NBC Dateline: Where is former Nome police officer Matthew Owens now?

NBC Dateline will recount the murder of Sonya Ivanoff, a 19-year-old native woman who was shot to death by a Nome city police officer named Matthew Owens. Ivanoff was on her way home one August night in 2003 when Owens approached her in his patrolling car, which also happened to be the last time anyone saw her alive. Her naked dead body was found two days later.

Officer Owens was immediately fired from the Nome Police Department after incriminating evidence surfaced against him and eyewitnesses linked him to Sonya’s disappearance and murder. The case also revealed multiple s*xual assault allegations against the officer. He was found guilty, sentenced to 101 years in prison, and is likely still serving his jail term.

The episode, titled A Walk in the Rain, will air on Friday, October 14, 2022, at 9 pm ET.

Former Nome police officer Matthew Owens was charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence

Sources state that on the night Sonya Ivanoff mysteriously disappeared, Nome Police Department officer Matthew Owens was on duty and was spotted in the neighborhood where the 19-year-old was last seen. Multiple witnesses reported seeing Ivanoff enter a police car at about 1.30 am that night and a subsequent investigation revealed that Owens was driving the particular car in question.

In October 2003, Owens was accused of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence in Ivanoff’s murder case after incriminating proof linked him directly to the crime. He was tried in court about a year and a half after the incident occurred.

The prosecution claimed that Owens, a police officer at the time, perpetrated the murder and orchestrated the theft of a patrol car to mislead authorities and thwart the investigation. He also tried to destroy key evidence in the case. On the other hand, the defense asserted that there were other possible suspects.

The prosecution asserted that Matthew Owens, as a police officer, had “evidence awareness”

The prosecution’s case was significantly based on the absence of trace evidence, which suggested that the murderer had “evidence awareness” or was a trained police officer. Two witnesses spotted Ivanoff entering what they believed to be a police vehicle the night she went missing. Authorities said that Owens was aware of the disappearance before Ivanoff’s roommate officially reported her missing.

According to reports, a shell casing and a .22-caliber bullet found in Ivanoff’s skull matched a weapon that Matthew Owens could easily access. During opening remarks, the defense claimed that the bullet didn’t fit the rifle.

The prosecution also detailed accounts concerning the theft of the police car. Owens allegedly stole the car while at work and abandoned it in a gravel pit. His objective was to draw attention away from himself as a murder suspect. According to authorities, Owens later claimed that he discovered the allegedly stolen vehicle and was fired upon.

A jury found Matthew Owens guilty of all charges

Matthew Owens’ defense suggested that there were other suspects, citing friends of Ivanoff and other NPD officers as possibilities. The jury was deadlocked in the case, and it was deemed a mistrial.

A second trial was scheduled, and once again, Owens attempted to relocate the trial to Fairbanks or Anchorage, but the location was switched to Kotzebue. Owens was convicted of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence by the jury on December 6, 2005, and was given a 101-year jail term. Although his current whereabouts remain uncertain, it is likely that he is still serving his sentence.

Former Nome Police Department officer Matthew Owens still maintains his innocence.

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Edited by Sayati Das