(Anchorage, AK) – Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Michael Wolverton sentenced 39-year-old Sarah Jane Dayan to 68 years and six months in prison for the September 2020 murder of Soldotna resident Keith Huss at Turnagain Pass and a series of related crimes in Anchorage and Seward.

Following a seven-week jury trial, Dayan was convicted of Murder in the Second Degree, Manslaughter, one count of Burglary, one count of being a Felon in Possession of a Concealable Firearm, four counts of Theft or Attempted Theft, three counts of Vehicle Theft, and three counts of violating a condition of release while on bail.

Judge Wolverton sentenced Dayan to serve 50 years for Murder in the Second Degree, finding the Manslaughter convictions merged, and consecutive sentences totaling 18 years and six months for the remaining crimes. In total Dayan will serve 68 years and six months in prison and, if released, be placed on supervised probation for 10 years with an additional 30 years of suspended time.

Judge Wolverton specifically found Dayan executed her court-approved third-party-custodian Keith Huss hours after her release from jail. Judge Wolverton did not find aspects of Dayan’s trial testimony credible. In imposing sentence, Judge Wolverton found no mitigating factors and two aggravating factors – that the murder was a crime of domestic violence and that Dayan employed a dangerous instrument in furtherance of the murder. Judge Wolverton further found that the remaining charges were all worst offenses.

Early in the morning on Sept. 29, 2020, Keith Huss’s body was found at the Turnagain Pass Rest Area. A passing motorist found Mr. Huss’s body and called the Alaska State Troopers, who began an investigation. The investigation showed Mr. Huss had been shot four times with a .45 caliber pistol and had been struck by a vehicle.

Troopers determined that Mr. Huss had been appointed by a judge to be the third-party custodian for Sarah Dayan, as a condition of her release on bail, on Sept. 28, 2020. That same day, Mr. Huss picked Dayan up from jail at the Wildwood Correctional Complex in Kenai. The two were seen getting into Dayan’s vehicle, and their stated plan was to drive to Anchorage to work at Mr. Huss’s food truck.

The prosecuting attorneys and staff would like to thank Keith Huss’s family and friends for their support throughout the trial, and sentencing. The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Daniel Shorey and Tyler Jones of the Office of Special Prosecutions with the assistance of Paralegal Aryel Dilley and Law Office Assistant Olivia Fowler. Alaska State Trooper Sgt. Mark Pearson led the investigation.

CONTACT: Assistant Attorney General Daniel K. Shorey, at (907) 269-6250 or daniel.shorey@alaska.gov.

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