Alaskan Teen Snatched By Killer Cop? The Murder Of Sonya Ivanoff

[MUSIC] Hello, everyone, and welcome back to True Crime with Kendall Ray. Thank you so much for joining me today. And if you're new to the show, then welcome. I'm so happy to have you here and make sure to click subscribe so you never miss an upload for me. So you guys, today, we're going to be talking about a case that is truly so shocking. And that's mainly because of the wildly ridiculous way that the investigation led to the most unlikely suspect. We're going to be going over the case of Sonja Ivanov. And her case is so deeply upsetting because it was so unnecessary. Her murder never could have been predicted by her friends and family. And there was just absolutely no point to it. There's no reason why she shouldn't be here with them today. She was a wonderful young woman with a lot of promise. And of course, I want to start out by talking about her. Sonja Ivanov was born on April 13th, 1994 to her parents Maggie and Larry Ivanov. And they lived in Unilikle, Alaska. Unfortunately, there isn't that much information out there about her younger years, but I will share what I was able to find. So she was the fourth child of six children in her family. And her and her older sister, Christine, were the only two girls out of all of them. And the town that they grew up in was a very small village in Norton Sound, which is on the western coast of Alaska. And not only is it in a remote area, but it has a population of just 700 people. And most of the community is Native Alaskan. And Sonja was well known in the area, mainly because of her very outgoing and bubbly, friendly type of personality. And people who knew her described her as goofy, as fun, and having a positive attitude pretty much all the time. But she wasn't just known because she was an extrovert. She was also a star athlete on the local basketball team, which made her prominent throughout Norton Sound. Then in 2002, Sonja graduated from high school, and she moved to Noma, Alaska. Now, even though Nome's population in 2003 was about 3554 people, it is considered a city in that area. And Sonja decided to move there for better job opportunities, so that she could save money for college. And eventually, her goal was to move to Helo Hawaii. And I don't blame her. Beautiful place. And she was taking that goal very seriously. When she first got to Nome, she started working at the administrative desk of a local hospital. And then shortly after that, she entered the Arctic Native Brotherhood pageant, with the hope of earning some scholarship money for college. And this isn't what you would typically think of when you think of a pageant. Instead, it was really a celebration of the Native Alaskan heritage, and something that Sonja was really proud of. So this was really an exciting time for Sonja in her life, when she was prepping towards new goals, which she was also doing a bunch of new things in the meantime. And it got even better because just a couple of months after she arrived in Nome, her best friend, Timmery, moved there too, and started living with Sonja. The two of them were extremely close, and they shared everything from makeup to clothes, and even a bed together. And they both really settled into their new town very easily. They started to make friends very quickly. They were starting to save money. And since neither of them had a car, they were walking everywhere, which was something that they loved to do, and also something that they felt safe doing. But unfortunately, everything changed for them on August 10, 2003. That night, they went to a friend's house. And according to Timmery, it was a very chill night. They were hanging out. Sonja only had one beer. They were playing board games. And then a little bit before 1 a.m., Sonja and Timmery decided it was time to call it a night. So Timmery actually had work really early in the morning. So she decided to crash at a friend's house nearby. But Sonja wanted to go back home so the two of them parted ways. And I thought this was really, really sweet. But they had this secret handshake, and they would also say, "Peace out, pal." And they would do this whenever they left each other. And of course, they did that before walking away from each other that night. And Timmery later said that it was raining that night, but that Sonja was happy because she loved the rain. And she actually watched Sonja happily jump into a puddle as she started to walk in the direction of their apartment. But in that moment, Timmery had no idea that this would be the last time that she would see her best friend. Early the next morning, around 5.30 a.m., Timmery went back to their apartment before she went to work, just stopped by. And she noticed that Sonja wasn't there. And even more strange, it seemed like her bed wasn't slept in. But she didn't get too concerned about it right away and she left for work. And also, you've got to keep in mind this is 2003. It was practically a different world back then. Not everyone had cell phones, so she couldn't just easily call her tech Sonja to see where she was. And sometimes the two of them would either call each other while at work to check in, you know, from whatever phone was available at work. But Sonja never called