Wasilla woman wins lawsuit in daughter's death

ANCHORAGE -- A $1.5 million wrongful death judgment has been awarded to a Wasilla woman for the disappearance of her daughter more than five years ago.

The ruling last week by U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick says Ronald Tennison was responsible for the death of Jane Bond's daughter, Jonnie Renee White. Two months earlier, Sedwick made a similar ruling with $1.5 million judgment against Tennison's former girlfriend, Sharon Raikoglo, 33.

"We sued them both at the same time," said Wasilla attorney Scott Sterling, who represented Bond.

Tennison and Raikoglo were the last to see White alive. She went with the couple on a camping trip near Kodiak on July 18, 1998. White, 16 at the time she disappeared, was along to babysit Raikoglo's 4-year-old child.

Tennison told Alaska State Troopers that he and White went to get firewood about midnight July 18, but they got stuck on the beach and slept in the truck. Tennison told troopers that White was gone when he awoke at 10 a.m. the next day.

Kodiak Island Search and Rescue, search-and-rescue dogs, the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station and U.S. Fish and Wildlife personnel searched for White but found no evidence. However, Bond told the Frontiersman that her daughter was not a runaway and she believed Tennison had murdered the former Wasilla High student.

A Kodiak jury declared White legally dead in July 2000. Sterling said that wasn't required as a first step toward a wrongful death civil suit but "it was the prudent thing to do."

No criminal charges were ever filed against Tennison or Raikoglo. While a criminal conviction required evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, only a preponderance of evidence is needed in a wrongful death suit.

Tennison, 33, now is married and lives in Arkansas. He did not come to Alaska to defend himself in the civil suit. Instead, he participated in court sessions via telephone, Sterling said.

Having been determined "judgment debtors" by the verdicts, Tennison and Raikoglo face specific court rules dictating they must give information about their assets.

"We can force him under oath into divulging his assets," Sterling said, adding that he would travel to Arkansas for proceedings in federal court if necessary.

The judgment awarded to Bond and White's estate includes interest, as well as attorney feeds and additional costs.

Bond was not available for comment.