Two half brothers indicted inHatcher Pass store robbery

PALMER -- A Palmer grand jury on Thursday indicted two half brothers on multiple criminal charges Thursday for their alleged participation in an armed robbery, a related carjacking, and another shooting during a one-night crime spree in January.

James F. McAnulty, 23, of Wasilla, is accused of masterminding the January armed robbery of the Hatcher Pass Gateway Center with his half-brother, Jason A. Geisler, 18, of Big Lake, and another teen-ager.

In June, 17-year-old Shannon "Keola" Stenhoff was arrested and charged with 12 criminal counts in connection with the crimes.

Stenhoff told investigators that McAnulty was a local gang leader and forced him, with the threat of death, into committing the robbery and carjacking, according to court documents. He told troopers that on the day of the crimes, he was to be "jumped" into a gang headed by McAnulty.

He identified Geisler to law-enforcement officers as the third accomplice, court documents stated.

Stenhoff has been incarcerated at Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility in Palmer since his arrest in June, in lieu of $50,000 bail.

McAnulty was scheduled to be arraigned Monday on four counts of first-degree robbery. He is being held at Cook Inlet Pre-Trial Facility in Anchorage, in lieu of $750,000 bail.

Geisler, who turned 18 years old on the day of the grand jury hearing, was arraigned Friday on three counts of first-degree robbery. He is being held at Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility in Palmer, in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Additionally, McAnulty is charged with one count of first-degree misconduct involving a weapon, for allegedly firing upon a car parked at a red light at the corner of the Palmer-Wasilla and Parks highways and then firing another round through the roof of his own car, according to Palmer District Attorney Roman Kalytiak.

Investigators believe the incident at the red light occurred sometime between the armed robbery of the convenience store and the carjacking, Kalytiak said.

The trio's alleged escapade began at around 8:15 p.m. on Jan. 25, when a man whose face was concealed behind a blue and white bandana with only his eyes showing entered the Hatcher Pass Gateway Center store, according to court documents. The robber was later identified as Stenhoff.

The clerk told Alaska State Troopers that the man pointed a gun at her face and demanded money. Fearing she would be shot, the clerk said she laid down on the floor of the store while the robber made away with $178 in cash, according to the documents.

Tire tracks leading away from the store, heading west on Turner Lane, were believed to be tire tracks left by the getaway car, troopers said.

A little while later, after McAnulty allegedly fired at a vehicle at the Parks Highway traffic light, two men flagged down three teen-aged boys who were driving near the intersection of Cottonwood Loop and Aspen Street in Wasilla, troopers said.

When the teens' red Pontiac sedan stopped for the two men, one of the men pointed a gun at the three teen-agers, ordered them out of the car and proceeded to steal money from two of the boys.

During the carjacking, the suspect holding the gun fired a shot from a .22-caliber handgun into the air in an apparent attempt to motivate the teens to move faster, according to court documents.

The robbers then fled in the car in which the teens had been riding.

At McAnulty's direction, Stenhoff said, Geisler had waved down the Pontiac and fired the handgun into the air, according to charging documents.

Both Stenhoff and Geisler took the boys' wallets, the teen-ager alleged, and it was Geisler who ordered the three youths out of the car. Stenhoff told troopers he and McAnulty drove off in the stolen car, charging documents stated.

Troopers recovered the stolen vehicle a short time later, court records stated. McAnulty's fingerprint was allegedly found on the driver's-side door.

The following day, Geisler, who was 17 years old at the time, was arrested when he allegedly led troopers on a car chase, according to court records.

The pursuit ended at the intersection of Hollywood and Vine roads after the officers deployed "stinger" spikes and deflated the wheels of the stolen car he was allegedly driving.

Geisler was held at McLaughlin Youth Facility in Anchorage until his 18th birthday, on Thursday, Kalytiak said. Geisler was arrested a few hours later at his Big Lake home, after the grand jury handed up its decision, Kalytiak said.

McAnulty has been incarcerated since his arrest in March for attempting to steal a snowmachine from a residence in Wasilla. He allegedly drove the getaway car as a passenger allegedly shot at their pursuers.

The botched snowmachine theft occurred the day before the Jan. 25 crime spree, according to court records.

In a plea agreement, the Palmer district attorney's office agreed to drop two third-degree misconduct involving a weapon charges and a first-degree criminal trespassing charge in exchange for McAnulty's plea of no contest to reckless driving, driving with a suspended license and making a false report.

Before sentencing him to a year in prison, Magistrate David Zwink warned McAnulty that if he didn't get his life together, he would be facing a lengthy prison term next time he got in trouble.

McAnulty and Geisler are the brother and half brother of Jeremy McAnulty, who, in 1997, fatally shot his cousin, Sean Willson, in a fit of rage.

Willson's body was subsequently dismembered with a chain saw and buried in two shallow graves.

Jeremy McAnulty received 45 years in prison for second-degree murder.