragonesi had been stabbed, and another male voice told dispatchers two people were injured.

Alaska State Troopers and Wasilla Police responded to the dwelling on Pioneer Peak Drive in Wasilla about 5 a.m., July 21 in response to the 911 calls. Adams was found on scene and cooperative, according to Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Megan Peters.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for 1 p.m. Aug. 1. Adams remained in Mat-Su Pre-Trial on a $500,000 bond with third-party custodial requirements.