A woman with a criminal history stole a digital memory card from a man’s truck.
The content on the card, including gruesome photos and videos, is central to a double murder trial.
The accused, Brian Steven Smith, faces 14 charges, including first- and second-degree murder.
“In my movies, everybody always dies,” a voice says during one of the videos. “What are my followers going to think of me? People need to know when they are being serial-killed.”
The victims, Kathleen Henry and Veronica Abouchuk, were both Alaska Native women who had experienced homelessness.
“With no prompting, he tells the troopers in the bathroom, ‘I’m going to make you famous,’” District Attorney Brittany Dunlop said. “He comes back in and says … ‘You guys got some more time? You want to keep talking?’ And then discloses this other murder.”
“The state cannot produce a witness to testify that the video fairly and accurately depicts any act that actually happened,” Smith’s attorney Timothy Ayer wrote.
The evidence includes recordings and location data linking Smith to the crimes.
“These were two Alaska Native women,” Dunlop said in 2019. “And I know that hits home here in Alaska, and we’re cognizant of that. We treat them with dignity and respect.”
The trial was set to begin with jury selection, and efforts were made to prevent the public from viewing the disturbing videos.
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