Former Lawmaker Found Guilty of Murdering Alaska Jeweler

A jury convicted Mark DeSimone of first-degree murder in the death of Tony Rosales, the bench jeweler at The Jewel Box in Juneau.

Michelle Graff michelle.graff@nationaljeweler.com

Juneau, Alaska--A jury in Juneau, Alaska, has found a former Arizona state legislator guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of 34-year-old jeweler Duilio Antonio Rosales.

Rosales, who came to Alaska from Nicaragua in 2011, worked as the bench jeweler at Juneau jewelry store The Jewel Box and was known in the community as Tony.

He was murdered in May 2016 while on a hunting trip.

According to an account of the trial from the Juneau Empire, neither the defense nor the prosecution denied that it was Mark DeSimone who shot Rosales outside a cabin at Excursion Inlet.

What was debated during the nearly three-week-long trial was intent.

DeSimone’s attorney, Assistant Public Attorney Deborah Macaulay, portrayed the death as accidental, arguing that the firearm used in the shooting was old and faulty, and decrying the prosecution’s inability to provide a solid motive for DeSimone to intentionally murder Rosales, a man he barely knew.

DeSimone knew the owners of The Jewel Box, Bill and Sherry Young, and had moved back to Alaska from Arizona just before the May 2016 shooting.

Bill Young had organized the hunting trip that both men were on.

But, the Empire reported, Assistant District Attorney Amy Paige argued that jurors should not consider motive but instead intent and actions. She also pointed to the improbability of firing a gun 18 inches from a person’s head twice on accident.

The jury sided with the prosecution, finding the 55-year-old DeSimone guilty of first-degree murder over lesser charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

Sketches of rings by Duilio Antonio Rosales, the 34-year-old bench jeweler at The Jewel Box in Juneau, Alaska, who was known in the community as Tony
After Rosales’ murder, a family friend set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to fly Rosales’ body back to his native Nicaragua for the funeral. A little over $13,000 was raised, and the fund has since closed.

Morgan Cruz, whose husband Vladimir Cruz grew up with Rosales in Nicaragua, told National Jeweler back in 2016 that Rosales came from a family of jewelers in Nicaragua. He found his job at The Jewel Box shortly after moving to Alaska and never left.

“The community loved him,” Cruz said. “He was known in Juneau. (The Jewel Box) is the only jewelry store open all year ‘round, except for Fred Meyer. The rest are tourist jewelry stores.”

The Jewel Box closed in 2017.

According to testimony during the trial,

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Bill Young said Rosales was “like a son” to him. He wanted to get out of the jewelry business and talked about letting Rosales take over the store but ended up shutting it down after his death.

DeSimone’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 12. He faces a maximum of 99 years in prison.

Michelle Graffis the editor-in-chief at National Jeweler, directing the publication’s coverage both online and in print.