Serial Killer Found Dead in Jail in Indiana; Was Serving Time for Killing Many Women in Alaska
Joshua Wade, the convicted serial killer responsible for the deaths of five individuals in Alaska from 1994 to 2007, has passed away while serving his sentence in prison. He was 44 years old.
Wade’s passing at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City on June 14 was confirmed by the Indiana Department of Correction in a statement on Sunday, June 23.
According to Department of Correction spokesperson Brandi Pahl, Wade was discovered in an unresponsive state within his cell.
“Unfortunately, despite all efforts to save him, he was declared deceased,” Pahl continued. Additionally, he mentioned that an autopsy will be carried out.
The cause of death has not been disclosed.
According to a report, Wade was convicted of state and federal charges in Alaska and later transferred to an Indiana prison in 2014 as part of a deal with prosecutors.
In a press release issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in June 2014, it was revealed that Wade confessed to the murder of Della Brown, a woman from the Anchorage area, back in 2000 when he was just 20 years old. Brown’s body was discovered in a shed.
In that particular year, Wade faced charges related to the death of Brown, allegedly caused by striking her with a large rock. However, the jury found him guilty only of witness tampering, while acquitting him of murder and sexual assault charges, according to the Associated Press.
As reported, shortly after completing his probation for the witness tampering case in 2007, Wade committed the tragic act of kidnapping and murdering Mindy Schloss, a nurse practitioner and his neighbor in the Sand Lake neighborhood of Anchorage.
According to investigators, Schloss was tragically tortured and fatally shot. Her body was discovered over a month later, approximately 40 miles away from the city, following her reported disappearance.
Wade admitted to carjacking and killing Schloss in 2009, and as part of his conviction, he also confessed to killing Brown almost a decade earlier.
The FBI has reported that Wade later confessed to the Anchorage police and FBI agents about his involvement in the deaths of two additional men in 1994 and 1999. He also admitted to killing another man on the same night he murdered Brown in 2000.
The FBI’s press release states that investigators have identified the individuals murdered by Wade in the 1990s as a 38-year-old man named John Michael Martin and a 30-year-old man named Henry Ongtowasruk. These incidents occurred when Wade was 14 years old.
According to the AP, Wade received a 99-year prison sentence from an Alaska state court, while a federal court sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Wade expressed remorse during each sentencing. During the state sentencing, he expressed to the families of the two women.
During the federal court proceedings, Wade found himself in a tense exchange with U.S. District court Judge Ralph Beistline while attempting to offer another apology as reported by PEOPLE.
According to Alaska Public Media, Wade was born in Great Falls, Montana and later relocated to Alaska during childhood. He resided in Anchorage with his father and had experiences in juvenile jail facilities during his teenage years.
According to the outlet, numerous experts have pointed out that his killings serve as a stark illustration of the alarming rate of violent crimes targeting Alaska Natives.
In a press release from 2014, the FBI requested the public’s assistance in providing any information regarding Wade’s murders, which included the case of an unidentified man he confessed to killing in 2000.
