Left: Kirby Calderwood. Right: Anesha "Duffy" Murnane (Homer Police Department).
A 36-year-old man murdered a patient he knew from his time working at an Alaska assisted living facility, ditching her body in a crawl space at his girlfriend's house and keeping a trophy from his kill.
Kirby Calderwood pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 38-year-old Anesha "Duffy" Murnane in Homer, which is roughly 220 miles southeast of Anchorage. In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors dropped eight other charges including first-degree murder, kidnapping, tampering with evidence, manslaughter and sexual assault, according to Homer NPR affiliate KBBI.
Murnane, who suffered from bipolar disorder, went missing on Oct. 17, 2019, from the Main Tree Housing where she lived. Her disappearance captivated the small community along the Kenai Peninsula and prompted a search by cops, firefighters and residents. Yet authorities have never recovered her body.
The big break in the case occurred in 2022 when a Crime Stopper tip said Calderwood kidnapped, murdered and disposed of Murnane's body. Authorities determined that Calderwood had worked at the facility in 2018. Calderwood's wife told cops that he admitted to her that he killed the victim in the crawl space of his then-girlfriend's house. After murdering her and ditching the remains, he moved to Utah.
Cops searched the crawl space and found Murnane's DNA.
Police in Ogden, Utah, executed several search warrants. During one of those searches, at Calderwood's home, "a small ladies Timex watch with a black band was found in Calderwood's clothes dresser drawer," according to affidavits filed in the case obtained by Anchorage NBC affiliate KTUU
"Calderwood kept Murnane's wristwatch, that would light up when a button on the side was pushed, and that it may have been a Timex," the affidavit quotes the anonymous tip as alleging. "Photos of Murnane show a small black watch."
"This exactly matches the watch the Kenai Crime Stoppers TIPS caller had described and Murnane's mother and stepfather had described," the affidavit reportedly states. "Additionally, a missing-person flyer was found next to the same dresser."
As Law&Crime previously reported, Calderwood allegedly told investigator Matt Haney that he knew Murnane when he worked at the facility.
Over the course of the investigation, the Homer Police Department says it fielded hundreds of tips. Eventually, however, one of those tips named Calderwood specifically and, according to police, included details that allowed investigators to hone in on their suspect.
In an affidavit filed by Haney, who was hired by the Homer Police Department, two women previously involved in romantic relationships with the defendant said that Calderwood had committed sexual violence against them — including rape. Those allegations were said to have been made to the U.S. Army. It is unclear what action, if any, the armed forces agency took in response to those claims. One of those women said Calderwood had admitted to hurting animals since he was a child. The affidavit also cites other women who made similar claims about the defendant's alleged sexual violence and disturbing behavior.
"Calderwood has an extensive history of abusive violent sexual behavior towards women and fantasized about torturing and killing someone," Haney reportedly alleged in that court document.
One tip mentioned in the affidavit clued investigators into specific details that were allegedly directly relevant to the Murnane case.
The affidavit reportedly goes on to say Calderwood told the tipster that he was driving around looking for his victim when he spotted her, picked her up in his blue Subaru, and brought her to the empty house. There, the defendant allegedly told his victim that he needed to get a phone charger from inside and that she could come in while he retrieved it. Murnane is said to have accepted the offer. She was subsequently tortured and killed, the affidavit says. Calderwood allegedly further admitted that he threw Murnane's cellular phone in a lake before concealing her body and leaving it in a dumpster.
Calderwood is slated to be sentenced on July 1. The plea agreement calls for a 99-year prison sentence with 12 years suspended.
Colin Kalmbacher contributed to this report
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