Active duty soldier out on bail charged with murder in Fairbanks homicide, FPD says

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU/KTVF) - An active-duty soldier in Fairbanks who was out on bail was arrested and charged with murder on Sunday, according to the Fairbanks Police Department.

Fort Wainwright soldier Adayus Robertson, 24, was charged with first-degree murder, tampering with evidence, and two counts of violating conditions of release in connection to the death of 37-year-old Joseph Casas of Fairbanks.

Casas was fatally shot in Fairbanks Friday, according to Fairbanks police.

The city’s emergency communication center at 9:52 a.m. Friday received a report of shots fired at an apartment on 27th Avenue, according to FPD. Responding officers located Casas with a gunshot wound to the head.

Fairbanks Fire Department transported Casas to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased. After speaking to contacts at the apartment complex, officers began looking for Robertson, who was known to be on conditions of release in two court cases and was wearing an ankle monitor.

Robertson was located by officers at the Big Dipper Ice Arena on Sunday. He was found with a handgun magazine, and a firearm was later recovered from a dumpster near the scene of the homicide. Witnesses inside the apartment reported that Robertson and Casas were in the same room when the gunshot was heard.

FPD say Casas and Robertson were known to each other.

FPD Chief Ron Dupee said Robertson’s monitor did not have a geofence that would send off an alert when Robertson passed a certain boundary.

However, Dupee added that the monitor allowed his location to be tracked, leading to his apprehension within 20 minutes of their response to the crime scene.

“Once the homicide had occurred and we learned that the identity of the suspect, one of our detectives had a previous case with them and was already ... on the phone with the jail because he thought he was still in custody at the time. He would then learn that he was released on pretrial, an ankle monitor, so we called pre-trial and he was able to get the GPS location from there.”

According to police, Robertson was on conditions of release stemming from two cases, one involving second-degree and third-degree assault, and one involving third-degree escape and violating conditions of release.

Under the conditions of release, Robertson was required to obey local, state, and federal laws, something an alleged murderer would violate.

According to a statement from the 11th Airborne Division, Pfc. Robertson is a “Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Specialist” who arrived at Fort Wainwright in October 2023.

Lt. Col. Leah Ganoni, 11th Airborne Division Public Affairs, confirmed that Robertson was living on base.

Next of kin have been notified. Robertson’s bail has been set at $2.5 million.

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