BY PEPPER FISHER
Port Angeles – An arrest has been made in the 2016 homicide of famed indigenous woodcarver George David, whose body was found bludgeoned in Port Angeles.
The Port Angeles Police Department has taken custody of 55-year-old Tina Marie Alcorn of Phillips County, Arkansas, in connection with David’s death. The 65-year-old victim, originally from Port Alberni, British Columbia, was residing in Neah Bay at the time of his death, but was found deceased on March 28, 2016, in a Port Angeles apartment where he had been staying temporarily.
Alcorn, who has ties to Clallam County, was identified early in the investigation as the primary suspect. She was arrested in Mount Vernon, Washington shortly after David’s death by PAPD detectives on an outstanding warrant issued by Arkansas authorities. Although charges in the homicide were not filed at that time, Alcorn was later extradited to Arkansas for a parole violation in an unrelated felony theft conviction.
The case went cold over the years, until, as Port Angeles Deputy Police Chief Jason Viada tells us, a seismic shift in 2024 changed everything.
“It’s true that this is a 2016 case, and it’s true that it was a cold case. And the big break in the case was when the Washington State Attorney General’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People Task Force agreed to take this case.”
Investigators say the task force provided critical support in advancing the investigation, offering culturally informed resources and victim advocacy in a case that was of deep importance to Native and cross-border communities.
Viada says sufficient evidence was assembled to present a judge with a probable cause statement that led to an arrest warrant for Alcorn.
“The suspect was arrested in Arkansas by the Phillips County Sheriff’s Office and booked into a local jail there. Two Port Angeles police officers flew to Arkansas, got the suspect on a plane, and brought her back to the Clallam County Jail. They arrived late last night, and the suspect appeared in court today. And her formal arraignment is scheduled for June 20 at 9:00 a.m.”
At the request of the Port Angeles Police Department and with the support of the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, the Washington State Attorney General’s Office will be filing criminal charges in this case. That process will proceed through the Attorney General’s Office in accordance with state law.
Viada told KONP that this is the first case the task force has investigated in Washington that has resulted in charges.
“This case has never been forgotten,” said Port Angeles Police Chief Brian S. Smith. “The renewed investigation, bolstered by our partnership with the MMIWP Task Force, reflects our commitment to justice and to honoring George David’s memory.”