The updated material is below the original posts
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A man accused in the strangling of an Alaska woman seen on a digital memory card has been charged with another death, authorities said Thursday.
Documents filed by the state Department of Law say 48-year-old Brian Steven Smith told detectives he was the man in the images and videos recovered from the card.
The document says he acknowledged shooting another woman sometime between 2017 and 2018 and told police where he disposed of her body.
Anchorage police identified that woman as Veronica Abouchuk.
A grand jury indicted Smith on Thursday on murder and evidence tampering charges in the death of Abouchuk.
Smith previously pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, sexual assault and tampering in the death of Kathleen Henry.
Previous Item
Brian Steven Smith looks out in the courtroom while waiting for his arraignment to start Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019, in Anchorage, Alaska. A public defender entered not guilty pleas for Smith, who is accused of documenting the assault and murder of Kathleen Henry in an Anchorage hotel. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A man accused of documenting the killing of a woman on a camera memory card has pleaded not guilty.
Brian Steven Smith didn’t speak during an arraignment that lasted about a minute Wednesday. A public defender entered his pleas for him.
Smith faces charges of murder, sexual assault and evidence tampering in the death of 30-year-old Kathleen Henry.
Her body was found near the highway south of Anchorage Oct. 2. A few days earlier, a woman walking in Anchorage found a memory card titled, “Homicide at midtown Marriott.” Police say the card had 39 photos and 12 videos. The videos show a man beating and strangling a woman, telling her to die and laughing.
UPDATED MATERIAL-AP 10/23
Distinctive accent on torture video leads police to suspect
Warning,violent content. Contains specifics about the assault and death of Kathleen Henry
1 of 10This 2013 photo provided by Rena Sapp shows her sister, Veronica Abouchuk, when the two had a fun day shopping in Anchorage, Alaska. Sapp on Monday, Oct. 19, 2019, attended the arraignment of Brian Steven Smith, who is accused of killing Abouchuk and dumping her body on a highway outside Anchorage. (Photo by Rena Sapp via AP)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The suspect in a torture killing in Alaska’s biggest city ended up leading police right to him, first by losing a digital memory card labeled “Homicide at midtown Marriott” that contained video of the dying woman.
Then came an even more innocuous blunder: He spoke on the tape in his distinctive, very un-Alaska accent.
|
|
When a woman found the memory card on the street and turned it over to police, what detectives saw was horrific. At one point, the suspect complained to the victim, whose face was swollen and bloodied: “My hand’s getting tired.” He then stomped her throat with his right foot.
Amid the footage, a clue: The man spoke in an “English sounding accent,” and detectives recalled Brian Steven Smith, a 48-year-old South African, from another investigation, the details of which they have not disclosed.
They arrested Smith, who has pleaded not guilty to the September killing of 30-year-old Kathleen Henry, an Alaska Native woman. During his interrogation, police say he confessed to shooting another Alaska Native woman. Police won’t say if there may be other victims.
Anchorage has a diverse population — more than 200 languages are spoken in the school system — and it’s not uncommon to hear Russian, Yupik or Hmong accents.
But South African accents aren’t common, certainly not after the summer tourist season. Just a fraction of the city’s foreign-born population comes from Africa, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Authorities identified the second victim as Veronica Abouchuk, who was 52 when her family reported her missing in February. The family last saw her in July 2018, police said.
Smith told police where he left Abouchuk’s body. It was in an area near where State Troopers recovered a skull with a bullet wound earlier this year.
He pleaded not guilty to a second set of charges in court Monday, and bail was set at $2 million.
Several family members of the slain woman were sobbing and had to leave the courtroom when Smith was brought in.
After the hearing, Abouchuk’s niece, Tatauq Ruma, said she has questions for Smith.
“Why did he do it?” she said.
Her “Auntie Veronica,” a Yupik, grew up in the small community of Saint Michael, on the state’s western Bering Sea coast. She eventually moved to Anchorage, where she taught her niece how to make breaded chicken by using crumbled up corn flakes.
Veronica Abouchuk had four children before she became homeless, a lifestyle she embraced.
