Trapper Creek man shot in leg, faces attempted murder charge

TRAPPER CREEK — A Trapper Creek man has been charged with attempted murder after Alaska State Troopers say a domestic dispute ended in a gunfight.

George Blodgett, 52, was hospitalized Sunday with a gunshot wound to the leg. Although he traded shots with a neighbor, troopers say it started with an argument with Blodgett’s live-in girlfriend. Sort of.

“Blodgett and the woman were in a relationship, but I don’t know if it was at the level of a girlfriend,” trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said.

According to an affidavit Trooper Amy Bowen filed with the case, the woman told troopers she’d been dating Blodgett off and on for three years and the two lived together off Trapper Creek Trail.

She said the incident Sunday started at Blodgett’s house.

“They had a domestic disagreement. I’m not talking about a huge fight or anything,” Peters said. “She left and went to the neighbor’s house. He was angry, probably because of the choice of neighbor’s house he went to.”

Bowen quotes the woman saying that Blodgett and his neighbor had been feuding “over various things for several years.”

According to the trooper’s affidavit, Blodgett told troopers the argument had begun Saturday and centered around the woman drinking alcohol at home.

The woman told troopers in the affidavit that she packed her things Sunday and left, looking for a shortcut to the Parks Highway so she could hitchhike into Anchorage. She got cold, she said, so she went to the neighbor’s house.

Peters said Blodgett drove his snowmachine to the neighbor’s house on Bradley Road and began arguing with the man.

“I’m going to kill you; I’m going to put a bullet in your head,” Bowen wrote, quoting the homeowner’s recollections of what Blodgett said.

Troopers say the argument led to Blodgett firing rounds at the man’s house.

According to Bowen’s affidavit, one round entered the trailer and came to rest in the kitchen stove.

Then, according to the affidavit, the homeowner grabbed his .22 rifle and shot back.

Blodgett left and troopers arrived to interview the homeowner, Peters said. He told troopers he thought he’d hit Blodgett.

At 1 a.m. Monday, troopers were informed Blodgett had arrived at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, Bowen wrote. He was treated for his wound and, once doctors released him, he talked to troopers, telling them he’d hitchhiked to the hospital after the shooting.

Blodgett said he’d entered the trailer looking for his girlfriend and the homeowner had shot at him. He denied firing any rounds of his own.

After the interview, Blodgett was arrested.

Peters said it’s still unclear what charges, if any, the homeowner who returned fire will face. Bowen’s affidavit records his name as Rudy Gestl.

“There’s a variety of possibilities and we have to look at all of those possibilities and give it to the [district attorney] to make a decision,” Peters said.

Court records show charges of attempted murder and assault were filed against Blodgett in Superior Court the day after the shooting. Bail is set at $30,000.

Jail records late Thursday afternoon showed he remains at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility.