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How a memory card from a trucker’s cab stolen four years ago has led to grisly double murder trial of Brian Steven Smith in Alaska

A truck driver is on trial this week for double murder after a woman stole a memory card containing with horrific footage of a killing from the cab of his vehicle.

Brian Steven Smith has been charged in the deaths of Kathleen Henry, 30, and Veronica Abouchuk, who was 52 when her family reported her missing in February 2019, seven months after they last saw her.

Prosecutors allege that Smith lured Henry into a hotel room in Anchorage, Alaska in September 2019 and then filmed her torture and murder. Her body was later discovered along a highway.


Smith, now 52, became a suspect in Henry’s murder after a digital memory card was stolen from the center console of his cab and turned over to police. The card featured gruesome photos and videos of the killing and a voice saying, ‘in my movies, everybody always dies.’

The card was turned over police, who recognized the voice as that of Smith, a South Africa native who now lives in Alaska. They knew of Smith from a prior investigation, court documents say.



Smith was arrested in October 2019 and allegedly admitted to shooting another woman in 2017 or 2018. The second victim was identified as Abouchuk, whose remains had been found along a highway earlier in 2019.

He has pleaded not guilty to 14 charges, including first and second-degree murder, sexual assault and tampering with evidence.


Brian Steven Smith (pictured in court in October 2019) has been charged in the deaths of Kathleen Henry, 30, and Veronica Abouchuk, who was 52 when her family reported her missing in February 2019

Brian Steven Smith (pictured in court in October 2019) has been charged in the deaths of Kathleen Henry, 30, and Veronica Abouchuk, who was 52 when her family reported her missing in February 2019

Brian Steven Smith (pictured in court in October 2019) has been charged in the deaths of Kathleen Henry, 30, and Veronica Abouchuk, who was 52 when her family reported her missing in February 2019 

Prosecutors allege that Smith lured Kathleen Henry (pictured) into a hotel room in Anchorage, Alaska in September 2019 and then filmed her torture and murder. Her body was later discovered along a highway

Prosecutors allege that Smith lured Kathleen Henry (pictured) into a hotel room in Anchorage, Alaska in September 2019 and then filmed her torture and murder. Her body was later discovered along a highway

Prosecutors allege that Smith lured Kathleen Henry (pictured) into a hotel room in Anchorage, Alaska in September 2019 and then filmed her torture and murder. Her body was later discovered along a highway

Smith was arrested in October 2019 and allegedly admitted to shooting Veronica Abouchuk (pictured) in 2017 or 2018. Her remains had been found along a highway earlier in 2019

Smith was arrested in October 2019 and allegedly admitted to shooting Veronica Abouchuk (pictured) in 2017 or 2018. Her remains had been found along a highway earlier in 2019

Smith was arrested in October 2019 and allegedly admitted to shooting Veronica Abouchuk (pictured) in 2017 or 2018. Her remains had been found along a highway earlier in 2019

The woman who found the SD card got into a truck with Smith when he picked her up for a ‘date’ near downtown Anchorage.


When he left her alone in the vehicle, the woman – who had a lengthy criminal history including theft, assault and prostitution – stole the digital memory card from the center console.

The card contained photos and videos of a woman being beaten and strangled at a Marriott hotel, according to court documents. 

Her attacker was heard speaking in a strong accent as he urged her to die. ‘In my movies, everybody always dies,’ the voice says on one video. ‘What are my followers going to think of me? People need to know when they are being serial-killed.’ 

There was also footage of her blanket-covered body being snuck outside on a luggage cart.


About a week after she took the SD card, the woman turned it over to police, who identified the suspect as Smith. 

Authorities say Henry’s death was recorded at the TownePlace Suites by Marriott, a hotel in midtown Anchorage. Smith was registered to stay there from September 2 to September 4, 2019.

The first images showing Henry’s body were time-stamped at about 1am on September 4, police said.

The last images on the card were taken early on September 6 and showed Henry’s body in the back of a black pickup, according to charging documents. 



Brian Steven Smith is pictured with his wife His wife, Stephanie Bissland of Anchorage. Bissland and a sister acting as a family spokesperson in South Africa, both declined to comment until after the trial

Brian Steven Smith is pictured with his wife His wife, Stephanie Bissland of Anchorage. Bissland and a sister acting as a family spokesperson in South Africa, both declined to comment until after the trial

Brian Steven Smith is pictured with his wife His wife, Stephanie Bissland of Anchorage. Bissland and a sister acting as a family spokesperson in South Africa, both declined to comment until after the trial

Authorities say Kathleen Henry's (pictured) death was recorded at the TownePlace Suites by Marriott, a hotel in midtown Anchorage. The first images showing Henry's body were time-stamped at about 1am on September 4, police said. The last images on the card were taken early on September 6 and showed Henry's body in the back of a black pickup, according to charging documents

Authorities say Kathleen Henry's (pictured) death was recorded at the TownePlace Suites by Marriott, a hotel in midtown Anchorage. The first images showing Henry's body were time-stamped at about 1am on September 4, police said. The last images on the card were taken early on September 6 and showed Henry's body in the back of a black pickup, according to charging documents

Authorities say Kathleen Henry’s (pictured) death was recorded at the TownePlace Suites by Marriott, a hotel in midtown Anchorage. The first images showing Henry’s body were time-stamped at about 1am on September 4, police said. The last images on the card were taken early on September 6 and showed Henry’s body in the back of a black pickup, according to charging documents

Location data showed that at the time the photo was taken, Smith’s phone was in the area of Rainbow Valley Road, along the Seward Highway south of Anchorage, the same area where Henry’s body was found several weeks later, police said.

