Kathleen Henry; Veronica Abouchuk.Photo:Kathleen Henry/Facebook; Anchorage Police Department/Facebook
Kathleen Henry/Facebook; Anchorage Police Department/Facebook
Content warning: This article contains disturbing descriptions of violence.
Jury selection is scheduled to start Monday in the trial of Brian Steven Smith, who is accused of killing two women and videotaping one of the murders.
Smith became a suspect in the murders after a woman who was on a “date” with the accused killer stole a digital memory card from his vehicle that allegedly contained graphic photos and videos of Henry’s killing, which took place in a Marriott hotel in Anchorage, police said, per theAssociatedPress. Subsequently, the woman turned the memory card over to police.
“In my movies, everybody always dies,” states the voice in one of the videos, according to AP. “What are my followers going to think of me? People need to know when they are being serial-killed.”
The detectives began an investigation and discovered the card contained 39 images and 12 videos, per the complaint.
The gruesome images showed a woman lying on a floor naked next to a bed with her left eye bruised and swollen shut, with red ligature marks on her neck, according to the complaint.
In one of the videos, “the person filming was slapping and strangling the female with his right hand around her neck,” the complaint alleged. “The female was moaning and struggling to breathe.”
According to the complaint, the suspect had what police believed was an English-sounding accent, and after investigators reviewed the videos and images, “[they] recalled from a previous investigation a male with an accent named Brian Smith.”
Brian Steven Smith.AP Photo/Mark Thiessen
AP Photo/Mark Thiessen
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Henry’s remains were found near a highway south of Anchorage on Oct. 2.
After Smith was taken into custody, he allegedly told police about the murder of Abouchuk, theAnchorage Daily Newsreported, citing authorities.
Abouchuk’s remains were discovered near an old Eklutna Power Plant, according toAlaska News Source.
“With no prompting, he tells the troopers in the bathroom, ‘I’m going to make you famous,’” District Attorney Brittany Dunlop alleged at a hearing last week, per AP. “He comes back in and says … ‘You guys got some more time? You want to keep talking?’ And then discloses this other murder.”
Smith has pleaded not guilty. His attorney could not be reached for comment.
The trial is scheduled to last three to four weeks in Anchorage.
source: people.com
