Man sentenced after being convicted of killing Fairbanks roommate

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU) - A 38-year-old man convicted of killing his roommate in Fairbanks in 2020 was sentenced to 26 years in prison Tuesday, according to the Alaska Department of Law.

The Department of Law reports the sentence follows a two-week trial earlier this year that saw Aaron Hague convicted on charges of manslaughter, second-degree theft and tampering with physical evidence. He was acquitted on the charge of first-degree murder.

At sentencing, Deputy District Attorney Andrew Baldock and Assistant District Attorney Katherine Gonsalves, who prosecuted the case, requested the court impose a sentence of 30 years imprisonment, the maximum composite sentence authorized by law for the offenses Hague was convicted of.

Baldock and Gonsalves argued the sentence was appropriate due to the seriousness of the offenses, Hague’s killing of 61-year-old John McClelland appearing to be premeditated and committed for financial gain and the odds of Hague’s rehabilitation seeming low.

An indictment claims Hague killed McClelland, a North Pole probationer and parolee, around Aug. 14, 2020, and sometime shortly afterwards concealed his body. Hague later admitted to killing McClelland while on trial, but claimed it was self-defense, which the jury rejected.

At trial, it was determined Hague benefited financially from McClelland’s death. In the days following his disappearance, Hague purchased almost $3,000 worth of property with his debit card and was now in sole possession of his vehicles. He also filed an unemployment insurance claim in McClelland’s name.

Six days later, the Alaska State Troopers received a request for a welfare check on McClelland from his brother. He had received suspicious text messages purportedly sent from McClelland that indicated he was sick in the hospital and requested $8,000. His employer and probation officer received similar texts.

Around the same time, McClelland stopped showing up for work and stopped reporting to the probation and parole office. At the time of his disappearance, he was living with Hague in North Pole. McClelland’s body was never found.

Hague became a person of interest in McClelland’s disappearance. He told troopers he also received messages from McClelland that indicated he was in the hospital. When asked to show the messages, he said he lost the phone they were sent to. He also told troopers he last saw McClelland when he dropped him off at an urgent care facility in Fairbanks. The troopers later determined this never happened.

Six days after the welfare check request, Hague left Fairbanks and hitchhiked to Anchorage. He went to his cousin’s apartment and told him his roommate got into a fight and “murder happened,” and then attempted to steal his cousin’s passport.

Hague then began staying at a temporary homeless shelter in the Sullivan Arena. While there, he assumed the identity of his younger brother and eventually befriended a man named Anthony Alcorn. Alcorn looked similar to Hague, and in October, he took his Ohio ID card and used it to fly to Seattle under Alcorn’s name. Alcorn’s body was later found in Gresham, Oregon.

Upon Hague’s arrival in Seattle, he took a train to Portland. Once in Portland, he lived under Alcorn’s name. On March 30, 2021, Gresham Police Department detectives found Hague near the Gresham Central Transit Center and arrested him. A search of his person and property showed identification and property belonging to both him and Alcorn.

Hague was indicted for McClelland’s death on May 13, 2022. He was extradited to Alaska in October 2024.

Hague has also been charged by the state of Oregon with first-degree murder and identity theft. The allegations state in March 2021, Hague lured Alcorn from Anchorage to Gresham with the promise of a good-paying job, where he killed him to prevent his use of his identity from being stopped.

Trial in the Oregon murder case is set to begin Jan. 11, according to the Department of Law. If convicted of the murder charge, he faces a mandatory sentence under Oregon law of life imprisonment.

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