Widow called to testify in Coast Guard murder case

  • By Dan Joling
  • Thursday, April 17, 2014 9:29pm
  • News

ANCHORAGE — The widow of a Coast Guardsman shot to death two years ago at a Kodiak communications station was called by defense attorneys Thursday to answer questions about their marital problems, their finances and her familiarity with the murder scene.

In emotional testimony, Deborah Hopkins answered questions in the trial of James Wells, 62, who’s charged with first-degree murder in the death on April 12, 2012, of Petty Officer First Class James Hopkins, 41, and civilian employee Richard Belisle, 51, at the Rigger Shop, a building where all three men worked constructing and repairing communications antennas.

Defense attorneys contend investigators immediately focused in on Wells and ignored other possible suspects.

When prosecutors got the chance to cross-examine Deborah Hopkins, special assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Duigan aimed to quickly put to rest whether Deborah Hopkins was a suspect.

“Did you kill your husband?” Duigan asked.

“No,” Hopkins said.

Deborah Hopkins under questioning by defense attorney Peter Offenbecher acknowledged that her husband had an emotional affair with a woman several months before they moved to Kodiak in about 2009. Her husband had even brought home divorce papers, she said, but they reconciled.

After three years in Kodiak, Hopkins was offered a job by a high school friend constructing antennas in Italy. He planned to retire in summer 2012, visit a new grandson in North Carolina and then move to Italy for the job, Deborah Hopkins said.

She said she had told investigators in an interview that she had been stressed out about the couple’s finances on occasion but that the only loans they had were on a pickup truck and all-terrain vehicles. She was not aware, she said, of her husband’s $400,000 life insurance policy, the reimbursement she would receive from the Coast Guard for his death while on duty, or the details of bonds he owned with other family members. She trusted him to take care of the finances, she said, in their marriage of nearly 20 years.

“My husband didn’t talk to me about stuff like that,” she said.

She told an investigator the family had about eight guns, including a handgun kept in a desk that James Hopkins carried on four-wheeler trips. Friends removed the guns after James Hopkins’ death, she said. She said she had often visited the shop to eat lunch with her husband or leave him a love note until she was instructed by his supervisor not to do so.

Investigators have said Wells’ motive in the shooting was unhappiness over the Coast Guard reining in the independence he had enjoyed for years and making him increasingly irrelevant through the advancement of Hopkins and Belisle.

But Deborah Hopkins acknowledged telling investigators that her husband didn’t have a problem with Wells, a man she called “Santa Claus” because of his long, white beard.

The Hopkins’ daughter, Angela Birchfield, also was called to testify. She acknowledged telling investigators that she thought her parents’ marriage might end but that her father took more of an interest in family matters after her pregnancy.

Wells’ attorneys began their defense with testimony on a vehicle spotted on a security camera moving toward and away from the murder scene minutes. Prosecutors contend Wells drove his wife’s blue Honda CRV to the Rigger Shop and committed the murders.

Crash investigator Michael DiTallo of Chicago-based Dynamic Safety LLC testified that the vehicle in the grainy image could have been a compact SUV manufactured by eight or more companies, including Chevrolet, Ford Hyundai, Honda, Jeep, Isuzu, Nissan or Toyota.

Federal public defender investigator Deatrich Sheffield said 263 blue vehicles registered on Kodiak Island fit the same dimensions and that did not include Coast Guardsmen cars registered in other states.

More in News

People carrying flags and signs line the Sterling Highway for a “No Kings” protest in Soldotna, Alaska, on Saturday, June 14, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna ‘No Kings’ protest draws hundreds

The nationwide protest came the same day as a military parade organized at the behest of the Trump administration.

Council member Jordan Chilson speaks during a Soldotna City Council work session in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna council mulls change to meeting time

Meetings would be moved from 6 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. under a resolution set to be considered on June 25.

Mountain View Elementary School is photographed on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Mountain View vandalized by children, police say

Staff who arrived at the school on Monday found significant damage, according to police.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy compares Alaska to Mississippi data on poverty, per-pupil education spending, and the 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress 4th grade reading scores during a press conference on Jan. 31, 2025. Alaska is highlighted in yellow, while Mississippi is in red. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Dunleavy vetoes education funding to $500 BSA increase

Per-student funding was increased by $700 in an education bill passed by the Alaska Legislature in May.

The entrance to the Kenai Peninsula Job Center is seen here in Kenai, Alaska on April 15, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)
Minimum wage increases to $13 per hour on July 1

Since 2014, Alaska’s minimum wage has increased from $7.75 to $11.91 through the Alaska Wage and Hour Act.

Leads for the Sterling Safety Corridor Improvements Project field questions and showcase their “preferred design” during an open house meeting at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Preferred design alternative for Sterling Highway safety corridor introduced at town hall

The project is intended to redesign and construct improvements to the highway to reduce the number of fatal and serious collisions.

Alaska State Troopers badge. File photo
Recovered remains confirmed to be missing Texas boaters; fourth set of remains found

Remains were recovered from the vessel sank that in Kachemak Bay last August.

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Superintendent Clayton Holland speaks during a meeting of the KPBSD Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
KPBSD issues notice of non-retention to pool managers, theater techs and library aides

Those notices were issued due to the ongoing uncertainty in state education funding.

National Guard members put on hazmat suits before entering the simulation area on Monday, June 9, 2025. (Natalie Buttner / Juneau Empire)
National Guard begins exercise in Juneau simulating foreign terrorist attacks

Operation ORCA brings 100 personnel to Juneau, disrupts traffic around Capitol.

Most Read