Palmer teen wanted ‘justice’

PALMER — A 17-year-old told Alaska State Troopers he was seeking “justice” when he allegedly shot and killed 45-year-old Frank Pushruk and then dumped his body over a cliff.

Jacob Allen Dvorak of Palmer was arrested at 4:30 p.m., Thursday and is charged with first-degree murder in adult court.

He made his first court appearance Friday afternoon wearing yellow prison scrubs and answered about a half-dozen yes-or-no questions before being assigned to the Palmer Public Defender Agency. District Court Judge William Estelle told Dvorak that the penalty for murder is 20 to 99 years in prison and set his bail at $100,000.

“Talk to your attorney first before you talk to anyone else about the case,” Estelle told Dvorak.

In a sworn statement filed as part of the case against Dvorak, Alaska State Trooper James Striecher writes that troopers received a report around midnight, Wednesday of a homicide at the scenic overlook of the Matanuska River at Mile 52, Glenn Highway.

At the pullout, troopers met three teenagers.

One of them, a 17-year-old girl, told them Pushruk “was shot by 17-year-old male (Jacob Dvorak) and thrown off the cliff,” Streicher writes.

The girl’s 16-year-old friend was with Dvorak at the time. The girl told troopers she’d been partying at Pushruk’s house three days prior. She passed out and woke up naked in bed with Pushruk holding her underpants and apologizing.

She told her 16-year-old friend what had happened and they both told Dvorak, Streicher writes in his statement. She also told troopers that she wasn’t sure she’d been assaulted, that she didn’t feel like she’d had sex and was not injured.

“Later that evening, while driving around Wasilla, (the three teens) made plans to ‘punk’ (beat up) Frank for sexually assaulting (the girl),” Streicher writes. “(Dvorak) mentioned he had a stolen gun and that they should shoot Frank. (The 16-year-old) told (Dvorak) that was a bad idea and they should only beat up Frank.”

At 10 p.m., Wednesday the two friends picked Dvorak up at Dairy Queen where he works. The plan was for Dvorak and the 16-year-old to pick up Pushruk, telling him they were going to go buy some psychedelic mushrooms.

Instead, Dvorak drove his green Ford Mustang to the Glenn Highway overlook and the three walked up the path that leads to the cliff overlooking the river, according to Streicher’s statement.

The 16-year-old told troopers that Dvorak “confronted Frank about the allegations of sexual assault, then pulled out a .45 handgun with wooden grips and pointed it at Frank’s face,” according to Streicher’s affidavit. “Frank told (Dvorak) to ‘just shoot me.’ (Dvorak) shot Frank in the face. (The 16-year-old) froze in place. Frank dropped to the ground and (Dvorak) shot him twice more. (Dvorak) told (the teen) to get Frank’s prescription bottle of Valium out of Frank’s pocket.”

The teen couldn’t move until Dvorak started telling him, ‘Help me, help me. This could be YOU!” Streicher writes.

The teen told troopers he took that to mean that if he didn’t help Dvorak, he’d also be shot. They hoisted Pushruk’s body over a railing and dropped him down the cliff on the other side.

The pair drove around for a bit, disposing of the gun off of Scott Road west of Palmer and cleaned blood off of Dvorak’s jacket and shoestrings. Dvorak started calling and messaging people, then dropped the teen off at Fred Meyer in Palmer.

“(Dvorak) told (the teen) that if the cops came, to tell them Riddles did it. Riddles is (Dvorak)’s nickname,” Streicher writes.

The teen linked up with other teenagers who’d heard about what happened. Among that group was the 17-year-old girl who had woken up naked three nights prior.

On Thursday, troopers obtained a warrant for Dvorak’s arrest and found him at his Palmer home. Streicher’s account of that encounter reads:

“Jacob admitted shooting Frank Pushruk once in the face and twice in the back of the head. Jacob further admitted both he and (the 16-year-old) dumped Pushruk down the cliff. Jacob stated he wanted ‘justice’ for what Pushruk had done (to the 17-year-old girl).”

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.