On May 8, 2014, 37-year-old Chad Zurlo shot 51-year-old Steven Corcoran to death during an argument in the basement room that Zurlo and his girlfriend, Serena Vallier, rented from Corcoran on the outskirts of Fairbanks, Alaska.
Zurlo had come to Alaska the month before to work for Corcoran, whom he had previously worked for in Washington State. After Zurlo arrived, he had problems obtaining an Alaska commercial driver’s license and another work-related certification. He and Vallier ended up subletting the lower level of a house Corcoran rented in the Fairbanks suburb of Goldstream. The lower level was an open room, with no door between it and the main level.
Zurlo was arrested after the shooting and charged with first-degree murder. Alaska State Trooper Edward Halbert interviewed Zurlo at the time of his arrest.
Zurlo said in the interview that Corcoran was drunk when he entered the basement area and became angry when Zurlo asked him to announce his presence before coming into the living space. Zurlo said that Corcoran screamed and yelled that this was his house.
Zurlo said he tried to get away from Corcoran, who said “something about, I can—I can end you right now, or I should kill you right now, or something.” Zurlo said he saw Corcoran reach behind his back for what Zurlo thought was a gun and before he “even realized exactly what had happened, [he] pulled and fired” his own gun.
Zurlo told Halbert that he pulled his gun from a holster on his body. Halbert said that Vallier had given a statement that said the gun was on the nightstand. Zurlo corrected his account of the gun’s location but continued to say that Corcoran threatened him. He said he never saw a gun but thought Corcoran had one, in part because of the way Corcoran was standing and “the way he was presenting himself.” Zurlo said Corcoran had threatened to shoot him a week earlier, when he and Vallier moved in.
This exchange took place.
Halbert: “Last night, did he threaten to kill you, threaten any harm?”
Zurlo: “He—he said, I could end—I can end you right here and now.”
Investigator Halbert: “Where was he at?”
Zurlo: “Or I can end you right now.”
Investigator Halbert: “Where was he at when he said that?”
Zurlo: “He was right there.”
Investigator Halbert: “Did you feel he could do that?”
Zurlo: “He made that statement, started reaching behind his back, and the the only thing I pictured was a gun coming out, and I just fired.”
Andrew Baldock, with the Fairbanks District Attorney’s Office, presented the case to a grand jury on May 15-16, 2014. Just prior to the hearing, he interviewed Vallier, who said that although she did not hear Corcoran threaten to kill Zurlo that night, Corcoran had “more than once said he was going to shoot [Zurlo].” She also said that Corcoran had threatened to shoot Zurlo on the night they moved into the house, that Corcoran told Zurlo and Vallier he had a gun, and that Corcoran kept a gun in the back of his waistband.
In his opening statement to the grand jury, Baldock said that Corcoran “wasn’t known to carry a gun on his person or anything like that.”
Vallier testified at the proceeding, but Baldock did not ask her about Corcoran’s prior threat against Zurlo or whether Corcoran was known to carry a weapon.
Halbert did not appear before the grand jury, but Trooper Josh Harris testified about the statements Zurlo made to Halbert. Harris said that Zurlo admitted to shooting Corcoran in the face. He also testified that Zurlo had changed his story about the location of the gun he used to shoot Corcoran.
Baldock asked Harris: “And why did he say that he shot [Corcoran]?”
Harris: “He said it was just a reaction.”
Baldock: “Okay. Did he state that he was threatened—well, did he say that he was physically assaulted, anything like that?”
Harris: “No, he did not.”
The grand jury indicted Zurlo on one count of first-degree murder.
Harris testified before the grand jury that a search of Corcoran’s house found no handguns, only rifles. The day after the indictment, Corcoran’s girlfriend found a gun, which was given to the troopers.
Zurlo moved to dismiss the indictment, arguing that the state had failed to present exculpatory evidence and presented inaccurate and misleading evidence.
Judge Douglas Blankenship of Fairbanks Superior Court denied the motion, ruling that Vallier’s grand jury testimony did not corroborate Zurlo’s exculpatory statements and, in the alternative, that any violation was harmless. But the judge expressed concern about Baldock’s “conscious decision” to prevent the grand jury from learning about Zurlo’s self-defense claim. His ruling said “[t]he failure of the State to elicit the full account of Zurlo’s explanation of what he was reacting to is an omission” that violated Alaska rules of criminal procedure.
