Associated Press
FAIRBANKS, Alaska — A rural Alaska man who shot two state troopers to death has been convicted of first-degree murder.
A Fairbanks jury on Monday convicted 22-year-old Nathanial Kangas in the deaths of Sgt. Scott Johnson and Trooper Gabe Rich in May 2014.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the officers were shot at Kangas’ home in the village of Tanana (TAN-nah-naw) as they attempted to arrest Kangas’ father for threatening a village public safety officer.
The jury deliberated less than six hours.
Defense attorney Greg Parvin argued that Kangas was not guilty of premeditated murder. He said the younger man was trying to protect his father.
Kangas’ father, Arvin Kangas, was convicted of evidence tampering for manipulating the troopers’ bodies and guns after they died. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.
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