Suspect’s interview played in Kodiak murder trial

  • By Dan Joling
  • Wednesday, April 16, 2014 9:46pm
  • News

ANCHORAGE — The Coast Guard civilian charged with killing two co-workers at a Kodiak communications station told an FBI agent he was late getting to work the day of the deaths because he returned home to change a soft tire, but he had no explanation for why the trip of a few miles should have taken more than 34 minutes.

James Wells, 62, is charged in federal court with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Richard Belisle, 51, and Petty Officer First Class James Hopkins, 41, shortly after they arrived for work around 7 a.m. April 12, 2012.

Wells was also due to work at that hour. In interviews over two days with FBI agent Kirk Overlander starting the night of the shootings, Wells said he started into work, detected a soft tire, stopped at a hotel near the entrance to the Kodiak Airport, checked the tire and returned home to change it.

Unbeknownst to Wells, a security camera at the gate of the nearby Coast Guard main gate recorded his truck heading for the communication station by 6:48 a.m. and heading in the opposite direction toward his home at 7:22 a.m., a gap of 34 minutes.

A day after the shootings, Overlander told Wells he drove the route and made it in less than 10 minutes.

“We’re running into some issues here,” he said. “There’s a 34-minute window of time.”

Asked if he could account for the time difference, Wells could not offer a theory.

“What are you implying?” Wells asked.

“We’re baffled,” Overlander said.

“So am I,” Wells said.

Prosecutors say Wells used the time to switch to his wife’s car parked at the airport, follow Hopkins to the communication station and shoot Hopkins and Belisle. They contend he was in and out of the Rigger Shop, where communication antennas were built and repaired, in five minutes, giving him time to drive back to the airport, switch back to his pickup and drive home, where at 7:30 a.m. he called Hopkins’ office phone to report he would be late because of the flat tire.

The motive, said assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder, was the Coast Guard exerting more control over the nationally recognized antenna expert and seeing Belisle and Hopkins making him increasingly irrelevant.

Federal public defender Rich Curtner in his opening statement said Wells suffered from chronic diarrhea following gall bladder surgery and was delayed returning home the morning of the murders because he spent 20 minutes in a bathroom of a commuter airline.

Wells made no mention of using an airport bathroom to the FBI and told Overlander he checked his tire at a hotel near the airport entrance.

“I probably turned around at the Comfort Inn,” he said.

Sometime after acknowledging he had no explanation for the rest of the 34-minute period, Wells exercised his right to have an attorney and the interview ended.

Prosecutors ended their case with testimony from Belisle’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, who was 16 at the time of the murders. Hannah Belisle acknowledged she had used cocaine and other drugs, once ran away from home and dated a 22-year-old known drug user before her father’s murder. But she said that no one she knew had reason to harm him.

Defense attorneys have suggested the FBI immediately zeroed in on Wells and ignored other suspects, such as associates of Hannah Belisle.

Defense attorneys will call their first witnesses Thursday.

More in News

Erin Thompson (courtesy)
Erin Thompson to serve as regional editor for Alaska community publications

Erin Thompson is expanding her leadership as she takes on editorial oversight… Continue reading

A woman stands with her sign held up during a rally in support of Medicaid and South Peninsula Hospital on Wednesday, June 18, 2025 in Homer, Alaska. (Chloe Pleznac/Homer News)
Homer residents rally in support of South Peninsula Hospital and Medicaid

The community gathered on Wednesday in opposition to health care cuts that threaten rural hospitals.

Hunter Kirby holds up the hatchery king salmon he bagged during the one-day youth fishery on the Ninilchik River on Wednesday, June 7, 2023 in Ninilchik, Alaska. Photo by Mike Booz
Ninilchik River closed to sport fishing

The closure is in effect from June 23 through July 15.

Señor Panchos in Soldotna, Alaska, is closed on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna restaurant owner remains in ICE custody; federal charges dropped

Francisco Rodriguez-Rincon was accused of being in the country illegally and falsely claiming citizenship on a driver’s license application.

Brent Johnson speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Borough to provide maximum funding for school district

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District will receive less money from the state this year than it did last year.

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Pool manager and swim coach Will Hubler leads a treading water exercise at Kenai Central High School on Tuesday.
Pools, theaters, libraries in jeopardy as cuts loom

The district issued “notices of non-retention” to all its pool managers, library aides and theater technicians.

A sockeye salmon is pictured in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Fishing slow on Russian River, improving on Kenai

Northern Kenai fishing report for Tuesday, June 17.

Josiah Kelly, right, appears for a superior court arraignment at the Kenai Courthouse in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Anchor Point man accepts plea deal for November shootings

Buildings operated by a local health clinic and an addiction recovery nonprofit were targeted.

Most Read