On New Year’s Eve 1915, a quiet street in Douglas, Alaska became the scene of one of the North’s most chilling crimes. An Italian immigrant named Mike Defino was shot multiple times in broad daylight—by a man he knew, a fellow miner named Nick Facicelli. What followed was not just a murder investigation, but a story tangled in money, silence, missing records, and a justice system stretched thin in a remote American territory.

In this episode of Headlines and Tidbits, we uncover the forgotten newspaper trail behind the murder of Mike Defino—an immigrant whose life exists mostly through prison records and headlines. Using original reporting from early 20th-century Alaska newspapers, we trace the events leading up to the shooting, the frantic manhunt through snow-covered streets, and the unsettling aftermath that included an exhumation, a detailed autopsy, and a trial that never truly happened.

As Nick Facicelli waited in jail, his mental state deteriorated. His prosecution was delayed—partly due to the capture and dramatic escape of Alaska’s first serial killer, Edward Cross—before Nick was ultimately declared insane and sent to an asylum. After that, both men vanish almost entirely from the historical record. No death dates. No closure. Just silence.

This is a true crime story about what happens when history stops paying attention.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• A New Year’s Eve murder in 1915 Alaska

• Prison records, mugshots, and missing personal histories

• A money dispute that turned deadly

• A manhunt tracked by footprints in the snow

• An autopsy ordered after burial

• The role of Alaska’s first serial killer in delaying justice

• A case that ends not with a verdict—but with disappearance

If you enjoy historical true crime, forgotten newspaper stories, and cases where the truth is buried alongside the past, this episode is for you.

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