(Anchorage, AK) – Tuesday, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Josie Garton sentenced 54-year-old Joshua Rukovishnikoff, Sr. to 9 years of incarceration for the 2021 strangulation death of his wife, Nadesda Rukovishnikoff, in Saint Paul. Judge Garton also imposed an additional two years of suspended jail time. Rukovishnikoff will be on probation for five years upon his release from incarceration.

Following a trial, Rukovishnikoff was found guilty by an Anchorage jury on January 25, 2024, of Manslaughter and Criminally Negligent Homicide. On September 22, 2021, after a night of drinking led to a verbal argument, Rukovishnikoff strangled Nadesda Rukovishnikoff for approximately 1 to 4 minutes. Rukovishnikoff claimed he was acting in self-defense and told St. Paul Public Safety Officers that Nadesda had brandished a bat at him. At trial, the jury rejected the defendant’s self-defense claim and convicted him of Manslaughter and Criminally Negligent Homicide.

In sentencing Rukovishnikoff, Judge Garton found that while alcohol played a role in his actions, it did not lessen the violence of Rukovishnikoff’s acts. She emphasized that isolation from the community was a significant factor in her sentencing and noted the need for deterrence and protection of the community. While acknowledging alcoholism is a disease with a spectrum of addiction and healing, Judge Garton found that alcohol has often played a role in Rukovishnikoff’s prior lengthy criminal record.

Assistant Attorney General Sam Vandergaw of the Office of Special Prosecutions and Assistant Attorney General & Tribal Liaison Anne Bruno of the Criminal Division Central Office prosecuted this case. The case involved a joint investigation between the Saint Paul Police Department and Alaska State Troopers.

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