Alaska man gets 99 years in prison for kidnapping, raping, and killing 10-year-old girl
06/17/2022 1:08 pm PDT
JUNEAU, Alaska (TCD) -- A 20-year-old man will spend the rest of his life in prison for kidnapping, sexually assaulting, and killing a 10-year-old girl in 2020.
In a June 14 news release, the Alaska Department of Law announced Judge Michael MacDonald sentenced Jordan Mark to 99 years for his role in the disappearance and death of Ida "Girlie" Aguchak.
Mark’s case did not go to trial. The statement said he previously pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and signed an admission of facts where he admitted to kidnapping and raping her. The Anchorage Daily News reports the rape charges were dropped in the plea deal.
According to Alaska Public Media, on March 15, 2020, Aguchak, who lived in a village called Quinhagak, texted her mom to say she was walking home from a friend’s house. When she failed to return, her family and members of the community conducted a search party and found her body the next night.
Mark’s DNA was reportedly found in Aguchak’s body during the autopsy, but he initially denied seeing her the night she disappeared. Cellphone data reportedly placed Aguchak near Mark’s location that evening, too.
Alaska Public Media reports Mark eventually told investigators he saw Aguchak on his way home from dropping friends off at the old airport in town and he offered her a ride. He reportedly took her to a trail, and he strangled and then raped her as she tried to escape. Mark stabbed the little girl and put her body in a dumpster. According to Alaska Public Media, he disposed of the knife and her cellphone.
At his sentencing, Mark said, "I apologize for the pain I caused and the hearts I broke. There is no excuse for what I’ve done. I hope you see past that and see who I actually am. I’m a human being. I made a terrible mistake."
Mark asked for a 45-year sentence, but McDonald denied that. The judge said, "These actions demonstrate a depravity of heart and derangement of mind that makes Jordan Mark too dangerous to live in a civil society. It is impossible to imagine a more depraved, brutal, cold-hearted kidnapping, rape, and murder. It is hard to imagine greater cruelty. This was deliberate cruelty. It is hard to imagine a more vulnerable victim."
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