Dale Baurick
April 1, 1988
Fairbanks, Alaska

Anchorage Daily News
(Anchorage, Alaska)
September 19, 2007

Fairbanks man dies in prison

The Associated Press
Published: September 19, 2007

FAIRBANKS - A Fairbanks man in prison for killing a cabdriver 19 years
ago was found dead in his cell at the Red Rock Correctional Center in
Arizona.

It is not yet known how Rusty Hightower, 36, died, said Capt. Shane
Blakeman of the Eloy Police Department, the agency investigating the
death.

According to authorities, Hightower's cell mate found the body Monday
evening after returning to the cell from dinner. Efforts to revive him failed,
police spokeswoman Amanda Villescaz said Wednesday.

"There was no sign of a struggle or anything," Blakeman said. "We're
waiting for the autopsy report to tell us what exactly he died from."

Villescaz said an autopsy was expected to be completed by Thursday.

Hightower was convicted of murder for shooting 23-year-old Dale Baurick
and robbing him on April 1, 1988, according to the Alaska Department of
Corrections.

He was 17 years old at the time, but a judge decided to try him as an adult
on charges of first- and second-degree murder along with four other
felonies.

Alaska State Troopers determined that Hightower and another boy broke
into a chiropractor's office, where they stole the murder weapon. The two
then flagged down the cabdriver. At one point, Hightower began shooting in
the cab as Baurick threw a wad of money into the back seat.

Hightower pulled Baurick from the cab and shot him once more, hitting him
in the head.

The youths then went to an arcade where, troopers say, they traded the
gun for cocaine.

Richard Schmitz, spokesman for the Alaska Department of Corrections,
said the department is sending an official to Arizona to observe the
investigation.

Red Rock Correctional Center is a private prison about 25 miles south of
Phoenix owned by the Corrections Corp. of America.

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