Today (Jan. 16th, 2024), 36-year-old Stephanie Olrun entered a guilty plea to the charge of Murder in the Second Degree for the March 12, 2021, murder of her 2-year-old adopted daughter, Jane Olrun. Bethel Superior Court Judge Nathaniel Peters accepted Olrun’s plea to one count of Murder in the Second Degree.
The charges of Murder in the First Degree, Assault in the First Degree, and Tampering with Physical Evidence were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
On March 12, 2021, Olrun’s sister called the Bethel Police Department (BPD) to report Olrun called her and said she lost control, and her two-year-old daughter was no longer alive. Olrun’s sister said Olrun told her Olrun was going to jail and asked her sister to pick up her children. Olrun’s sister said Olrun was calm and did not show any emotion during the call.
BPD officers went to Olrun’s house and found two-year-old Jane Olrun. They saw she was laying on a towel with her shirt opened, her eyes slightly open, and that she was unresponsive but still warm to the touch. Officers attempted chest compressions, and paramedics eventually took over care and transported her to the hospital, where a team of doctors and nurses attempted further life-saving measures. All attempts to revive baby Jane were unsuccessful, and she was declared deceased.
Olrun told officers she “just lost control” and said “I was kicking her, I threw her.” Medical personnel noted multiple injuries to Jane, including fresh and older injuries that were healing or had healed. The injuries included contusions, abrasions, suspected burns, lacerations and swelling to her head and face, including the skin of her upper eyelid, her nose, her lips and chin, a heavily bleeding injury to her left temple, as well as her neck, right arm and extremities, including both her hands and finger and feet and toes.
The medical team observed multiple scars on her body, as well as noted older injuries to her thigh, a healing fracture on her left upper jawbone, a healing fracture to her shoulder, a healing fracture on her right arm, and a possible healing fracture on the lower back portion of her skull. They also noted Jane appeared severely malnourished.
Judge Peters will determine Olrun’s sentence after a sentencing hearing scheduled for Aug. 26-28, 2024. The agreement between the parties permits the court to sentence Olrun to a range of 20 to 99 years with a maximum of 60 years of active jail time to serve. Olrun will remain in the custody of the Alaska Department of Corrections.
The case was investigated by the Bethel Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Bailey Woolfstead of the Office of Special Prosecutions’ Rural Prosecution Unit.
