Judge Schulz received another missive from the Richard Hunt on February 3, 1986. This time, Hunt was determined not to leave out anything. After insisting that he was an innocent man — and that “every word I’ve said is fact and truth” – Hunt launched into a finely crafted tale that matched Mary Anne Henry’s summary to the word. He repeated his tale of drug deals gone bad, of an organized crime group called “The Family,” and implicated John Peel in the robbery and arson of the Investor.
But Hunt was not content with stories of drugs and murder. In April or May of 1983, Hunt claimed, he had been at the King Salmon Hotel and Bar in Petersburg. As he left the bar, his missive said, he was approached by a little boy.
Later that same day, according to Hunt’s missive, he saw the “baby-sitter” and “Mark Coulthurst, Jr.,” again.
One thing the second letter seems to clear up is whether Kimberly Coulthurst was, in Hunt’s telling, still alive in the days following the murders. Yes, apparently, she was alive and well in Petersburg with her brother, Mark Coulthurst, Jr. Of course, that wasn’t the given name of Mark and Irene Coulthurst’s son.
This was news — if one can call it that — of the worst sort. With its inconsistencies and wide swings from what was known, it had the odor of frantic fantasies. Richard Hunt was being too helpful. It smacked of someone with his own agenda.
Excerpts from the unpublished original manuscript, “Sailor Take Warning,” by Leland E. Hale. That manuscript, started in 1992 and based on court records from the Alaska State Archive, served as the basis for “What Happened in Craig.”
Copyright Leland E. Hale (2019). All rights reserved.
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