Alaska woman convicted in 2020 murder of her court-appointed supervisor

An Alaskan woman has been convicted of murdering her court-appointed supervisor, Keith Huss. The man was discovered dead on Sept. 29, 2020 at a rest stop near Hope, AK, the Alaskan Department of Law said in a news release.

On Dec. 23, a jury found 39-year-old Sarah Dayan guilty of both first and second degree murder along with other charges. Huss’ body turned up at the Turnagain Pass rest stop before police began an investigation into his death. He had four bullets from a .45 caliber pistol lodged in his body and there was also evidence of a vehicle hitting him, Fox News reported.

Police soon discovered that Huss was monitoring Dayan as a third-party custodian. A judge had demanded the arrangement as a condition of Dayan receiving bail. Huss was reportedly last seen alive as he went to the jail to meet Dayan and take her to Anchorage, where she had been offered a job working at Huss’ mobile restaurant.

The search was on for Dayan and police located her on Oct. 1, 2020. She had purchased a .45 pistol just after getting out of prison. Police also said that Dayan’s vehicle was damaged to a degree that was consistent with it having been used to strike Mr. Huss.”

"A review of Mr. Huss’s bank account revealed that Dayan had used his bank account to purchase items for herself and had transferred hundreds of dollars from his bank account to hers after his death," police said, noting that their investigation had concluded that Dayan was also associated with a slew of vehicle robberies in Seward and a cabin break-in that resulted in theft.

Tyler Jones of the Office of Special Prosecutions said he hopes Dayan’s conviction will allow the Huss family to lay the tragedy to rest.

"We are thankful that a jury held Sarah Dayan accountable for her crimes. We hope that Keith’s loved ones are able to obtain some closure in light of this verdict," Jones said.