When an Alaskan fishing vessel is found abandoned and aflame the morning after a storm, it quickly becomes apparent that its crew encountered something much darker than the wrath of the sea. Investigators sift through ash in search of fragments of the murdered crew, uncovering pieces of Alaska’s worst unsolved mass murder in this episode of Last Seen Alive.
The Investor–a top-of-the-line fishing seiner owned and skippered by Mark Coulthurst–was found flaming by another fisherman. Investigators found the remains of numerous victims aboard. Mark and Irene Coulthurst were happily married with two young children and a third on the way at the time of their murders. Image source: family photo / Laurie Hart.The Coulthursts’ young children, John and Kimberly, were killed along with the adults aboard The Investor. Image source: family photo.Jerome Keown and Dean Moon were two of the Investor’s crew members. They, along with everyone else on board The Investor, were murdered. Image source: family photos.Chris Heyman was one of The Investor’s crew members. He, along with everyone else on board The Investor, was murdered. Image source: family photo.Pictured: Kimberly and John Coulthurst, along with their cousin, Mike Stewart,, who was a member of The Investor’s crew. All were murdered. Image source: family photo / Laurie Hart.These suspect sketches depict a man (and presumed killer) seen speeding away from the flaming Investor on its skiff boat. Image source: law enforcement via The Fisherman’s Journal.Numerous fisherman identified John Kenneth Peel (pictured) as the man depicted in the suspect sketch. He had once worked for Mark Coulthurst, but had been fired. Peel was eventually charged with the murders, but never convicted. Image source: family photo.Investigators determined that fire had been deliberately set to The Investor in order to conceal evidence. The victims aboard had been fatally shot prior to the fire.
If you have any information on the deaths of the victims who died aboard The Investor, please contact the Alaska Department of Public Safety at 907-269-5511.
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