Judge Sentences Pisano to 300 Years for 2017 Shooting Deaths of Three Men in Gold Store in Spenard

Anthony Pisano
Photo by Patty Sullivan, AK Dept. of Law — *Anthony Pisano*
*Photo by Patty Sullivan, AK Dept. of Law*

(Anchorage, AK) – Late last week, Alaska Superior Court Judge Jack McKenna sentenced Anthony Pisano, 50, to 300 years for the triple homicide in the Bullion Brothers store on Spenard Road in Anchorage on Sept. 12, 2017.

This was the maximum sentence allowable under the law and included three 99-year sentences for each murder victim and a five-year sentence for the assault of Michael Dupree, with two years running concurrently. The murder victims included Bullion Brothers store owner, Steven Cook, and residents Daniel McCreadie and Kenneth Hartman.

Numerous family members gave heartfelt victim impact statements, including Michael Dupree, whom Pisano had falsely accused of being the actual shooter of Steven Cook.

In November 2023, the jury issued verdicts on ten separate counts, covering the intentional murders of Steven Cook, 31, Daniel McCreadie, 31, and Kenneth Hartman, 48, and the assault of surviving eyewitness Michael Dupree. The State presented more than 1,000 pieces of evidence and more than 50 witnesses in the nearly three-month trial.

The case was originally tried in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when mid-trial the courthouse shut down with only emergency hearings occurring. The first jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

Judge McKenna began his sentencing remarks by thanking both jury panels for their substantial work in hearing evidence and deliberations.

In issuing this significant sentence, Judge McKenna heard evidence and found that between the two trials, Pisano had solicited another inmate to murder Michael Dupree. He noted that Pisano showed a significant level of premeditation, and that he would have killed anybody who came into his path of escape on Sept. 12, 2017. He also found that Pisano was a worst offender, and relying heavily on community condemnation and isolation, he found that the maximum amount of time was necessary to protect the public.