Story perspectives

Seven Years Later: New Hope in Eunice Whitman Case

12/24/2025

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Summary

Story summary

Eunice Whitman was murdered in May 2015 in Alaska, and officials failed to identify her killer.
Police initially arrested Justine Paul on flawed evidence, resulting in seven years of wrongful imprisonment.
Defense attorney Marcy McDannel showed male DNA did not match Paul and named other potential suspects.
In 2022, pressure moved the case to Alaska's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons unit, which is starting anew, and Whitman's family remains uninformed.

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Story summary

Eunice Whitman was murdered in May 2015 in Alaska, and officials failed to identify her killer.
Police initially arrested Justine Paul on flawed evidence, resulting in seven years of wrongful imprisonment.
Defense attorney Marcy McDannel showed male DNA did not match Paul and named other potential suspects.
In 2022, pressure moved the case to Alaska's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons unit, which is starting anew, and Whitman's family remains uninformed.