Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Alaska Man Charged In Death, ID Theft Of Homeless Man Indicted For Missing Roommate’s Murder
Authorities say Aaron Hague first killed his former roommate, John McClelland, in Alaska and then stole the identity of homeless man, Anthony Alcorn, and fled the state. Months later, Hague allegedly invited Alcorn to Oregon, where Alcorn was soon found dead.
An Alaska man facing charges in Oregon for killing a man whose identity he stole has now been indicted on murder charges in the death of his missing roommate seven months earlier.
Aaron Mitchell Hague, 33, is currently awaiting trial for the 2021 murder of Anthony Alcorn, according to Oregon Live. Hague met Alcorn, an Ohio native, at an Anchorage homeless shelter in the fall of 2020.
While at the Anchorage shelter, investigators questioned Aaron Hague about disappearance of his roommate, John McClelland, 61, from North Police Alaska in August 2020. Anthony Hague, however, claimed police were asking the wrong man: He identified himself as his own brother, Jesse Hague, and told police that "Aaron" was off somewhere in Russia, troopers said.
Authorities say that Aaron Hague then flew from Alaska to Seattle on Oct. 21, 2020, before boarding a train to Portland, Oregon — specifically to avoid questions regarding McClelland’s disappearance. In order to do so, Hague allegedly assumed Alcorn’s identity.
In March 2021, Aaron Hague invited Alcorn to join him in Portland, promising him solid employment
Instead, Alcorn was found dead in a wooded grove near Southeast Hogan Road in Gresham, Oregon, on March 15, 2021, per the Portland Tribune. According to Oregon Live, Alcorn died of blunt force trauma to the head.
Hague was arrested for Alcorn’s murder on March 30, 2021, according to the Tribune.
He pleaded not guilty to charges of identity theft and second-degree murder in the case according to Oregon Live.
Authorities now claim that Aaron Hague left North Pole, Alaska and went nearly 400 miles south to Anchorage and eventually to Portland because he had killed McClelland.
Hague was indicted by a grand jury on charges of first-degree murder for the death of McClelland, as filed with the Fourth Judicial District of the Superior Court for Alaska.
“This is a step in the right direction,” McClelland’s daughter, Taylor Wick, told Oregon Live.
McClelland and Hague worked together at a property management company prior to McClelland's disappearance in August 2020, according to the site.
Alaska State Troopers allege that Hague used McClelland’s phone in August 2020 to text the missing man’s brother, claiming that McClelland had fallen ill before requesting money for his medical care. Authorities checked in with local hospitals, but there was no sign of McClelland until his truck was found abandoned south of town on Aug. 24, 2020.
Investigators said McClelland’s disappearance didn’t stop Hague from using the man’s bank card between Aug. 14 and Aug. 16, 2020, according to Oregon Live. Hague allegedly used McClelland’s funds to purchase several items, including $1,450 for gaming equipment.
McClelland was presumed dead following a civil hearing in July 2021, where a jury ruled the missing man most likely died by homicide between Aug. 14 and Aug. 16, 2020.
“We believe that he was 100 percent murdered,” Alaska State Police Sgt. Jeremy Rupe said at the hearing.
Despite numerous searches by his family and authorities, McClelland has never been found.
Hague arrived at the Anchorage homeless shelter, where he met Anthony Alcorn, months after McClelland's disappearance but before he was declared a victim of homicide.
About 40 people testified before the grand jury before they decided to indict Hague for McClelland’s murder, including relatives of McClelland, Hague and Alcorn, according to court records obtained by the Oregon Live.
“Every step will hopefully help us find more answers, or potentially, his remains,” said Wick. “Our ultimate goal is to be able to lay my father to rest in a proper way. This will hopefully get us closer to that.”
Alaska State Troopers say that McClelland was a 6’1” Caucasian man with brown hair and green eyes, according to his missing person poster. He was last seen in the Fairbanks area on Aug. 17, 2020.
Hague’s murder trial for Alcorn’s death is expected to begin on July 25. According to Oregon Live, he will face the charges in McClelland’s death following the trial in Alcorn's.
