(Fairbanks) – Tuesday, Patrick Marsh, 30, was sentenced to 75 years for the 2019 murder of Trisha Pearson in her home on Yankovich Road in Fairbanks. Pearson rented a portion of her home to one of Marsh’s friends. Marsh was present at the residence while the friend was out of town. Marsh and Pearson got into an argument, whereupon Marsh brutally attacked Pearson, causing her death. Marsh subsequently told the Alaska State Troopers that he killed her because his friend had asked him to kill her and he was afraid of this friend, that he was high on methamphetamines, and that Pearson had insulted him.

Marsh was tried in late April 2023. On May 1, 2023, the jury found him guilty of the sole count of Murder in the First Degree. The jury heard from nine total witnesses across three days.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Temple presided over the sentencing hearing. The State asked for 99 years to serve – the maximum allowed by law – basing its position on the brutality of the murder, Marsh’s stated motive for the killing, his criminal history, and his actions in jail during the pendency of this case. The defense asked for 40 years to serve with an additional 20 years of suspended time, arguing that his conduct was mitigated by his methamphetamine addiction and the influence of his friend. After a short recess, Judge Temple announced the 75-year sentence, finding that Marsh had two prior felony convictions and was on conditions of release for a felony offense at the time of the killing.

Fairbanks District Attorney Joe Dallaire said “The conduct forming the basis of defendant Marsh’s conviction shocks the conscience. Although we cannot pretend that anything will ever make up for the loss suffered by Ms. Pearson’s family, I do hope the conviction and the sentence imposed affords some measure of justice to those Trisha Pearson left behind and to the Fairbanks community at large. The work done here by Assistant District Attorney Anna Ralph, Paralegal Allison Watega, the Alaska Bureau of Investigation, and the Alaska State Troopers represents the best of the Fairbanks District Attorney’s Office and the Department of Public Safety, and I am proud of their collaborative efforts to see justice through to the end.”

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