Goose Creek inmate dies at 65 in expected death

A second Alaska prison inmate has died this month, bringing the state’s inmate death toll this year to 10.

The state Department of Corrections announced that 65-year-old Robert Michael Vidic died at about 4:15 a.m. Tuesday. According to a statement Vidic had been in DOC custody since July of 2022, most recently at the Goose Creek Correctional Center near Wasilla, as he faced unresolved felony-DUI and assault charges.

DOC declined in its statement to discuss Vidic’s health, citing patient privacy laws.

Vidic’s death comes about three weeks after fellow Goose Creek inmate Artemy Arthur Hapoff, Jr. died at age 69. Both men’s deaths were expected by medical personnel, according to the department.

If Vidic is the state’s final inmate death this year, Alaska will end 2023 with a tally nearly halved from last year’s 18, a record in modern times. That toll prompted lawsuits against DOC, as well as questions from the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska over how the state counts inmate deaths.