The Investor Massacre: Alaska's Chilling Fishing Boat Murders
Unraveling the Brutal 1982 Mass Murder that Left Eight Dead and a Community Searching for Answers
It was late in the fishing season when the Investor docked into harbor in Craig, Alaska. Craig was a tiny fishing village with a reputation for being rowdy. It is a place where everyone knows everyone. It is a place where trust in each other is important, and they must depend on each other for survival.
The Investor, an expensive, high-tech commercial fishing boat was skippered by Mark Coulthurst, a hardworking, ambitious man. Mark was highly esteemed by his crew. He had brought with him four deckhands as well as his family. Brian, one of the deckhands’ brothers said that “Every one of his crew wanted to be like Mark. He was one of the best skippers around.” *
On that fateful night a storm was raging and Mark Coulthurst, his pregnant wife Irene, and his two children Kimberly aged 5 and John aged 4 went into the village to celebrate Mark’s birthday. The family returned around 9:30 that night. Later that evening the brutal murders of Mark, his family and several of the deckhands occurred. The killer tried to sink the boat but was unsuccessful. Later the next day, after the Investor was seen floating about a mile away, the killer set the fishing boat on fire, burning everything and the bodies that were aboard.
It was reported that the killer must have snuck onto the Investor and used a .22 caliber weapon to shoot the crew as they slept in their bunks. Mysteriously, the bodies of Dean Moon (19), Chris Heyman (18) and little John were never found. It has been assumed that the boat burned so hot the remains couldn’t be identified. Some people speculated that the only reason a person would kill children would be because they could identify you.
The investigators were following leads that did not pan out. However, in a dramatic turn of events, a local gas station owner, John Robinson, claimed to have sold gas to a shady guy just before the Investor was set afire. He identified a former employee of Mark Coulthurst, John Peel.
It would be two years before police would arrest John Peel. The arrest was based on his similarity to the sketches that witness gave of a white male in his 20s with a pockmarked complexion.
John Peel would eventually face two court trials. The first trial ended in a hung jury and the second trial ending in a not guilty decision. John Peel sued the state for wrongful prosecution and won $900,000.
John Peel said in an interview for People Magazine, “Somebody was responsible for this. Somebody out there knows what happened, but I am not going to waste any more of my life on it.”
To this day, this case is unsolved. To have it stay a mystery after all this time is a tragedy. With the fishing vessel burned as completely as it was, as well as the bodies on board, I can imagine that evidence would have been hard to find and collect. Of course, it was in the 1980’s and DNA and other forensic technology was a thing of the future. There was no cell phone photo evidence or CCTV footage available in those days. Let’s face it, the 80’s and the lack of knowledge, made it easier to get away with murder.
*Sources:
People Magazine Article: Exonerated Suspect in Unsolved Alaska Fishing Boat Mass Murder Breaks Silence by Johny Dodd 12/8/2017
The US Sun Article: Blood Red Tide Suspects’ Chilling Interaction After Allegedly Killing Entire Family on Alaska Fishing Boat Before Setting It on Fire by Anthony Blair 9/11/2023
YouTube Podcast- Dust to Dust: The Investor Murders: An Unsolved Alaskan Tragedy Published Jan 2025
I have never heard about this case. It's so sad, and I hope they can find who did this and get peace for the family members.
A great piece of writing about this sad account.