Man pleads guilty to killing Alaska woman in torture chamber crawlspace in 2019

HOMER, Alaska (TCN) -- A 36-year-old man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 2019 killing of a woman authorities say was a beloved member of her community.

The State of Alaska Department of Law announced that Kirby Calderwood pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree on Feb. 5 and admitted he had killed Anesha “Duffy” Murnane, who went missing on Oct. 17, 2019, at age 38. 

The agreement calls for Calderwood to be sentenced to 99 years in prison with 12 years suspended, followed by 10 years of probation.

Described as a beloved member of the community in Homer, Alaska, Murnane resided at an assisted living facility. Police, firefighters, and other community members searched for her after she disappeared. It was investigated as a homicide, but no remains were recovered. 

Alaska’s News Source reports investigators first interviewed Calderwood in 2021.

According to the State of Alaska Department of Law, authorities received a tip in 2022 that Calderwood had kidnapped and killed Murnane and disposed of her remains.

An investigation determined Calderwood had worked at the assisted living facility where Murnane lived, but he reportedly moved to Utah shortly after she went missing. Later in 2022, Calderwood’s wife told police her husband allegedly confessed to killing Murnane in the crawlspace of a house belonging to the parents of his girlfriend at the time.

No remains were found in the crawlspace, but authorities did recover evidence that contained Murnane’s DNA, according to the State of Alaska Department of Law. When Utah police and the FBI searched Calderwood’s home, they reportedly found a watch that had belonged to Murnane as well as a missing person poster of her.

Alaska’s News Source reports Calderwood was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, kidnapping, and tampering with physical evidence on May 9, 2022. The Peninsula Clarion reports Calderwood was extradited back to Alaska after he finished serving a jail sentence on Utah charges.

According to an affidavit obtained by Alaska’s News Source, two women previously involved with Calderwood told authorities they had reported sexual violence, including rape, to the U.S. Army. One of the women reportedly told police Calderwood admitted to a pornography addiction and harming animals since childhood.

At the time of Calderwood’s arrest, an affidavit obtained by the Homer News reported that when his then-girlfriend was out of town, Calderwood reportedly turned the crawlspace of her parents’ home into a torture chamber and drove around looking for someone to bring to it.

Murnane, who knew Calderwood from the assisted living facility, agreed to get into the car with him as she walked to a doctor’s appointment. Once at the home, Calderwood reportedly pushed Murnane into the crawlspace, and then restrained, raped, and killed her. Authorities say he then threw her phone into a lake.

The Anchorage Daily News reports Murnane’s uncle, Michael Huelsman, wrote a statement that community members in Homer had attended court proceedings on the family’s behalf hoping to maintain visibility on the case. “The long delay in her case shows a failure of the criminal justice system…Delayed justice is denied justice — and it also wastes taxpayer money.” He wrote that Alaska crimes need to be investigated “more quickly, thoroughly, and professionally, so that more offenders are held accountable without years of delay.”

Oxygen True Crime reports Murnane’s stepfather, Ed Berg, said the family is pleased with the plea deal as it will keep the case out of the courtroom, and added that the public does not need to know the details of the crime. The outlet reports that Murnane’s mother, Sara Conera Murnane Berg, died in January 2024. According to the obituary she wrote herself, “Cancer or heart disease will be on the death certificate, but we all know that the real cause was the loss of my dear Duffy.”

Calderwood is scheduled to be sentenced on July 1, according to the State of Alaska Department of Law. 

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