Man Gets 300 Years in Prison for Triple Murder in Gold Shop

Lina PortmanMay 26, 2024

0 2 minutes read

Left: Anthony Pisano during his arraignment (AP Photo/Dan Joling); Right: At his sentencing hearing (Alaska Department of Law)

An Alaska man who murdered three other people during a precious metals heist gone horribly wrong has been sentenced to 300 years in prison.

Anthony Pisano, 50, was sentenced Thursday by Alaska Superior Court Judge Jack McKenna for the triple murder committed Sept. 12, 2017, at the Bullion Brothers store on Spenard Road in Anchorage, according to a news release issued Friday by the Alaska Department of Law. .

Justice in the case of the three victims, including the defendant's friend and store co-owner Steven Cook, 31, as well as employees Daniel McCreadie, 31, and Kenneth Hartman, 48, took a long time. to come – complicated by the onset and measures of judicial closure, the COVID-19 pandemic and, later, by a hung jury in a first trial.

After a second trial spanning more than three months, including around 50 witnesses, more than 1,000 pieces of evidence and a weekend of deliberations, Pisano was convicted by a jury of his peers on 10 counts of charges, including three of first degree murder. in November 2023.

During the prosecution's case, the State relied on the star testimony of Michael Dupree, another former friend of the defendant and co-owner of the store. Pisano was also convicted of assaulting Dupree and had sought to blame him for the violence that occurred at the store.

“He came in one morning and shot Steve,” Dupree said during the sentencing hearing. “No words, no fuss from Steve. No, he just looked at him face to face and shot him repeatedly. And a few moments later, he tried to point the gun at me.

During the trial, the state argued that Pisano killed Cook during the robbery, then killed McCreadie and Hartman — when they rushed into the building after hearing the first shots — to dispose of witnesses.

Defense attorney Kevin Fitzgerald said Pisano admitted shooting Hartman and McCreadie but did so in self-defense. Fitzgerald said the prosecution's theory of theft didn't make sense because Pisano could have stolen from the store “with impunity” since he and Cook were friends. According to the defense, Hartman and McCreadie were only shot that day because Piano thought they were armed — and they only arrived after Dupree shot Cook following a business dispute.

Dupree, however, was never charged. Investigators did not believe this version of events. Anchorage District Attorney Brittany Dunlop criticized the self-defense theory during the trial, calling it absurd because Hartman was shot in the back of the head, execution-style.

During sentencing, things took a dramatic and raw turn.

Cook's father held up a printed photo of a metal statue with a hollowed-out body cavity, using a visual metaphor for grief — and implored the defendant's attorney to look at the photo, too.

“It takes your whole heart and a giant hole in your chest,” the grieving parent said, then turned to the defense table. “I want you to watch this too. If you look over here, Mr. Fitzgerald.

The judge then cut the victim off.

Pisano was sentenced to a maximum of 99 years in prison for each murder, as well as a five-year sentence for attacking Dupree – with two years assessed concurrently or at the same time – for a combined sentence of 300 years.

“Judge McKenna heard the testimony and concluded that between the two trials, Pisano solicited another inmate to murder Michael Dupree,” the Justice Department press release explains. “He noted that Pisano demonstrated a significant level of premeditation and would have killed anyone who came in his escape route.”

David Harris contributed to this report.

Lina Portman

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