Editing Tazlina, Alaska (section)

==History==
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===[[Mandy Lemaire|Murder of Mandy Lemaire]]===
On August 22, 1991, 11-year-old Tazlina resident [[Mandy Lemaire]] was reported missing by her parents, triggering a massive search by law enforcement and townspeople.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pmjfR1J6R4IC&q=charles+smithart&pg=PA174|title=Cold Crime: How Police Detectives Solved Alaska's Most Shocking Cases|last=Brennan|first=Tom|date=2005|publisher=Epicenter Press|isbn=9780974501444|language=en}}</ref> Ten days later, a volunteer searcher found Lemaire's body in a wooded area.<ref name=":0" /> Authorities suspected 61-year-old retiree Charles Smithart of the murder when another local man, Dave DeForest, told police he had observed Smithart driving near Mandy's house on the day she went missing.<ref name=":0" /> Police and forensic investigators found considerable [[trace evidence]] in Smithart's truck that suggested Mandy's presence in the vehicle,<ref name=":0" /> and learned from Smithart's eldest daughter that he had raped her and her sisters when they were Lemaire's age.<ref name=":0" />

In 1993, Smithart was tried for and convicted of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree sexual battery on a minor, and first-degree murder. He was sentenced to serve 114 years in prison.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://peninsulaclarion.com/stories/122000/ala_122000ala0130001.shtml#.WnzPmalMFxA|title=Charges to be dismissed after death of defendant in murder case {{!}} Peninsula Clarion|website=peninsulaclarion.com|access-date=February 8, 2018}}</ref> In 1999, the [[Alaska Supreme Court]] overturned Smithart's conviction,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-krZZF9dl-sC&q=smithart+v+state+of+alaska&pg=PA691|title=Myers on Evidence in Child, Domestic, and Elder Abuse|year=2005|publisher=Aspen Publishers Online|isbn=9780735556683|language=en}}</ref> ruling that the lower court improperly denied his defense counsel the right to assert that prosecution witness Dave DeForest had committed the crime.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://juneauempire.com/local/2016-01-11/smithart-conflict-nets-murder-defendant-new-attorney|title='Smithart' conflict nets murder defendant a new attorney|access-date=February 8, 2018|language=en}}</ref> All charges were automatically dismissed in 2000, after Smithart died of [[lung cancer]] in prison, awaiting a [[New trial|retrial]].<ref name=":1" />

Tazlina and the Lemaire murder were featured on the [[True crime|true-crime]] television series ''[[Forensic Files]]'', in the season 8 episode "Sphere of Influence".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/shows/forensic-files/sphere-of-influence-276634/|title=Forensic Files: Sphere of Influence|last=TV.com|website=TV.com|access-date=February 8, 2018}}</ref> The television network ''[[Investigation Discovery]]'' aired two shows about the murder; the series ''Ice Cold Killers'', episode titled "Fear Thy Neighbor" aired in 2014;<ref>{{cite web |title=Ice Cold Killers {{!}} TV Guide |url=https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/ice-cold-killers/episode-2-season-3/fear-thy-neighbor/339650/ |website=TVGuide.com |publisher=CBS Interactive Inc. |access-date=February 1, 2019 |language=en |date=January 14, 2014}}</ref> and the special "Vanished in Alaska" in 2018.<ref>{{cite web |title=Investigation Discovery Documentaries - Vanished in Alaska @ TheTVDB |url=https://www.thetvdb.com/series/investigation-discovery-documentaries/episodes/6528343 |website=www.thetvdb.com |publisher=TVDB.com, LLC |access-date=January 31, 2019 |date=February 6, 2018 |quote=Originally Aired Friday, February 9, 2018}}</ref>