Chief Justice Buell Nesbett Talks About Neil Mackay
Buell Nesbett was the first Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court. His historic achievement came just as the Territory achieved Statehood in 1959. This jurist’s achievements are indeed legion, among them formulating and bringing into being the entire structure of Alaska’s nascent court system. Not surprisingly, Justice Nesbett had more than one encounter with attorney Neil Mackay. Count him among those who suspect Neil Mackay in the murder of Muriel Pfeil.
Credits
The University of Alaska, Fairbanks Oral History Program. It’s a trendsetting project, dedicated to capturing the memories and insights of Alaska’s historic judges. The interview of Judge Buell Nesbett is a three-part Oral History. We’ve focused on Nesbett’s interactions with Neil Mackay, covered in Part 2. Mackay was suspected — though neither charged nor convicted — of killing his ex-wife, Muriel Pfeil. It’s a fascinating story in itself, aided by Nesbett’s trenchant insights. It’s abundantly evident that there was no love lost between these two men.
Episode Summary
“This is a continuation of the interview with Judge Buell Nesbett on July 26, 1982 by Dr. Claus Naske in Solana Beach, California. This is a continuation of tape number Oral History 82-68-04. The interview continues on tape number Oral History 82-68-06. In this part of the interview, Buell Nesbett talks about the decision about the location of the Supreme Court, the use of SoundScriber machines to audio record court proceedings, the Alaska Bar/Court fight [involving Neil Mackay], [a] threat to his life, court rules and procedures, challenges in those early years of the Supreme Court, and hearing a fish trap case.”
Author’s Note: This sounds like “only in Alaska.”
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Copyright Leland E. Hale (2026)