In Alaska, a man was sentenced to 75 years in jail for a rape and murder in a University of Alaska Fairbanks dormitory that went unsolved for more than two decades. Monday, Steven Downs of Auburn, Maine declined to address the courtroom prior to the imposition of his sentence.
Sophie Sergie Alaska State Troopers
Sophie Sergie’s murder in 1993 baffled authorities until a DNA match using genetic genealogy tracking led them to Downs, who was arrested in Maine in 2019. In 1993, Downs was a freshman at UAF and stayed in the dorm where Sergie’s body was discovered.
Due to Downs’s health, the defense argued that any sentence longer than 20 years would be a life sentence. His attorney stated that he weighs more than 400 pounds and has hypertension.
The 48-year-old Downs will be eligible for parole after 25 years, according to the Sun Journal.
According to prosecutors, Downs lacked remorse. Officials reported that Sergie was sexually molested, shot in the head, and stabbed many times.
Sergie was a former UAF student, but she was not enrolled when she stayed with a dorm-dwelling buddy. According to court documents, she was last seen when she left to light a cigarette and her buddy suggested she smoke near the exhaust vents in the women’s shower area to avoid the cold.
On the afternoon of April 26, 1993, janitors discovered Sergie’s body in a tub in the shower room.
Downs did not testify at his February trial, and he was found guilty.
Steven Downs is escorted into an Anchorage, Alaska courthouse on August 6, 2019 for his arraignment. Downs, who is accused with the 1993 sexual assault and murder of 20-year-old Sophie Sergie on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus, has entered not-guilty pleas. Mark Thiessen / AP
Alexie, Sergie’s brother, told KTUU-TV that the case had taken a toll on the family during the years following Downs’ conviction. Their mother passed away in 2021, following Downs’s arrest but prior to his trial.
Alexie Sergie remarked, “On rare occasions, she would spontaneously weep for a short time.” “And she would begin a prayer and continue praying… I thought to myself, You know, one day they’ll find him, they will find him. Nobody can conceal themselves for so long.”