Adam Pringle was convicted of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of 27-year-old Keenan Wegener.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An Anchorage man has been sentenced to 55 years of active prison time for the 2022 killing of Keenan Wegener, closing another major stage in a case that began when officers investigating an unmoving ankle monitor found the 27-year-old’s body inside a plastic tote in an East Anchorage garage.

Anchorage Superior Court Judge Peter Ramgren imposed the sentence on 44-year-old Adam Darius Pringle after a jury convicted him in December 2025 of second-degree murder and manslaughter. The Alaska Department of Law said evidence at trial showed that Pringle and co-defendant Daniel Alex Rocero attacked Wegener with an 8-pound metal sledgehammer, applied pressure to his neck and chest and placed his body in the tote. An autopsy found that Wegener died from asphyxia and blunt-force trauma. Rocero had already been convicted and sentenced separately for his role in the killing.

The sentence follows a case that stretched across more than four years and two separate prosecutions. Wegener was killed March 18, 2022, inside a home in East Anchorage. Two days later, officers with the Alaska Pretrial Services Division went looking for him because his electronic ankle monitor had apparently remained in the same location. Police used the monitoring equipment to narrow their search to a home on Kalgin Street. When officers arrived and activated the monitor, they could hear it from inside the garage, according to reporting based on the police affidavit.

Officers found a large plastic tote in the garage with Wegener’s body inside. The discovery turned what had started as an inquiry about his lack of movement into a homicide investigation. Anchorage police detectives began reconstructing what had happened inside the house during the previous two days. The homeowner told investigators that Pringle, Rocero and Wegener had been downstairs on March 18, where she heard yelling and an argument. She said she struck the wall in an effort to get the men to quiet down.

The woman told detectives that Pringle later came upstairs and said Wegener had been knocked unconscious. Because she was a nurse, according to the affidavit, Pringle asked her to provide medical help. Rocero also came upstairs and indicated that Wegener was not breathing, the homeowner told investigators. She said she told the men that emergency services should be called. The accounts recorded at that early stage of the case were allegations in the police investigation; prosecutors later presented evidence about the fatal assault to separate juries considering the cases against Rocero and Pringle.

At Pringle’s trial, the state said the two men beat Wegener with the sledgehammer and placed pressure across his neck and chest before putting him into the tote. The state’s evidence tied those actions to the two causes of death found in the autopsy: asphyxia and blunt-force trauma. The jury returned guilty verdicts on second-degree murder and manslaughter in December 2025. The Department of Law had said before sentencing that Pringle faced as much as 99 years in prison, although the court ultimately ordered him to serve 55 years.

Pringle’s conviction came more than two years after Rocero was tried on related charges. A separate Anchorage jury convicted Rocero in May 2023 of second-degree murder, manslaughter and tampering with evidence. Ramgren later imposed a 60-year sentence with 10 years suspended for the homicide convictions, leaving 50 years to serve, and added two years for evidence tampering. The state has described Rocero’s active sentence as 52 years when the terms are combined.

Rocero’s 2023 sentencing also provided a public account of the effect Wegener’s death had on those who knew him. The Alaska Department of Law said several relatives and friends addressed the court and described Wegener as caring and kind, while discussing the continuing effects of his death. During that proceeding, Ramgren characterized Rocero’s conduct as being among the most serious instances of second-degree murder. The judge also considered Rocero’s criminal history and prospects for rehabilitation before imposing the sentence.

Pringle’s later prosecution resolved the criminal case against the second man accused in the fatal attack. The Alaska Department of Law announced in December 2025 that an Anchorage jury had found him guilty after hearing evidence about the assault and the manner in which Wegener died. The department credited the Anchorage Police Department’s Homicide Unit with investigating the case and said the Alaska Pretrial Services Division played an important role in the early investigation. Victims for Justice, an Alaska nonprofit that assists victims of violent crime and their families, supported Wegener’s family during the proceedings.

The unusual way the case came to authorities was central to the early investigation. Officers did not initially arrive at the Kalgin Street home because someone had reported finding a body. Instead, Wegener’s ankle monitor showed no apparent movement for about two days. That prompted the Pretrial Services inquiry that led officers to the property. Once there, the monitor helped direct them toward the garage, where the tote was found. The sequence provided investigators with a specific location and a timeline from which detectives could begin interviewing witnesses and examining what happened inside the house.

The homeowner’s statements also gave detectives an account of the period immediately after the confrontation. According to the probable cause affidavit described by local news reports, she said the men came upstairs at different points and discussed Wegener’s condition. She told police she did not go downstairs to examine him and later expressed fear about speaking with investigators. Authorities subsequently placed Pringle and Rocero in identification procedures, and the two men were indicted in connection with Wegener’s death on March 31, 2022.

The two prosecutions proceeded on different schedules. Rocero reached trial first, with his conviction in May 2023 followed by sentencing that September. Pringle’s case remained unresolved until the December 2025 jury verdict. His sentencing was initially announced for April 2026, but the final sentencing occurred in September, when Ramgren ordered the 55-year active term. The Department of Law’s sentencing announcement did not identify another pending trial or sentencing proceeding arising from the killing.

With Pringle now sentenced and Rocero already serving his sentence, both men convicted in connection with Wegener’s killing have received lengthy prison terms. Pringle’s 55-year sentence represents active jail time, while Rocero is serving 50 years for the homicide convictions plus two additional years for evidence tampering. The state’s latest announcement lists no further criminal proceeding against either man in connection with Wegener’s death.

Author note: Last updated November 7, 2026.