[Spoilers] By BETH IPSEN, Staff Writer
The Fairbanks man accused of killing a taxicab driver during a robbery Monday morning made his first court appearance Tuesday.
Jonathan Beiderbeck, 21, was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree robbery in connection with the stabbing death of Eagle Cab driver Michael Belknap, 53.
Alaska State Trooper Lt. Lee Farmer said a lab technician from the state crime lab in Anchorage is going over Belknap’s cab. Troopers said Belknap picked up Beiderbeck at the Tamarac Inn Motel at 4:15 a.m. and the stabbing occurred about 45 minutes later.
“As far as to where it actually occurred, we’re not ready to put something in stone on that yet,” Farmer said.
Court records said Beiderbeck told Belknap to take him to Henderson Road. Belknap’s body was discovered nearby, on the side of a dirt road at the intersection of Dome Road and Bluebird Avenue at 7:20 a.m.
Farmer said the technician is also trying to determine if the stabbing happened at Henderson Road or where the body was found.
According to a criminal complaint, Beiderbeck called for an cab with the intention of robbing the driver. Beiderbeck had Belknap drive him out to Henderson Road, where he robbed the man. Beiderbeck told the interviewing detective he stabbed Belknap in the chest and throat when the driver put up a fight.
He then dumped Belknap’s body, drove the red, white and blue Suburban to Geist Road, where he left the vehicle, and returned to the motel room.
He reported to police at 5:50 a.m. that he had been stabbed in the right bicep during a robbery behind Northgate Square. Police records said he claimed he was jumped by two men behind the mall. Police have not been able to substantiate Beiderbeck’s story.
The Suburban was recovered near Rebecca Drive at 10 a.m., troopers said.
Fairbanks police Detective Aaron Ring said a knife suspected of being the weapon was recovered when police searched the motel room where Beiderbeck was staying.
Ring said Beiderbeck admitted to stealing the knife during a recent robbery on Fairbanks International Airport property.
Airport Police Sgt. Karen Ebanez is still investigating that incident.
Ebanez said Vector Marketing Corp., a marketing industry that sells Cutco cutlery, reported July 7 that its offices had been burglarized. A couple of doors had been forced open, but Ebanez did not know the total value of the knives stolen.
Beiderbeck is being held at Fairbanks Correctional Center on $250,000 bail with third-party approval.
At his initial arraignment Tuesday, Beiderbeck had only one question.
“What are the requirements for third-party custodian?” Beiderbeck asked. [/Spoilers]
Inside the spoliers tags, you will find the text of a follow-up article regarding the circumstances of my father’s death. You can use the link above to read it, or you can use the link to the original article below.
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner – Fairbanks, AK
As you can imagine I’m a little pre-occupied with this. Most (if not all) of my blog entries tor the next few weeks will probably be centered on this. They won’t all just be reprints of news articles. I’ll try to write more about what I’m thinking and feeling — I’m just not ready to do that still.