that day, which made her start to get even more worried. And then later that day, when she came home from work, Sonja still wasn't there. And stuff like her makeup bag and her hair products seemed untouched, which indicated that she hadn't been home at all. And that's when Timmery started calling some of Sonja's friends and family, including her older sister, Christina. But Christina and her husband weren't that worried right away. They figured that maybe Sonja just needed a little space, maybe a little space away from Timmery for whatever reason. But that thought went away the next day. Because Sonja didn't show up for her shift at the hospital, which was incredibly unlike her. And so at that point, her loved ones went ahead and started just driving and walking around, known, looking for Sonja. Timmery was so desperate for any information that she even called the known police department to see if Sonja had been arrested. But she hadn't been. And soon, it seemed that everyone was coming up empty. So on August 12th, Timmery went to the known police department to fill out a missing person's report. And according to her, and unfortunately, we hear this more times than we don't, it seems, but they did not take it very seriously, and seem to just kind of brush the whole situation off. Even Sonja's brother-in-law ended up going to the department that evening, and he said he had the same experience. But the next day, Sonja missed another shift without calling in. So her employer also reported her missing. And that seemed to get the police's attention a little bit more. So they, at that point, jumped right into action. Now, the known police department is incredibly small with only eight officers. So they requested help from the fire department and volunteers to search for Sonja, but they weren't out very long. At around 830 that evening, a volunteer firefighter was about three miles outside of Nome, when he saw tire tracks going down a remote road, and he followed them. And that is when he came across the body of Sonja Ivanov, who was dead at just 19 years old. And the crime scene was rather strange. Sonja's body was hidden under some bushes, and she was completely naked, except for one sock on her left foot. While she had bruises on her face and chest, the cause of death wasn't immediately obvious. So the known police department went ahead and called in the Alaska Bureau of Investigation to help process this scene. But here's the thing. The ABI's headquarters are in Anchorage, which is about 500 miles away from Nome. So they wouldn't be able to make it over there until the next day. So the police had to do their absolute best to preserve the crime scene until then, and they did a really good job. They covered every inch of it with tarps, and the officers took shifts guarding the scene throughout the night. And luckily, all this effort did pay off, and the ABI was able to collect evidence when they arrived. And like I said, there were tire tracks on this remote road. And as investigators looked closer, they realized that there was a pool of blood next to Sonja's body, and that the tires actually drove over. So that led them to believe that the car probably belonged to whoever killed her. And these tire tracks were very distinct. One tire was mismatched from the other three. They also found blue paint marks on high branches. And because of the placement, investigators believe that the car was most likely a blue truck or SUV. And after processing the scene, Sonja's body was flown to Anchorage for an autopsy. And that did end up providing investigators with a lot more answers. They discovered that she had died from a single gun shot wound by a 22 caliber bullet fired at point blank range to the back of her head. The wound had been hidden behind her beautiful, thick, dark hair, which is why investigators didn't notice it right away. The autopsy also revealed that there was no foreign DNA on her. There was nothing under her fingernails. And the rape kit showed that she hadn't been sexually assaulted, which obviously led investigators to believe that whoever did this really knew how to cover their tracks knew what they were doing. And with such little forensic evidence at the scene, police weren't exactly sure where to start. And while all of this is happening, Sonja's friends and family are just absolutely Reeling from such a sudden and shocking loss trying to make sense of it all the day that Sonya's body was found Timmery and another friend were out driving around looking for her and they went to the hospital that Sonya worked at and One of her co-workers told her to go to the police station and As they were heading over there. She had high hopes that maybe they found Sonya. Maybe she was okay, but when she got to the station and Learned at the horrible truth. She was just Absolutely devastated. I mean there are no words and then of course Sonya's family. They were just so Heartbroken and so confused About what had happened and why her brother Jacob said that the only way he knew how to cope with it was to get outside And go hunting and while he was there He saw vibrant northern lights and he later said it felt like Sonya was dancing over the world and the love that her family had for her was so so incredibly strong and