(DOWNLOAD) "Steven Bendle v. State Alaska" by Supreme Court of Alaska ~ Book PDF Kindle ePub Free

August 04, 2021

eBook details

Title: Steven Bendle v. State Alaska
Author : Supreme Court of Alaska
Release Date : January 08, 1978
Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
Pages : * pages
Size : 59 KB

Description

BURKE, Justice. Opinion. Steven L. Bendle appeals his conviction of first degree murder 1 and sentence of life imprisonment. The events giving rise to Bendle's conviction took place in April of 1975. At that time Bendle, then 20 years old, and a companion, William Rust, decided to hitchhike from Anchorage to California with their two girlfriends, both of whom were juveniles. In order to get provisions for the trip, Bendle and his companions broke into his parents' house while they were away and took food, blankets, backpacks, and other supplies they thought they might need. Among the items taken was a .32 caliber semi-automatic pistol. On April 21, 1975, the four individuals began hitchhiking toward the Canadian border, arriving the next day in Tok, Alaska. By that time they had spent most of the money they had brought with them and were apparently becoming discouraged with their means of travel to California. The four made their way to a local campground where they began to discuss the feasibility of robbing someone to obtain money and transportation. They spent the night at the campground and, the next morning, Bendle and Rust went to a local grocery store where they stole some food. Shortly after they returned, a sixty-year old man named Arthur Graham drove into the campground in a camper truck. After Graham had parked his truck, one of the girls approach him and asked for some water. She then returned to the group and reported that the man appeared to be alone. As a result, it was decided that he would be the robbery victim. Bendle and Rust walked over to the camper and began talking with Graham, discussing such things as weather and road conditions in Canada, the amount of traffic on the highway, and how to cross the border into Canada without going through customs. Although Bendle had the pistol with him at the time, he decided not to rob Graham then because of the possibility that Graham might have a gun in his camper. When Graham began preparing his lunch, Bendle and Rust left him to rejoin the girls and further discuss how the robbery might best be accomplished.