At the time of the ruling, Judge Blankenship did not know about Vallier’s interview with Baldock, where she appeared to corroborate much of Zurlo’s fears about Corcoran. The state had also not provided Zurlo’s attorney with the notes of this interview.
Just before Zurlo’s trial, the state disclosed the Vallier notes to Zurlo’s attorney, who again moved to dismiss the indictment. Judge Blankenship denied the motion, and the trial began on June 22, 2016.
Vallier testified about Corcoran’s volatility. A medical examiner testified about Corcoran’s fatal injury. Corcoran’s autopsy also said that his blood-alcohol content was 0.176 at the time of his death. Zurlo did not testify, but his statement to Halbert was admitted into evidence.
On June 28, 2016, the jury acquitted Zurlo of first-degree murder but convicted him of second-degree murder. He later received a sentence of 30 years in prison.
Zurlo appealed, arguing that Judge Blankenship should have dismissed the indictment because of Baldock’s incomplete and misleading presentation to the grand jury.
On February 18, 2022, the Alaska Court of Appeals threw out Zurlo’s conviction and ordered a new trial. The court said, “The prosecutor in the current case violated his duty of candor and fair dealing and did not provide a reasonably complete and fair presentation to the grand jury.”
The court said that Harris’s testimony was “incomplete and misleading” because it omitted any mention of Zurlo’s perception of the threat posed by Corcoran. “As a result, the grand jury was left with the erroneous impression that Zurlo had confessed to shooting Corcoran essentially for no reason,” the court said.
The state had argued that Baldock was not required to present the entirety of Zurlo’s statement to Halbert because it considered parts of the statement to be false. But the appellate court said it was the grand jury’s role, not the state’s, to consider the meaning of Zurlo’s account.
The court said the grand jury problems went beyond the failure to introduce Zurlo’s exculpatory statements. “By selectively curating Zurlo’s statements so that the grand jury heard only the portion that was inculpatory—i.e., Zurlo’s admission that he shot Corcoran—without hearing the exculpatory statements that provided the direct context for the inculpatory statements—i.e., Zurlo’s claim that he shot Corcoran in self-defense—the testifying officer actively misrepresented what Zurlo had said,” the court said. “And the prosecutor not only allowed this to occur but directly sanctioned the deception by rephrasing his own question to ensure that the jury did not hear about Corcoran’s threats to Zurlo.”
After the ruling, Zurlo was released from prison on April 14, 2022, and reindicted on one count of second-degree murder on May 13, 2022.
Zurlo’s retrial began on May 29, 2024. Vallier had died in 2020, but her testimony was read to jurors.
In addition, Zurlo, now represented by Assistant Public Defender Eric Hedland, testified in his own defense. He said that he and Corcoran argued over Zurlo’s lack of proper work certifications. He said that Corcoran was a heavy drinker and became increasingly angry the more he drank.
On the night of the shooting, Zurlo said, Corcoran came into Zurlo’s living space unannounced. Zurlo said he asked Corcoran to knock first, and Corcoran said it was his house and if Zurlo didn’t like it he could leave. The argument grew increasingly heated, Zurlo said, and Corcoran taunted and threatened him. Zurlo said he felt his life was in danger and he fired to defend himself and Vallier. He said he did not feel guilty about his actions.
Dr. Chuck Rylant, a psychologist and police-training instructor, testified that Zurlo’s reaction was consistent with a “flight or fight” response to a perceived threat.
In his closing argument, according to KUAC-TV, Hedland said Zurlo was within his rights to defend himself and his premises.
“Was this something that Mr. Zurlo fantasized about doing? No,” Hedland said. “But for the actions of Mr. Corcoran, but for his threats, and drunken behavior, and cornering, and unlawful entry and unwillingness to leave … would this have happened? It certainly would not.”
The jury was unable to reach a verdict, and Judge Earl Peterson declared a mistrial on June 7, 2024.
Zurlo’s third trial began on May 4, 2025. Again, the jury hung, and Judge Peterson declared a mistrial on May 9, 2025.
The state dismissed the charge on May 28, 2025.
– Ken Otterbourg
Posting Date: 06-09-2025
Last Update Date: 06-09-2025
