Robert V. Freeman, a Kasilof man who was sentenced in 1999 for murdering two Kenai Peninsula women, died Sunday at the Anchorage Correctional Center.

He was 71.

Freeman died of natural causes, according to an Alaska State Troopers dispatch.

On Sunday at 4:54 p.m., the Alaska Bureau of Investigation Major Crimes Unit received a report about Freeman’s death. Troopers have reported he died due to natural causes, but the state’s Medical Examiner Officer was notified.

No foul play is suspected.

A Kenai jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts against Freeman on Dec. 1, 1999.

Freeman was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder for the fatal shootings of Jean Iwaszko, 33, of Kasilof and Tracy Eason, 28, of Soldotna.

He also was convicted on three counts of third-degree assault — one for each of the prosecution’s three star witnesses who were either present during or shortly after the shootings.

He shot the two women during an alcohol-fueled rage on the night of July 17, 1998.

After a night at a local bar, Freeman, his girlfriend and two other women went back to his secluded log cabin.

An argument erupted. He grabbed a double-action .44 magnum pistol and shot the two women multiple times. The third woman, Sharene Baker Christensen, ran and hid in a bathroom, and later behind a chair as the gunman stalked around the house.

The case was distinguished from most homicide cases by the number of witnesses present during the crime and the harrowing tales they told, said then-Kenai District Attorney Dwayne McConnell during his closing argument. 

Luckily, there were only four bullets in Freeman’s gun, he said. 

Jersy Shedlock if a reporter for the
Peninsula Clarion.