Julian Miranda, of Fairbanks, Convicted for Sexual Assaulting Two Women in 2012

March 5, 2026

(Fairbanks, AK) - This week, following a five-day trial, a Fairbanks jury found 36-year-old Julian Miranda guilty of two counts of Sexual Assault in the First Degree for the sexual assault of two Fairbanks women in 2012. The verdict comes over thirteen years after the crimes took place.

On the evening of July 23, 2012, one of the victims met Miranda at the Mecca Bar in downtown Fairbanks. Miranda offered her a ride, which she accepted. Instead of taking the victim to her intended location, Miranda drove her to an area outside of town and forcibly sexually assaulted her. Miranda left the victim undressed by the side of the road. She was able to flag down a passerby, who called the police. The responding officer described her as distraught and inconsolable.

On the evening of Oct. 26, 2012, a second, unrelated victim met Miranda outside the Drop Inn Lounge. He pulled over and offered her a ride, which she accepted. Instead of taking the victim to her intended location, Miranda drove her to an area outside of town and forcibly sexually assaulted her. Miranda pushed the victim to the ground, threw her purse into the woods, and left her by the side of the road. She was able to flag down a passerby, who called the police. When the victim arrived at the hospital, she was missing her shirt and bra, her jacket was torn, and a strap was broken on the heel of her shoe.

Both victims underwent sexual assault examinations, during which forensic nurses documented their injuries and took DNA swabs. The DNA from one victim's sexual assault kit remained untested until 2015 due to backlogs in DNA testing at the time. The DNA from the other victim's sexual assault kit was tested as part of the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative in 2017.

DNA testing found that the sperm collected in both sexual assault kits came from the same man, and matched a profile for Miranda in a DNA database. The Alaska State Crime Detection Lab confirmed the match by directly comparing DNA profile from the sperm in the victims' sexual assault kits to a known DNA sample taken from Miranda.

At trial, Miranda admitted to having sexual intercourse with both victims and leaving them by the side of the road, but said that the sex was consensual.

Assistant Attorney General Erin McCarthy of the Office of Special Prosecutions prosecuted the case for the State with the support of Paralegal Wendy Malave.

The Department of Law thanks the Alaska State Troopers, Fairbanks Police Department, Bode Technologies, and the Alaska Scientific Crime Detection Lab for their partnership and assistance in these cases. Specifically, this cold case prosecution could not have been accomplished without the hard work and dedication of Investigator Mike Burkmire and Investigator Andy Ballesteros.

Miranda is being held without bail pending sentencing, which is scheduled for July 14 at 2:30 p.m. At sentencing, Miranda faces a sentence of 20-30 years for each of the first-degree sexual assault convictions.

CONTACT: Assistant Attorney General Erin McCarthy at (907) 269-2650 or [email protected].

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Department Media Contact: Information Officer Sam Curtis at [email protected] or (907) 269-6269.