Monday, April 29, 2002

Ketchikan teen accused of murder in baby’s death
A Ketchikan teen-ager is in jail in Seattle, accused of first degree murder in the Saturday death of a Ketchikan infant.
Ketchikan police say Josh Rowden, 16, was arrested by Seattle Police Department investigators on a State of Alaska warrant. He is being held without bail in Seattle.
Dead is 7-week-old Adrian Fackrell. Ketchikan police say his mother, Leah Fackrell, brought him to Ketchikan General Hospital on April 16. According to police, the infant, who was born March 5 in Ketchikan, had bleeding around his brain in two areas, and bruises on his face, shoulder, leg and lower back.
Ketchikan Police Chief Grant Sirevog said Adrian was medivacked to Seattle Children’s Hospital, where he also was found to have fractures of both tibias, a spiral fracture of his right femur, two broken ribs, and bacterial meningitis. Doctors there said his injuries were consistent with abuse, according to police. Sirevog said Rowden, the mother’s boyfriend, indicated he had shaken the baby.
Adrian died at 8:38 a.m. Alaska time Saturday, Sirevog said. The Alaska warrant charging Rowden with first degree murder was served shortly after noon that same day.

Tuesday, April 30, 2002

Extradition pending for teen accused in baby’s death
A 16-year-old boy accused of murdering a 7-week-old baby has yet to decide whether to fight extradition from Seattle, according to police, but Ketchikan officers are confident that, eventually, Josh S. Rowden will face charges here.
Rowden was charged with first-degree murder Saturday afternoon in the death of Adrian Fackrell. According to court records, Adrian was brought to Ketchikan General Hospital with severe injuries on April 16 and flown to Children’s Hospital in Seattle for treatment.
Ketchikan Police Chief Sirevog said the state Division of Family and Youth Services reported suspected abuse to police April 19. By then, he said, Rowden and Adrian’s mother, Leah Fackrell, were in Seattle with Adrian.
Richie Sonner, children services manager for the DFYS Southeast region, said Monday that her agency received information about Adrian on April 17, and acted on it the next day. She said the division took more time to investigate the matter because Adrian was in the hospital and no longer in the custody of Rowden and Fackrell. Sonner said a local DFYS representative interviewed hospital workers on April 19.

Family supports teen accused of infant’s murder
The 18-year-old mother of an infant who died Saturday, allegedly at the hands of the mother’s 16-year-old boyfriend, said Wednesday that police should look elsewhere for her son’s killer.
Leah Fackrell said her son was healthy and happy most of his seven weeks of life, and was well-loved by Josh Rowden, the accused boyfriend.
Rowden was charged with first-degree murder Saturday afternoon in Adrian’s death. Adrian, then six weeks old, was brought to Ketchikan General Hospital on April 16 with severe injuries doctors said were consistent with abuse, according to charging documents filed in court by police. He was flown that day to Children’s Hospital in Seattle for treatment. Leah Fackrell and Rowden’s father, James Rowden of Ketchikan, talked Wednesday with the Daily News at James Rowden’s home. During the interview, both expressed disbelief that Josh Rowden ever hurt Adrian.
Fackrell said Adrian was fine until April 12, when she and Josh Rowden left the baby for the day in the care of a babysitter. The next day, she said, Josh Rowden noticed Adrian seemed to be in pain. The infant also seemed listless and ill, she said. They made a doctor’s appointment for the next week, she said, but then on April 16, Adrian’s condition worsened. They rushed Adrian to the doctor, she said, and that’s when the suspicion of abuse began.
She said that Ketchikan police refuse to investigate the possibility of additional suspects. Ketchikan Police Chief Grant Sirevog said Wednesday that police have interviewed everyone who could possibly be involved in the case, some of them twice.
“There’s no new information that changes the course of this investigation whatsoever,” he said.
Fackrell returned to Ketchikan from Seattle on Tuesday. She said she came back to support her boyfriend. District Attorney Steve West said Wednesday that Josh Rowden has refused to waive extradition back to Alaska, so the state must file a governor’s warrant to return him to the state. West said such warrants result in a suspect’s return “virtually 100 percent of the time.”
Authorities are holding Josh Rowden without bail at the King County Correctional Center in Seattle.

