Woman murdered in Palmer

PALMER -- Alaska State Troopers are releasing few clues surrounding the homicide of a Palmer woman found dead Sunday night at her home off the Glenn Highway.

Troopers found the body of Jane Sasseen, 65, at 10:22 p.m. Sunday after family members reported they had not seen her since April 1, the previous Monday. Sasseen's brother first looked for her at her house earlier that day and, not finding her, called Sasseen's daughter, Laura Sasseen. Laura also searched the house for her mother and did not find her. The home was in disarray, as if it had been ransacked by burglars, Laura Sasseen said. She called the troopers.

Later that night, troopers were able to locate Jane Sasseen's body inside the house, though they declined to say where. Crime lab workers arrived from Anchorage Monday morning to take evidence.

The state medical examiner confirmed Tuesday that Sasseen died from a gunshot wound, said trooper spokesman Greg Wilkinson, but troopers would not say where on her body she had been shot or other details that would be known only to the suspect. Troopers also would not reveal whether they have yet identified a suspect.

Jane Sasseen was a widow who lived alone off the Glenn Highway north of Palmer. Her husband, Loren Sasseen, passed away Sept. 1, 1998, after the couple had been married 45 years. He had worked as a platting officer for the Mat-Su Borough.

Mrs. Sasseen was born in Minnesota in June 4, 1937, and was brought to Alaska by her parents as an infant. Her parents, Harold and Lucille Stephan, arrived in Palmer after the Matanuska colonists in 1938 and purchased land in Palmer. Jane Sasseen graduated from Palmer High School, where she met her husband, Loren. The two had three daughters, Laura Sasseen, Julie Churchill and Yvette Talbott.

Jane Sasseen was well-known in the Valley for her quilting work and had many lifelong friends who are struggling to make sense of "an ugly burglary that defies understanding," said Kirk Talbott, her son-in-law.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. today, at the log cabin United Protestant Church in downtown Palmer, a church her father helped build in the 1940s.

Troopers are requesting anyone with information to contact them at 746-9111 or 745-2131.