Alaska Woman Convicted of Murdering Her Court-Appointed Supervisor

An Alaska woman has been found guilty of murdering a man whose body was found a day after he was appointed to be her supervisor by a court.

Keith Huss, 57, was found dead on Sept. 29, 2020 in a rest area in Hope, Alaska, the state’s Department of Law said in a press release this week. 

On Monday, Dec. 23, a jury convicted Sarah Dayan for his murder and several other crimes, the press release said. 

During the murder investigation, police learned that Huss was appointed Dayan’s third-party court supervisor on Sept. 28, 2020 as a condition of her release from detention on bail. Huss was last seen picking up Dayan from a correctional facility in Kenai before heading to Anchorage, reportedly to work at his food truck. 

Early the next morning, a passing motorist found Huss’ body in a rest area and notified authorities. Investigators determined that Huss had been shot four times and struck with a vehicle, per the press release. 

Following a manhunt, state troopers arrested Dayan on Oct. 1, 2020, in Seward, about 2 hours away from Kenai. 

They learned that Dayan had recently purchased a pistol matching the murder weapon; they also determined that damage to Dayan’s vehicle was consistent with damage that could be caused from striking Huss, the Law Department said.

Following the killing, Dayan also used Huss’ bank account to buy goods and transferred “hundreds of dollars” to her bank account from his, per the press release. 

In an obituary posted soon after his death, his family shared Huss was “always the largest and loudest personality in the room.” He enjoyed fishing and connecting with people.

“Few people ever met Keith without remembering,” read part of the obituary. “Chance meetings turned into enduring friendships and Keith embraced and nurtured these daily.”

Following the verdict, Huss’ brother said it was a “huge relief” for the family.

“We’ve talked a lot about closure I think with our friends and I didn’t really think it was about closure because my brother’s going to kind of always be with us,” Michael Huss said, per KTUU. “But what I didn’t appreciate was how much weight was put on us to find justice for Keith, and it’s been over four years and it’s just a huge relief.”

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Dayan was convicted of one count each of first and second-degree murder, burglary and firearm possession. She was also convicted of several counts of theft and three counts of violating her bail conditions, the Department of Law said in the release.

She is scheduled to be sentenced in May.