Kenai police say shooting victim owed money to suspect

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Prosecutors suspect a Kenai woman and her daughter may have been killed over a drug debt.

Anchorage television station KTVA reports 25-year-old Masonn Byrd is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of 60-year-old Rachelle Armstrong and her daughter, 39-year-old Lisa Rutzebeck.

The women were found dead early Sunday morning inside a home on Kenai’s north side. Police arrested Byrd on Tuesday.

Police in an affidavit say Armstrong’s cellphone revealed multiple text conversations with Byrd related to drug dealing and her debt to him. The last conversation finished 20 minutes before the shootings.

Police say Byrd’s phone pinged a cell tower in the neighbourhood three minutes before the shootings.

Online court documents do not list Byrd’s attorney. He told police he had no involvement in the shootings.

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Information from: KTVA-TV, http://www.ktva.com