A man is charged with the double murder of two Alaska Native women. His trial is scheduled to commence after over four years have passed since one of the victims turned in a stolen digital memory card, which authorities claim contained grisly recordings of one of the murders.
Beside downtown Anchorage, a woman who had been picked up for a “date” and had an extensive criminal record including theft, assault, and prostitution boarded a truck with the man who had arranged their encounter. She stole an internal combustion engine digital memory card when he abandoned her in the vehicle.
Now, over four years have passed, the contents of the card she discovered are crucial in a double murder trial that is scheduled to commence this week: horrifying photographs and videos depicting a woman being beaten and strangled at a Marriott hotel, with her assailant urging her to die with a strong accent, and her body wrapped in a blanket being smuggled outside on a luggage cart.
According to court documents, the woman surrendered the SD card to police approximately one week after obtaining it. Police stated they identified the voice on the card as that of 52-year-old South African native Brian Steven Smith, whom they had previously investigated.
A total of fourteen charges have been dropped against Smith, which includes sexual assault, tampering with evidence, first- and second-degree murder, and the disappearance of Veronica Abouchuk, 52, who was reported missing by her family in February 2019, seven months after their last sighting. Smith has pleaded not guilty to all fourteen charges.
Stolen Memory Card Unveils Alaska Women Murder CasesĀ
Both Abouchuk and Henry were Alaska Native women who had encountered destitution. Henry and Abouchuk were both natives of minor villages in western Alaska; their place of origin was Eek.
According to authorities, was the victim whose demise was documented at the TownePlace Suites by Marriott in Anchorage’s downtown. Smith was scheduled to stay there between September 2 and September 4, 2019; the initial images of her corpse were time-stamped at approximately 1:00 a.m. on September 4, according to the police.
According to charging documents, the final images on the card were captured early on September 6 and depicted Henry’s body in the back of a black pickup. Police stated that Smith’s phone was in the vicinity of Rainbow Valley Road, along the Seward Highway, south of Anchorage, at the time the photo was taken, according to location data.
This is the same area where the remains of Henry were discovered several weeks later. Authorities claim that as Smith was being questioned by detectives regarding the Marriott case, he provided additional information to police who accompanied him to a restroom.
He disclosed that he had murdered another woman, Abouchuk, whom he identified from a photograph and pinpointed to the Old Glenn Highway north of Anchorage.