Michael Alan Silka (August 20, 1958 – May 19, 1984) was an American spree killer who is believed to have murdered nine people in Alaska during May 1984, primarily in the small village of Manley Hot Springs. The spree culminated in a shootout with Alaska State Troopers in the Alaskan wilderness in which Silka was shot and killed. The motives for Silka's actions remain unclear.
Early life
Michael Silka grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. From an early age, he had a love of firearms and the outdoors, and had a history of encounters with the law. In 1975, Silka and another juvenile were apprehended while trying to steal camping gear and weapons from a Des Plaines sporting goods store. That same year, Silka and his brother Steve ran away from high school to the Canadian wilderness, returning when they had depleted their provisions. In February 1977, four months before graduating from high school, Silka was arrested for carrying an antique black-powder muzzle-loading rifle — reminiscent of the weapons used by early mountain men — through a park in the suburbs. He was arrested again for the same offenses later that year. Silka was convicted and paid a $100 fine.
Shortly thereafter, Silka enlisted in the United States Army, at least partly on the advice of a longtime neighbor, Forman Hurst, who later recalled him as "a good kid, a typical teenager. He loved the outdoors. That was his No. 1 ambition, to be outside exploring nature." In 1981, he was stationed at Fort Wainwright, located on the East side of Fairbanks, Alaska, until his discharge the same year. Army records show that Silka was rated an expert marksman with the M16 rifle and grenade launcher while in basic training. However, his stay at Fort Wainwright was marked by several run-ins with military police, including an assault charge and an arrest for discharging a firearm in a barracks.
After his discharge from the Army, Silka returned to the Chicago area and worked at a number of jobs, mostly in construction work. In November 1982, he was stopped for a minor traffic violation and the officer noticed four weapons — a .44 caliber revolver, a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol, and two knives — in his car. Silka was charged for weapons possession and with resisting arrest after he refused to exit the squad car after arriving at the station. He was convicted and spent four days in Cook County Jail. On July 21, 1983, Silka was arrested on another weapons violation after a South Barrington officer stopped him for speeding, and a .22-caliber rifle was found in the back seat. He made several court appearances, the last on October 26, but then he skipped bond and fled to Alaska. A warrant for his arrest was issued on December 20. According to his younger brother Frank, Silka had been working in Alaska for some time, although he did not know what job his brother held.
Suspected murder of Roger Culp
A bearded, 25-year-old drifter, Silka was first seen in Alaska in the Chena Ridge section of Fairbanks. On April 29, 1984, police had questioned Silka about fresh blood and a snow-covered mound at his cabin. At the time, the Alaska State Troopers were under the impression that they were investigating whether Silka himself had been killed. Troopers dropped the matter when Silka stuck his head out of his shack and explained that the blood was from a moose hide.
However, Silka's neighbor, Roger Culp, had gone missing the day before. Witnesses reported that Silka and Culp went into Silka's cabin, and later heard as many as eight gunshots. Apparently, witnesses had not reported the incident immediately. When Troopers obtained the new information, they returned to the cabin on May 8 with a search warrant, but Silka was gone. Red spots on the ground, by this point free of snow, were found to be human blood. At this point, Silka was wanted for questioning in Culp's disappearance, but Troopers had no leads as to his whereabouts.