 $100,000 bail set for youth accused in killing baby
 Wednesday, May 15, 2002

A 17-year-old boy accused of murder made his first court appearance Tuesday in Ketchikan District Court. Bail was set at $100,000 cash.
Josh S. Rowden is charged with first-degree murder for the April 27 death of 7-week-old Adrian Fackrell, the son of Rowden’s girlfriend, Leah Fackrell.
Until recently, Rowden was in custody in Seattle, where he was arrested on the charges. He was extradited back to Ketchikan, where he remains at the Ketchikan Correctional Center. Fackrell, 18, and Rowden’s father have said Rowden is innocent.
Josh Rowden’s next court appearance is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. May 24 in Ketchikan District Court. It is a preliminary hearing, which usually is canceled if a defendant is indicted by a grand jury before the scheduled court date. If he is indicted, Josh Rowden’s next court appearance likely would be an arraignment in Ketchikan Superior Court.

Wednesday, May 29, 2002

Grand jury indicts youth, 17, in baby’s death
A grand jury on Thursday indicted a 17-year-old accused of murdering an infant last month on three separate charges. Josh S. Rowden originally was charged with one count of first-degree murder for the April 27 death of his girlfriend’s son, 7-week-old Adrian Fackrell. A Ketchikan grand jury added two more charges: Second-degree murder and manslaughter.
District Attorney Steve West said Tuesday that the three charges are different theories of the alleged crime and provide some options for the state and jury if the case goes to trial.
Adrian — the son of Leah Fackrell — was born March 5, and was brought to the Ketchikan General Hospital on April 16 with severe injuries doctors said were consistent with abuse, according to charging documents filed in court by police.
A hearing for Rowden had been scheduled last week with Superior Court Judge Michael Thompson. However, the state requested the case be reassigned to a different judge. As of Tuesday, no new judge had been assigned, and no new hearings were scheduled. Rowden remains in the Ketchikan Correctional Center on $100,000 bail.

Sunday, June 02, 2002

Teen pleads innocent in infant death case
Josh S. Rowden, 17, pleaded innocent Friday to charges of first- and second-degree murder as well as manslaughter for allegedly killing 7-week-old Adrian Fackrell in April.
Superior Court Judge Larry Weeks set an Aug. 26 jury trial.
The prosecution and the defense for Rowden each used their judge-bumping privileges this week. After the two Ketchikan Superior Court judges were bumped, the case was assigned Friday to Judge Weeks of Juneau.
Rowden is in custody at the Ketchikan Correctional Center. After a grand jury indicted him on the charges May 23, his case was assigned to Superior Court Judge Michael Thompson. The prosecution requested a different judge, and the case was reassigned Tuesday to Superior Court Judge Trevor Stephens. The defense then requested a change, and Weeks took over the case Friday.
Each side in a criminal case is allowed one unquestioned judge change. After that, if one side wishes an additional change, a good reason is required.
Rowden’s next scheduled court appearance is 1:15 p.m. July 31 in Ketchikan Superior Court.

Thursday, August 01, 2002

Teen accused in baby death gets trial delay
The trial of a Ketchikan teen accused of killing an infant has been delayed until early December.
Josh S. Rowden, 17, will go to trial Dec. 2 rather than Aug. 26, as originally planned. His attorney, Barb Kissner of the Ketchikan public defender’s office, asked Wednesday in Ketchikan Superior Court for a delay because the medical records pertinent to the case are not yet available.
Rowden, who is in custody at the Ketchikan Correctional Center, is charged with first- and second-degree murder as well as manslaughter for allegedly killing 7-week-old Adrian Fackrell. Adrian was the son of Rowden’s girlfriend, Leah Fackrell.
Rowden’s next scheduled court appearance is 9 a.m. Aug. 23 in Ketchikan Superior Court.

Friday, November 29, 2002

Murder trial delayed KDN Staff

The trial of a Ketchikan teenager accused of killing his girlfriend’s infant son has been delayed for a second time. Josh S. Rowden’s trial, which was scheduled to start Monday, has been pushed back until April 1. The defense made the motion for the delay at a hearing Monday.

District Attorney Steve West said the defense asked for more time for discovery and to work with an expert witness.

Rowden is charged with first- and second-degree murder and manslaughter for allegedly killing 7-week-old Adrian Fackrell. Fackrell was brought to the Ketchikan General Hospital on April 16 with severe injuries. Doctors said the injuries appeared to have been caused by abuse, according to charging documents filed in court by the Ketchikan Police Department. Fackrell died several days after being admitted to the hospital