So apparent especially when it came to her funeral because oh my god. This just really chokes me up But her family was originally planning on doing a closed casket funeral because of the bruising on Sonya's face But her older sister Christina knew how much Sonya cared about her appearance So she decided to do her makeup. I cannot even imagine doing Anyone's makeup let alone your sisters for their funeral. That is God one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever heard one of the most Mirable things I've ever heard mean that must have just been beyond difficult, but also I'm sure in some ways It was an honor for her to do that for her It just really shows how much Christina wanted to take care of Sonya and tragically the funeral service was also held in the same gym or Sonya played basketball just a couple of years before and While her loved ones are trying their best to process this horrible loss. They were still Trying to make sense at all wondering who could have possibly Wanted to hurt Sonya and why and not only were they trying to wrap their minds around all of that, but they were also A bit concerned right out the gate about how the case was being handled because a week after Sonya's body was discovered Christina's husband Tom went to the police station and he put a photo of Sonya on the wall because he wanted to remind them of who they were working for and Get this an officer actually yelled at him Yeld and a man who has just lost a loved one who is just trying to simply hang a photo of them on the wall and The reason for yelling at him because he was worried it would ruin the drywall Okay, what fuck the drywall who cares, but this experience did not stop Tom And he continued to visit the police department every single morning until they got answers and around this time It seemed like there was a break in the case when investigators found a Viable suspect while talking to Sonya's friends and family There was one name that just kept coming up a man who went by the nickname Koonook Apparently he was a friend of Sonya's who had romantic interest in her, but she didn't feel the same way and Timmery even told investigators that she believed Sonya once had bruises on her that were caused by Koonook And he was also known by the police because he had a history of domestic violence charges against the mother of his child So investigators went over to his house, and that's where they found some Very interesting things turns out he had a blue truck and not only that It was a blue truck with mismatched tires just like the car that was at the scene and while they were searching the truck They ended up finding a lot of blood There were drops of blood on the floor of the car on a tarp That was in the trunk of the car and also on a tire and the wheel well But it didn't stop there blood was also found on a pair of Koonook sneakers and one of his rifles and on top of all of that He had scratches on his back. So based on all of this You would think that Koonook was Sonya's killer and investigators were starting to think that as well But he insisted right from the jump that he had nothing to do with it And that he hadn't seen her in weeks as for all that blood he had an explanation for it He said that he was out of town on a hunting trip on the night that Sonya disappeared and he said that while he was out He had either hit a rabbit or a porcupine with his car and he ended up hitting it in its head to Put it out of its misery, which is how blood ended up on his shoes and his rifle He also stated that those scratches on his back were from his ex girlfriend Now, investigators at first they were not buying this at all They were pretty confident that forensic testing was going to show that the blood was actually Sonya's not a random animal But shockingly, Koonook was telling the truth All of that blood was confirmed to be animal blood And investigators even went to the area and they were able to find the carcass of the porcupine And as for the tire impressions that were found at the scene, it turns out that they had nothing to do with the murder A random couple had driven down the road after Sonya was murdered And they had no idea that they had driven past her or that her blood was on their tires So now that Koonook was cleared, investigators were back at square one And at this point, Nome PD had two officers assigned to the case by Ren Redburn and Brian Wayvana But it really wasn't a good setup because they could really barely work together Because they had to completely opposite shifts, which makes no sense Plus Officer Wayvana felt like Officer Redburn wasn't really communicating anything that he was investigating, which is obviously not helpful Now, Officer Wayvana was actually friends with Sonya's sister and brother in law, so he was very committed to solving the case And he just felt like there wasn't enough movement happening in the case, so he decided to go through the case file again And see if there was anything that was missed And thankfully, he did It always just blows my mind when there are cases like this where someone decides to take a second look at the case file And they find something huge His second look led to a very significant piece of information being found And it would actually break the