Pretrial hearings for two accused of murder and another accused on manslaughter

PALMER — Two men charged with murder and another charged with manslaughter in a separate case appeared in Palmer Circuit Court for Thursday morning pretrial hearings.

Joe Weyand, 35, and Robert Barker, 38, are charged with the May 14 murder of 26-year-old Jeremie Speaker of Anchorage.

Anchorage resident Darin Cleveland, 25, is charged with manslaughter in the New Year’s Day death of 57-year-old Pyotr Kudryn of Palmer. The trio appeared before Judge Kari Kristiansen.

In addition to the first and second-degree murder charges, Barker faces felony counts of third-degree arson, and two counts of evidence tampering. Weyand faces the same murder charge along with three counts of evidence tampering.

According to court affidavits, Speaker’s body was discovered at Mile 4.8 of Knik River Road around 2 p.m. Sunday, May 14 by passersby. Alaska State Troopers arrived and found the body—later identified by the State Medical Examiner’s (SME) office using fingerprints—as Speaker, near two burned vehicles.

The Court set Sept. 22 for a pretrial continuance with an Oct. 30 scheduled trial week.

Cleveland is charged with vehicular manslaughter in Kudryn’s death. According to reports, Cleveland was driving under the influence of alcohol and on a suspended license when his vehicle hit Kudryn’s head on. The accident occurred at near the intersection of Knik-Goose Bay and Vine Roads outside Wasilla.

Kudryn was pronounced dead at the scene. Two passengers in Cleveland’s vehicle were seriously injured.

Ella Williams, 26, and Gertrude Ivanoff, 25, both of Wasilla at the time of the accident, were taken to Anchorage and Mat-Su hospitals with what troopers described as life-threatening injuries. Neither were wearing seat belts and were partially ejected from the vehicle.

The court agreed to continue Cleveland’s pretrial conference at a to be determined later date.

Contact reporter Chris Ford at 352-2270 or chris.ford@frontiersman.com