As detectives interrogated Smith about the Marriott case, authorities said, he offered up more information to police who escorted him to a bathroom.


He allegedly admitted to having killed another woman and went on to identify her – Abouchuk – from a photo and to provide the location of her remains, along the Old Glenn Highway north of Anchorage.

‘With no prompting, he tells the troopers in the bathroom, “I’m going to make you famous,”‘ District Attorney Brittany Dunlop said during a court hearing last week. 

‘He comes back in and says…”You guys got some more time? You want to keep talking?” And then discloses this other murder.’

Alaska State Troopers in 2018 incorrectly identified another body as that of Abouchuk, because Abouchuk’s ID had been discovered with it, for reasons that remain unclear. 


But with the information Smith provided, investigators re-examined the case and used dental records to confirm a skull with a bullet wound found in the area Smith identified was Abouchuk’s, authorities have said.

Smith’s attorney, Timothy Ayer, unsuccessfully sought to have the digital memory card’s evidence – or even mention of it – excluded at trial. 

Rena Sapp (pictured outside a courtroom  in Anchorage, Alaska in October 2019) shows a photo of her sister, Veronica Abouchuk, taken during a day out shopping in 2013. Brian Steven Smith allegedly admitted to fatally shooting Abouchuk in 2017 or 2018

Rena Sapp (pictured outside a courtroom  in Anchorage, Alaska in October 2019) shows a photo of her sister, Veronica Abouchuk, taken during a day out shopping in 2013. Brian Steven Smith allegedly admitted to fatally shooting Abouchuk in 2017 or 2018

Rena Sapp (pictured outside a courtroom  in Anchorage, Alaska in October 2019) shows a photo of her sister, Veronica Abouchuk, taken during a day out shopping in 2013. Brian Steven Smith allegedly admitted to fatally shooting Abouchuk in 2017 or 2018

Smith, (pictured in October 2016) who is in custody at the Anchorage Correctional Facility, came to Alaska in 2014 and became a naturalized US citizen the same month Henry was killed

Smith, (pictured in October 2016) who is in custody at the Anchorage Correctional Facility, came to Alaska in 2014 and became a naturalized US citizen the same month Henry was killed

Smith, (pictured in October 2016) who is in custody at the Anchorage Correctional Facility, came to Alaska in 2014 and became a naturalized US citizen the same month Henry was killed


The woman who turned in the card initially claimed she had simply found it on the street, and it wasn’t until a second interview that she confessed she had stolen the card from Smith’s truck while he tried to get money from an ATM and she had it for a week before giving it to police, he said.

For that reason, he argued, prosecutors would not be able to demonstrate the provenance of the 39 photos and 12 videos, establish whether they were originals or duplicates, or say for sure whether they had been tampered with.

‘The state cannot produce a witness to testify that the video fairly and accurately depicts any act that actually happened,’ Ayer wrote.

However, Third Judicial District Judge Kevin Saxby ruled late Friday that the woman can testify about her possession of the card until she handed it over to police and that the recordings can be properly authenticated.


Henry and Abouchuk were both Alaska Native women and had experienced homelessness. They were from small villages in western Alaska; Henry from Eek and Abouchuk from Stebbins.

Henry’s family has not spoken publicly about her death and efforts to reach relatives have not been successful. Abouchuk’s family has not returned messages from AP.

‘These were two Alaska Native women,’ Dunlop, then the assistant district attorney, said in 2019 after Smith was charged.

‘And I know that hits home here in Alaska, and we’re cognizant of that. We treat them with dignity and respect.’


Authorities said Smith, who is in custody at the Anchorage Correctional Facility, came to Alaska in 2014 and became a naturalized US citizen the same month Henry was killed.

Brian Steven Smith (pictured in court in October 2019) has pleaded not guilty to 14 charges, including first and second-degree murder, sexual assault and tampering with evidence.

In a 2019 letter to the AP, Brian Smith (pictured with his wife Stephanie Bissland) declined to discuss the case. He added that he was doing well: 'I have lost weight, I have much less stress and I am sober'

In a 2019 letter to the AP, Brian Smith (pictured with his wife Stephanie Bissland) declined to discuss the case. He added that he was doing well: 'I have lost weight, I have much less stress and I am sober'

In a 2019 letter to the AP, Brian Smith (pictured with his wife Stephanie Bissland) declined to discuss the case. He added that he was doing well: ‘I have lost weight, I have much less stress and I am sober’

In a 2019 letter to the AP, he declined to discuss the case. He added that he was doing well: ‘I have lost weight, I have much less stress and I am sober.’


His wife, Stephanie Bissland of Anchorage, and a sister acting as a family spokesperson in South Africa, both declined to comment until after the trial.

The trial, expected to last three to four weeks, was scheduled to begin Monday with jury selection.

Prosecutors had suggested the possibility of closing the courtroom to prevent the gruesome videos from being seen by the public. 

The Associated Press, the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska’s News Source and Alaska Public Media objected to any such move in a letter to the court’s presiding judge.


Afterward, Saxby said he has no intention of keeping the public from the courtroom, but safeguards will be in place to prevent those in the gallery or watching the trial’s livestream from seeing them.

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