case wide open In the files, he found a witness report that it seemed no one had bothered to follow up with It turns out that a local woman named Florence reported seeing Sonya the night that she disappeared So Wayvana went to talk to her and she had quite a story A little before 1.30am, Florence and her sister were sitting out on their porch having a cigarette when Sonya walked by their house And Florence's sister actually knew Sonya, so they waved at each other as she passed them And while Sonya kept walking down the street, Florence noticed that a car was driving slowly behind her Then that car drove up ahead and cuts Sonya off The driver rolled their window down and started talking to her And then after a few minutes, Sonya actually got into the passenger side of the car and the two of them drove off But the most shocking thing that Florence noticed that night was a decal on the car. It wasn't just any decal It was the known police department logo and Florence knew that what she saw was important And she contacted the police as soon as she learned that Sonya had been murdered She said she even spoke to the chief of police and told him a lot of details including what Sonya was wearing Yet with all of that, nobody in the police department bothered to follow up with her about it Now thankfully Florence is a smart, smart person And she knew how important this information was And she wasn't just going to sit back and wait for them to do something about it If they weren't going to interview her, she was going to interview herself So she ended up videotaping herself talking about what she saw that night So that it could be properly documented Which is just so brilliant Because now there is a time stamp on her story, right? She has documented herself saying it on a specific day And it will show in the future that her story hasn't changed It's really incredible that she thought to do this but at the same time, it's painfully ridiculous That a witness had to handle their own statement Because they cared more than the police did But now that Officer Waveanna was on the case and took that second look at the file He was going to make sure that something was actually done about it So he informs the police chief that this tip points this investigation right back at the Nome Police Department So the ABI was called in and took over the case They soon discovered that two officers were on duty that night, Stan Piscoya and Matt Owens And both of these men actually had a questionable history when it came to this case Piscoya was the one who took the report from Timmering and didn't take it seriously And Matt Owens was the officer that yelled at Sonya's brother-in-law for putting her picture up at the police station Because he didn't want to ruin the drywall So the ABI requested that both officers come to Anchorage so that they could take a polygraph test But the day that they were set to go, something very. unexpected happened. That night, a sergeant on duty noticed that known police departments 321 Cruiser was missing. So he radioed the other officer on duty which happened to be Matt Owens and he didn't know where it was and before long everyone in the department was out looking for the cruiser but it actually didn't take long for it to be tracked down. Matt Owens radioed everyone to say that he had found the car in an isolated area called the Bessie Pits which also happened to be pretty close to where Sonja's body was found. And before anyone could meet him there, he radioed in again seeing that shots were being fired at him so of course everyone jumps into action at this point and gets there as fast as they possibly can. But when they arrived, the scene was quiet and a gunman was nowhere to be found. Then Matt Owens just walked up to the scene and told officers that he had run into a nearby tundra to avoid being shot and he didn't have any injuries but he was very shaken up and he said that he was so scared of leaving his son without a father that he was even second-guessing if he should even be an officer still. And even though Matt Owens was okay, the 321 Cruiser was not. A rock had been thrown through the driver's side window and on that seat under the broken glass was an envelope with a letter inside of it almost like something out of a crime thriller. It was written by Sonja's killer but it was bizarre to say the least. It said, "Pigs, I hate cops, I hate every one of you." Sonja was just a person in the wrong place at the wrong time. I did not know her. As you can see, it was easy for me to take your pig car keys right there. It was not her fault. She thought I was a pig and it just happened. She was just a person and I just wanted to see if I could that night. Every one of you should be more careful. I watch every move. You leave me alone and I will leave you alone. I will shoot you in the head if you get close. And in that envelope was Sonja's recreational ID card. Proof that whoever this was had something to do with her murder. But right away this whole situation felt very off to investigators. They extensively searched the area by foot and by helicopter and nothing was found. And then a few days later, investigators even conducted a reenactment of how Owens described the events. And they discovered that didn't