On Monday, February 7th, 2022, a Fairbanks, Alaska Superior Court jury sat in their chairs,

listening to the closing arguments that would bring to a close the several weeks of testimony in the

trial of Sophie Sergi's alleged killer.

After 26 years of searching for answers in the unsolved homicide of 20 year old

Sophie Sergi, DNA evidence led detectives from Alaska to the doorstep of an Auburn main man named Stephen Downs.

He was once a student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where Sophie's body was found dead in a dorm room bathtub

in April of 1993.

In February of 2022, Downs was back in Fairbanks, sitting in that courtroom and awaiting the jury's

verdict for the charges brought against him.

I have no interest in burying the lead here because of just how rare these conclusions are.

On Thursday, February 10, 2022, the jury returned with their verdict.

Stephen Downs, guilty, on the charges of murder and sexual assault.

Sophie Sergi's killer was finally identified and convicted in the long-standing cold case.

I covered Sophie Serge's case in two parts on Dark Down East.

You can find the episodes wherever you're listening right now.

As promised, I want to share the updates and notable moments from the conclusion of the trial proceedings, and take a look at what's next for

the case of Sophie Sergi.

I'm Kylie Lowe and this is a special update in the case of Sophie Sergi on Dark Down East. Part of the anticipated strategy of Stephen Downs' defense team, led by main attorney James

Howanick, included introducing possible alternative suspects for the killing of Sophie Sergi.

You'll remember that multiple names were first brought to light in pretrial hearings

and the judge ultimately decided to allow three of those suspects to be presented to the jury at trial.

One of those three alternative suspects was a man named Kenneth Moto.

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