Fatal boat sinking in Sitka results in charges

By Daily Sitka Sentinel staff

James Sturm, 45, of Sitka was arrested Thursday and charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and felony assault in the deaths of two young men in a boat sinking near Sitka two years ago.

An Alaska Troopers investigation determined that Sturm was intoxicated while operating the 26-foot vessel with five Sitka men on board, when it capsized and sank off Khaz Point, near Chichagof Island, on the evening of January 9, 2024.

Sturm and two other men on the boat were rescued by a U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Sitka helicopter crew after the boat capsized. The bodies of Darren Borbridge and Sayer Tuzon, both 18, were located in the boat cabin but stormy weather and rough seas precluded their recovery.

Before Sturm's arrest Thursday, a Sitka grand jury indicted Sturm on two counts of manslaughter, a class A felony; two counts of criminally negligent homicide, a class B felony; one count of second-degree assault, a class B felony; and one count of assault in third degree, a class C felony.

Sturm was arrested without incident, Alaska Wildlife Troopers said.

Sturm was arraigned on the charges this morning, and an appearance bond was set at $50,000 cash. He is in custody at the Sitka jail.

• This article originally appeared in the Daily Sitka Sentinel.