The U.S. Department of Justice announced the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld James Michael Wells' October 2019 murder convictions in the killings of Coast Guard Electrician's Mate First Class James Hopkins and retired Chief Boatswain's Mate Richard Belisle.
The two men were killed in April 2012 at the Coast Guard's antenna maintenance facility near the base on Kodiak Island, Alaska, according to a Dec. 21 news release.
"The court's ruling, solidly affirming Wells two murder convictions at trial, puts an end to this saga for the wives of Messrs. Belisle and Hopkins, the colleagues of the murdered men, the community of Kodiak and the U.S. Coast Guard," Alaska U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker said in the release. "Justice has been served. James Wells took the stand and attempted to explain away what he did that day, an explanation that was quickly rejected by the trial jury and by the court of appeals. Wells will spend the rest of his life in prison for the murder of these two men."
Wells was convicted by a federal jury in 2014 but that conviction was reversed on appeal in 2017, according to the news release. On retrial, a second jury found him guilty of two charges of first-degree murder, two counts of killing a U.S. officer or employee and two counts of having a firearm in the course of a violent crime in October 2019 and the following January he was again sentenced to life in federal prison.
The Ninth Circuit issued two separate rulings, according to the news release. The court affirmed Wells' convictions and dismissed his request for a third trial. The court also remanded the sentencing court's decision on how restitution will be provided the widows of the two murdered men, as well as upholding that Wells' interview by investigators had been lawfully done.
"We are all relieved to bring final closure on this heinous and heartless crime," Coast Guard Investigative Service Special Agent in Charge for the Northwest Region Paul Shultz said in the news release. "Our hearts continue to go out to the families and loved ones of the victims, and to the community of Kodiak for having the strength to endure this lengthy process."