make much sense. First off, there were many places where Owens could have taken cover instead of running off into the tundra. Also, the person recreated his supposed actions at the scene had a lot of dirt and scuff marks on his pants while Owens uniform had it. It was pretty clean. They also realized that the cruiser would have had to back into the spot it was found in, which didn't make sense for someone to do if they were on the run with a stolen police car, right? So pretty soon investigators began to believe that this was most likely stage to get him out of the polygraph in Anchorage and redirect the ABI from looking into known police officers. But that didn't work. And the ABI were more determined than ever to speak with Officer Piscoya and Officer Owens. Now this is no surprise, but Owens canceled his trip to Anchorage the next day, stating that he was too traumatized from the shooting and he needed to speak to a therapist. But Stan Piscoya still made the trip out there and gave investigators his account of what happened the night that Sonya disappeared. He said that he and Owens had responded to a domestic violence call and that the perpetrator tried to attack them. So they apprehended him, brought him to the local jail, then Piscoya stayed at the department to fill out a report while Owens went back on patrol. Piscoya said that he was at the department from about 1.30 to 2 a.m. which the ABI was able to verify. And since Florence saw Sonya enter the police SUV around 1.30 a.m., that meant it couldn't have been him, which of course leaves Matt Owens as their only suspect. And of course, investigators started digging into his past a little bit more and they did learn some more about him. Turns out that Officer Owens had done some pretty awful things during his three years on the force. Apparently it was pretty well known that during his shifts he would have his friends drive around with him in his patrol car which is absolutely not authorized and the chief of police I guess warned him to stop but that didn't change anything. He didn't stop kept giving joy rides to his buddies and it just gets worse because the ABI learned that Owens was also picking up women and having sex with them in his car. So this made them wonder if he had tried to make a move on Sonya and things got out of hand and he killed her to keep her quiet. So after they learned all of this it was far beyond time to finally talk to Owens. So he was forced to go to Anchorage and do the interview in polygraph test that he had been avoiding. And the Alaska State troopers were actually so worried that he might try to get out of it that they had an agent go to know him just to make sure he got on that plane. But of course while sitting with the ABI he tried to talk his way out of everything. He claimed that while yes he did have some of his buddies ride around in his patrol car with him he never had sex with any women on duty and as far as Sonya he said he did know her because sometimes while he was on duty he would have to bring people to the hospital and she worked there. But he completely denied having anything to do with her murder. Now interestingly he did bring up the letter that was found at the scene of the shootout to remind the ABI that Sonya's killer was someone who hated cops. Officer Owens really thought he was smart when doing that right. He thought that he was playing chess when in reality he was playing tic-tac-toe and he wasn't good at it either. And as I'm sure you've probably guessed at this point when he took the polygraph test he failed it. No shock there but even though the suspicion was you know strongly on Owens at this point after his interview especially they didn't have enough yet to arrest him so they had to let him go. Instead he returned to know him and the police department placed him on administrative leave. But the investigation was still ramping up and the ABI actually received some very significant information from Owens ex-wife. She stated that one afternoon he randomly called her up to say that he would have to drop their son off with her earlier than expected because he had been called into work to assist in looking for a missing girl. And this call took place before Sonya was even reported missing so he shouldn't have even known about it. Big red flag there and then another woman calls up investigators and tells them that Owens was asking her to leave Alaska with him so they're like oh shit okay before this guy can potentially flee we need to issue an arrest warrant and they did. And then finally on October 25th 2003 Matt Owens was charged with first degree murder. And while this was a big step forward it of course didn't mean the investigation was complete and people did keep coming forward with new information. Just a few days after his arrest multiple women came forward with disturbing accounts of their experiences with Matt Owens. And just as I explained it was sort of known information that he would pick up his friends in a squad car. It was also I guess sort of an open secret that he was picking up women while he was on his shift and he was also coercing and assaulting them. In one account he had arrested a woman and then sexually assaulted her when she was in the patrol car. Another woman said that