Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
On August 10, 2003, a young woman named Sonya Ivanoff disappeared after having a night out with her friends. A few days later, the authorities discovered Ivanoff’s body inside a gravel pit. After a thorough investigation, the police found that an officer named Matthew Owens was responsible for Ivanoff’s death.
At the initial stage of investigation, the police interrogated a man that Sonya Ivanoff dated. However, they couldn’t find any evidence against him. As a result, the police cleared him, reported The Sun. The outlet also mentioned that the authorities received an anonymous tip from a woman who said she saw Ivanoff getting inside a police car. A few weeks later, one of police’s vehicles went missing, and authorities started searching for it. Eventually, Matthew Owens found the vehicle and noted that unknown assailants fired at him. The other officers arrived on the scene and saw that the windows of the car were broken.
The police investigated the vehicle and found a letter, along with Sonya Ivanoff’s missing ID. Citing the letter, The Sun reported that the anonymous writer threatened the police officers who were investigating Ivanoff’s case. The letter reportedly read, “Pigs. I hate cops, I hate everyone of you.“ Meanwhile, Owens told other officers about what happened after he found the vehicle.
As per the outlet, the officers had suspicions about what Owens said and asked him to take a polygraph test. He, along with another officer who was on duty at the time of Ivanoff’s disappearance, took the polygraph test. Owens failed the polygraph test, while the other officer passed. The police arrested Matthew Owens in October 2003 and sent to prison after the jury found him guilty. The court sentenced him to 101 years in prison.
Sonya Ivanoff’s murder case explored
As mentioned above, Sonya Ivanoff disappeared after enjoying a night out. According to The Sun, Ivanoff’s roommate reported her missing a few days later, after which the authorities started a massive search operation in and around Nome, Alaska. The police didn’t take much time to find Sonya Ivanoff’s body.
As per The Seattle Times, the police found Ivanoff’s naked body on the outskirts of Nome. The outlet also mentioned that Sonya Ivanoff died of a “single gunshot fired at close range to the back of her head.” In 2003, the authorities arrested Matthew Owens and charged him with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
The murder trial of Matthew Owens began in January 2005, and the prosecutors presented many pieces of evidence to prove Owens was indeed the killer. During the opening statements, the prosecution team noted that Owens killed Ivanoff and staged the theft of the police vehicle so that he won’t be questioned in the case. The prosecution team also talked about the letter that the authorities found in the missing vehicle.
According to the outlet, the prosecutors primarily based their case on the fact that the authorities were unable to find any trace evidence. In the statement, the prosecutors also indicated that the killer had “evidence awareness.” On the other hand, the prosecution team also suggested that the killer might be someone who has training in police work.
Owens was found guilty and sentenced to prison
The trial also saw the prosecution team talking about how Matthew Owens tried diverting the attention from himself by staging a car theft. Meanwhile, the defense kept arguing that Owens had nothing to do in the case and was innocent. However, the jury found Owens guilty of the murder of Sonya Ivanoff and sentenced him to 101 years in prison, reported The Sun.
The brutal murder case will be featured in this week’s episode of Dateline NBC. The episode will air on the network on Sunday, January 28, at 9 p.m. ET.
