Psychiatric Nurse Allegedly Killed 'Charismatic' Landlord, Police Find Chilling Recording on Phone: 'Help Me' By Samira Asma-Sadeque

A traveling psychiatric nurse in Alaska has allegedly admitted to killing her landlord who was found dead in his home last week.

John “Skip” Dove Jr., 78, was found with multiple stab wounds in his Soldotna, Alaska home on Tuesday, Aug. 5, by officers responding to a 911 call, KTUU, the Anchorage Daily News and local radio station KDLL reported, citing authorities.

Police arrested 31-year-old LaShaunda Lewis in connection with Dove’s killing. She was a tenant for three months at Dove’s residence, per the Anchorage Daily News.

According to an arrest affidavit obtained by all three outlets, police were at the residence on Aug. 4, while conducting a welfare check requested by Lewis’ family.

The family member requested the check after the two spoke on the phone and Lewis, the family member said, was behaving strangely during the call, the Anchorage Daily News and KDLL reported, citing the affidavit.

When police arrived, Lewis reportedly told them she needed to check herself in for a psychiatric evaluation, but declined to get one, per the affidavit, KTUU and the Anchorage Daily News reported.

The following day, troopers responded to a 911 call at the residence and found Lewis naked and bleeding.

She was transported to a medical facility owing to self-inflicted injuries, per authorities, before police found Dove’s body on the ground. He had been stabbed several times.

When speaking to police, Lewis allegedly admitted to the killing and claimed she could not remember several details. She allegedly said there was a “struggle” before Dove’s killing, according to investigators, KTUU and the Anchorage Daily News reported.

In a video found on Dove’s phone, Lewis was heard whispering “help me” and “he tried to kill me,” KTUU reported, citing investigators’ account.

Dove, a Vietnam war veteran, is being remembered by friends and family as “charismatic” and friendly. He lost his wife in 2023, the family said.

“He has this human magnetism about him. He just can attract a crowd, they like being around him,” his brother Peter Dove told KTUU. “It’s very difficult to explain. It’s a gift of God.”

“He didn’t know a stranger,” his friend Chuck Winters said. “He had all the classic characteristics you need to be like an effective human, but on multiple levels, because he could relate to anyone. He could talk to anyone. Never met a stranger.”

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

Lewis has been charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder, according to online court records reviewed by PEOPLE. Records did not indicate plea and attorney information.