after he had forced himself on her he told her that if she tried to tell anyone no one would believe a drunk native woman over a police officer. And this one is really perfect but another woman said that Owens held her at gunpoint and demanded that she perform oral sex on him. And multiple women even said that he threatened to kill them if they said anything. And I wish this was a shock to me but it turns out some of these survivors had informed the known police department about what he was doing. One person had even reported the incident to someone who worked in the department while another had filed a formal complaint and no action was ever taken. And hearing something like that you can't help but to wonder if someone had actually stepped in, had done their job, had stopped him, had upheld the standards of the department to any degree. Maybe there would be a chance that Sonja Ivanhof would be here today. And while this was all major information for the case even more was uncovered. Someone called in a tip to report that they had seen Mad Owens burning gloves at an area known as Coffee Creek, approximately 75 miles outside of Nome. So investigators decided to thoroughly examine the area. They treated the burn pit like they were panning for gold, scooping up parts of it and sifting through it. And thankfully they did because they ended up finding a small but crucial piece of evidence. They were able to find a shoe eyelid. And if you don't know, a shoe eyelid is a tiny metal circular part of a shoe that the laces go through. And this eyelid had a sketchers logo on it, which was the brand of shoes that Sonya was last seen wearing, and this discovery made them continue searching the burn pit, which uncovered more shoe eyelets, the metal clasp of a bra, pieces of a zipper, and a pants button with the brand tilt on it, which was a brand that Sonya would wear. But get this, they also found a PU box key belonging to Matt Owens' uncle, and if all that wasn't enough, another witness came forward to say that they saw Owens burning clothes there. So clearly, the evidence against this man is really starting to mount, but there was one significant piece of evidence that had yet to be found. The murder weapon, and while investigators were looking for it, Officer Byron Redburn made a pretty chilling suggestion. He raised the possibility of Owens taking a gun from the police evidence locker to use, and when investigators looked into it, they found a gun that used a 22 caliber bullet, the same type that killed Sonya. They also learned that the evidence locker key was kept in a mailbox in the chief's office, which anyone could access, and all this doesn't prove necessarily that Matt Owens definitely did that. It still showed that it was possible, and given this guy's character, it was not a stretch to think that he would have stolen something out of the evidence locker, right? But unfortunately, not everyone saw it that way, because his family and people in his church community were strong defenders of him, and they weren't mad. So mad that when his trial started in 2005, Sonya's family said that Owens supporters treated them as if they were the bad guys when they were in court, which had to have been so difficult for them to deal with, on top of worrying about getting justice for Sonya. Now, during the trial, the prosecution argued that Matt Owens killed Sonya and staged the theft of Patrol car 321, which I think seems pretty obvious to all of us. But it might not have been as obvious to the jury, because first of all, the judge ruled that the accusations of sexual assault from all these women weren't admissible. So they weren't able to hear that this was clearly a pattern of behavior for Officer Owens. And he hired a strong defense attorney who was prepared to pull out all the stops for his client. They argued that investigators were correct about a known police officer killing Sonya, but they said it wasn't Matt Owens. They pointed the finger at Byron Redburn, the same officer who suggested that Owens may have gotten the gun from the evidence locker. And they claimed that he had a motive to try and frame Owens, because it turns out that Owens was having an affair with Redburn's own daughter. So all of this, coupled with the lack of DNA evidence, made it difficult to secure a conviction. After deliberating for 10 days, the jury was completely deadlocked, so the judge declared a mistrial, which was just so upsetting for everyone, especially Sonya's loved ones, to have to go through this again. Sonya's brother Jacob said to the press, "I knew from the beginning, known wasn't the place to have the trial." Jurors attended the same church as Matt Owens. I knew there could be some kind of buddy-buddy system going on there, but of course, prosecutors weren't going to give up, and Matt Owens was tried for a second time. This time, his defense attorneys actually requested the change of venue, which I think is an interesting choice for them, but a big win for Sonya. But the judge agreed, and the trial was moved to Kotzebue, Alaska, and it began on October 17, 2005. In this time, both sides presented their sides of the case again, but something really interesting happened after the prosecution rested their case. Officer Wei Ivana was