Palmer teen pleads guilty to second-degree murder

WASILLA — A Palmer teen who admitted to troopers that he’d shot a 45-year-old man and dumped his body off of a scenic Matanuska River overlook alongside the Glenn Highway in 2014 pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree murder, a prosecutor said.

Jacob Dvorak was 17 when authorities say he shot Frank Pushruk in front of two friends in retaliation for what Dvorak believed to be a sexual assault against a juvenile female friend. Dvorak later admitted to troopers he’d shot Pushruk once in the face and twice in the head, and said he and another juvenile, identified as E.A. in charging documents, dumped the body over the cliff, according to court documents.

The alleged victim of the sexual assault Dvorak believed occurred told troopers she wasn’t sure she’d been assaulted and didn’t feel like she’d had sex, but woke up naked in bed with Pushruk, according to Alaska State Troopers. Pushruk was never charged in the case.

As a result of the Dvorak's plea deal, the district attorney’s office reduced several charges against the teen, said prosecutor Mike Perry.

“It was a charge bargain, so the state dismissed the charges of murder in the first degree and tampering with physical evidence in the case,” he said.

Dvorak faces a presumptive sentencing range of between 40 and 60 years, Perry said.

The sentencing — tentatively set for Aug. 10 — is open, meaning both prosecutors and Dvorak's public defender will have the chance to argue for a longer or shorter prison term.

Another teenager, Ethan Angasan was previously charged with second-degree murder in Pushruk’s death, but saw those charges dismissed in exchange for a guilty plea on one count of evidence tampering, according to court documents. Angasan faces sentencing June 24.

Dvorak, E.A., and another teen lured Pushruk to drug deal with the intention of beating him up, according to court documents. However, at one point, Dvorak pulled a stolen .45-caliber handgun and shot Pushruk, according to court documents.

Dvorak remained in Goose Creek Monday on $100,000 cash or corporate bail with a court-appointed third-party custodial requirement.

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