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A former employee of an assisted living facility in Alaska has confessed to the murder of a resident, years after she vanished without a trace.
Kirby Calderwood entered a guilty plea on February 5 to second-degree murder charges in connection with the death of Anesha “Duffy” Murnane, as stated in a press release from the State of Alaska Department of Law.
Murnane, who was cherished by her community, disappeared on October 17, 2019, after she was last seen leaving the Homer, Alaska assisted living facility where she resided.
Despite extensive search efforts aimed at locating the missing 38-year-old, her whereabouts remained unknown for years, leaving her fate shrouded in mystery.
In 2022, a breakthrough came when a tipster contacted the Peninsula Crime Stoppers in Kenai, alleging that Calderwood had abducted and killed the preschool teacher. As reported by the Anchorage Daily News, Murnane was known to have faced mental health challenges.
Then in 2022, a tipster reached out to the Peninsula Crime Stoppers in Kenai to report that Calderwood kidnapped and murdered the preschool teacher, who according to Anchorage Daily News, struggled with mental health issues.
Calderwood’s wife also told police that he’d confessed to killing Murnane in the crawlspace of his then-girlfriend’s parents home, per the statement.
Investigators discovered evidence that contained Murnane’s DNA inside the space, although her remains have never been recovered.
During a search of Calderwood’s Utah home, where he moved after the murder, police and the FBI also found Murnane’s watch and a missing person flyer for her hidden inside a drawer.
As part of the plea deal, Calderwood, who once worked as a direct service provider at the assisted living facility, is expected to be sentenced to 99 years in prison, which includes 87 years of active jail time and a 12 years suspended sentence. He is scheduled to be formally sentenced on July 1.
Anesha “Duffy” Murnane’s Family Pleased With the Plea Deal
Murnane’s stepfather Ed Berg told the Anchorage Daily News that the family had been pleased with the plea deal because it kept the case out of the courtroom.
“The details of the crime that would be brought out in full gore in a trial situation,” he explained. “The public doesn’t need to know that.”
He added that the family didn’t want to take the risk that Calderwood could be acquitted.
“This person is a serious psychopath,” he said, “and just shouldn’t be allowed in the public.”
Murnane’s mother Sara Coner Murnane Berg died in January 2024. Although she suffered from health issues, she noted in an obituary she penned herself that she believed the death of her “sweet daughter” had also contributed to her death.
“Cancer or heart disease will be on the death certificate,” she wrote, “but we all know that the real cause was the loss of my dear Duffy.”