chatting with one of his neighbors, who started asking about the case. And that's when he casually dropped a bomb. He asked him if a woman named Charlotte had ever said anything about finding Sonya's ID in Matt Owens room. Which, hearing that, you're probably really confused, and Wei Ivana was, too, because no one knew anything about this. And you might be asking, who even is Charlotte? Well, she's a family friend of Owens, and when him and his wife separated, she rented him a room. She also happened to be friends with Wei Ivana's neighbor, and one day, she told him that she had seen Sonya's ID card with his belongings, which was the same one that was later found at the shootout scene. And even though this was a big piece of information, and I mean big, investigators weren't sure if it could still be used in the trial since the prosecution had already rested its case. But even so, they decided to go ahead and pursue this information, and I have to say the way they went about it was really clever. They didn't trust that Charlotte would tell the truth because she had a friendship with Owens, and she might want to protect him. So, instead of just interviewing her, they decided to have Wei Ivana's neighbor call her while recording the conversation. And while the two of them were casually talking, she didn't deny finding the ID at all. She even told him that she had never come forward because she figured there was already enough evidence against him. So, make of that what you will. And like I said, it was clever that they decided to record this conversation because the prosecution was able to call her to the stand, and while she was under oath, she completely denied ever finding the ID, but then they got to play the recording out loud right after for her. And it proved that she was lying, which might have helped convince the jury that Matt Owens was responsible for killing Sonya Ivanoff. After all the testimony, they found him guilty of first degree murder, and he was sentenced to 101 years in prison. And of course, he did try to appeal claiming ineffective assistance of counsel, but that was dismissed. And luckily for everyone, Matt Owens will spend the rest of his miserable life behind bars, and that's exactly where he should be. Now, in the aftermath of Sonya's murder, the community of Nome has dealt with a lot. Free women brought a lawsuit against the city claiming that they had been harassed, stalked, and threatened by Matt Owens, and the city knew, or should have known, he was a danger to women. The Ivanoff also brought a lawsuit against the city over its hiring of Owens. And overall, the city paid out $750,000 between the suits. And after this, understandably, the people of Nome and the surrounding areas as well really lost faith in the department. And they had plenty of good reasons for that. I mean, for one, because of Sonya's murder, it really shed a light on the lack of police resources that were being put towards sexual assault cases. I mean, the fact that multiple women had reported Owens and nothing was done about it was shocking to people. And between 2008 and 2017, the Nome Police Department received 372 calls about sexual assault, but only 30 of those led to any arrests. And of course, this case drew a lot of attention to the horrible reality of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, which is a massive problem in Alaska. Sonya's story really highlights that reality, and the reality that the police don't always protect everyone they're supposed to be serving. Matt Owens used his uniform to get what he wanted, and he didn't care about anyone he hurt. Even though he took an oath to do the exact opposite. But thankfully, there were some positive changes that came from Sonya's case. In 2007, the Sonya Ivanovlaw was passed in Alaska, which mandated that any police officer who was convicted of murder would automatically receive a sentence of 99 years. And I would hope that most of you would agree with me that this should be implemented in all states. In fact, it should be implemented all over the world, because police officers at the end of the day should be held accountable for betraying their communities. And maybe if they were, you know, afraid to have to face harsher consequences, maybe it would put a stop to some of the abuse of power that we see all the time. Sonya might have gotten in his car because she felt that an officer was safe to be around when Matt Owens was the exact opposite. And that is a sad reality. And because he is a selfish sick monster, the world lost an amazing young girl with so much potential and so much life ahead of her. And it is just beyond tragic. And there is no reason for it. I know you guys are going to have a lot to say on this case, and I'm really looking forward to hearing what you think. And hearing some of your thoughts on some of what we just talked about here at the end, because I think it's a really important discussion that needs to happen. But that is going to be it for me today, you guys. I am still on leave, but I will be back soon. Or someone will be back next week. There will be an episode for you hopefully next week, I think. Maybe. And hopefully I'll be back for real pretty soon. And I will see you soon. Stay safe out there. (upbeat music)