A Tok man was indicted earlier this month in the death of a University of Alaska Fairbanks professor and Nenana musher following a February 2023 car crash.
Eric Matthew Marston, 62, faces charges of manslaughter and felony third-degree assault in connection with the death of Jacques Philip.
Marston was driving a Ford F-150 pickup truck southbound on the Parks Highway around 8 a.m. on Feb. 27, 2023. He is accused of crossing the center line and colliding head-on with a Kia SUV traveling north near mile 322 of the Parks Highway. Jacques Philip was driving his teenage son, Florian, to school at the time.
Philip was seriously injured and medevaced to Providence Alaska Medical Center, where he underwent multiple brain surgeries, according to Deputy District Attorney Andrew Baldock. Philip was treated in Anchorage for 2½ months before his family moved him to Colorado for further treatment. He died on Aug. 10, 2023, due to complications from the crash.
According to Baldock, toxicology tests showed that Marston had methamphetamine in his blood at the time of the crash. “He also indicated that he likely fell asleep at the wheel to the police, so at least circumstantially probably coming down off of meth,” Baldock said.
A grand jury indicted Marston on April 3, and a Fairbanks judge set his bail at $5,000 on April 4.
Marston’s public defender, Justin Racette, asked Superior Court Judge Amy Welch on Tuesday morning to release Marston on his own recognizance.
“Any concern they might have about safety of the public would be negated by the fact that it’s been over two years since the accident alleged here,” Racette said. “I expect the facts of this case to be vigorously disputed at trial.”
Marston does not have a criminal history in Alaska.
Baldock argued that Marston is a danger to the community and a flight risk.
“The facts are essentially undisputed,” Baldock said.
He attributed the delay between Philip’s death and the indictment to the length of the investigation.
“We wanted to get it right,” Baldock said. “We had a lot of discovery to review, and we did so.”
Baldock said there are more than 6,000 pages of discovery in the case.
Magali Philip, Jacques’ wife, said Tuesday that the accident “destroyed our family.”
“This person killed my husband,” she said. “We cannot let him out.”
Welch found that the $5,000 performance bond and the $20,000 appearance bond were appropriate. She said it was “a very serious offense being alleged here.” Welch also said that Marston poses a danger to the community and noted that while the bail is low, it takes into account that two years have passed since the incident.
Jacques Philip was born and raised in France, where he completed medical school at the University of Paris V. He moved to Alaska in 1985. He was the first French musher to run the Iditarod and competed in the race nine times between 1985 and 2007.
Philip joined the UAF Center for Alaska Native Health Research in 2008 and became an associate professor in 2019.
The case was assigned to Superior Court Judge Brent Bennett. Marston is scheduled to return to court Wednesday afternoon for his arraignment.
Contact Haley Lehman at 907-459-7575 or by email at hlehman@newsminer.com.
