Anchorage man, 36-year-old Matthew James Scharber was sentenced to life in prison plus ten years for kidnapping and other charges before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Timothy M Burgess in court today, U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder of the Department of Justice revealed today.

Today’s sentencing is the result of an investigation conducted by the Anchorage Police Department, Alaska State Troopers, and the FBI into the kidnapping and shooting of brothers Kevin Kirlin, 22, and Keeton Kirlin, 23, who were beaten, loaded into their vehicle and taken to Hatcher Pass and shot multiple times each but survived.

The October 27th incident was over a wallet taken a week earlier when Kevin went to Scharber’s Thompson Street duplex to buy a half-gram of methamphetamine and trade an electric drill and LED lights. Keeton told investigators that when he accompanied his brother to Scharber’s residence he found Corey Sylva’s wallet with cards and $120 in it outside and decided to keep it.

On October 27th at around midnight, the Kirlin brothers decided to go to Scharber’s place to get a diamond ring he was sure he had lost there when he was there a week earlier. When they arrived, Scharber, Michael C. Elder, 23, and Corey Sylva, 26, were waiting for them and at gunpoint and subdued them with speaker wire and handcuffs before searching and beating them. The trio searched the brother’s vehicle and would find cards from Sylva’s wallet. They stole items out of the vehicle before spray painting the windows black and loading the two brothers into the back of their car.[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]They were driven 50 miles to near the Archangel Trail in Hatcher Pass and let out of the Subaru as they tried to talk Scharber them, The brothers began running down the road, but were gunned down, they ran down the road to get away from the trio, Sharber shot Kevin at least twice in the thigh and abdomen, then Keeton in the shoulder/chest, then fired another round into his arm. 

The three climbed into the stolen Subaru and left the brothers in the roadway to die.

But, they didn’t die and Keeton was able to free himself and eventually flag down a motorist. At 5 am Emergency personnel responded and transported the two to the hospital for treatment of their injuries.

While in the hospital, the brothers spoke with investigators and Scharber was implicated. That same day, the men’s vehicle was located abandoned at Tikhatnu Commons.

Four days later, investigators and SWAT, armed with a search warrant, went to Scharber’s duplex and found evidence linking Scharber to the crime as well as a large cache of methamphetamine. He was taken into custody. The next day, Sylva was taken into custody as well.[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adversal-468×60″]

Within days, Elders turned himself in.

With his life term, Sharber is the second of the three to be sentenced. He had previously pleaded guilty to all indicted charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, kidnapping, carjacking, and possessing, brandishing, and discharging a
firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Sylva had been sentenced in May to 121 months in prison on a carjacking charge in a plea deal. He had originally charged with charged with two counts of kidnapping and four counts of assault

Elder has also pleaded guilty to carjacking and is facing sentencing in mid-September.

Sharber still faces a separate federal trial in mid-October on drug-trafficking charges.

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