Excursion Inlet from the air. (Janine Allen, KHNS)
A remote Southeast community was the scene of an alleged homicide on Sunday.
Juneau’s Mark De Simone is charged with first- and second-degree murder in the shooting death of 34-year-old Duilio ‘Tony’ Rosales in Excursion Inlet. Rosales is also from Juneau. De Simone is also charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
Juneau Assistant District Attorney Amy Paige said Tuesday afternoon charging a variety of offenses is not uncommon in case like this.
“The state will charge every theory of an offense that the facts might warrant in order that we can present that to a grand jury for them to make a determination about what specific charge the evidence supports,” she said.
According to charging documents, a call went out to troopers from the U.S. Coast Guard around 7:30 Sunday evening reporting that someone had been shot in the head in Excursion Inlet. Excursion Inlet is a secluded community 40 miles west of Juneau in the Haines Borough with a year-round population of less than a dozen.
When Trooper Ryan Anderson arrived by plane a couple of hours later, he said he saw six men on the beach in front of a cabin. According to court documents, one man handed him a .41-caliber magnum revolver and stated that it was likely the weapon used in the shooting.
Trooper spokesperson Tim De Spain said that while there was a group in the area on a hunting trip, it is not believed that either man involved in the shooting was part of the hunting group.
Trooper Anderson located Rosales lying in a pool of blood under a picnic table with what appeared to be two gunshot wounds to the back of his head.
The charging documents said that Rosales appeared to have been sitting on the picnic table removing his boots when he was shot and then rolled onto the ground. The trooper noted that Rosales was wearing an empty holster on his hip.
A witness told Anderson that he ran into De Simone shortly after he heard gun shots and De Simone told him “I shot Tony. I shot him. It’s my fault.”
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 27 in Juneau Superior Court.
Rosales’ next of kin have been notified.
An online fundraising page states that Rosales is married with two children. It says that Rosales, originally from Nicaragua, came to Alaska in 2011 and worked at jewelry store in Juneau.
