ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A 52-year-old man from South Africa was found guilty of first-degree murder on Thursday for the deaths of two Alaska Native women. Brian Steven Smith was convicted on 14 counts, including charges of sexual assault, misconduct with a corpse, and two counts of first-degree murder.
During the trial, the jury was shown videos Smith made, where audio clips revealed the sound of one of the victims gasping for air before her death. Prosecutors stated that Smith beat and strangled one of the victims to death in an Anchorage hotel room before driving around with her corpse in his truck for two days and eventually dumping the body.
Smith, whose face is never visible in the footage, can be heard with his South African accent narrating the violence, speaking as if he were addressing a viewing audience as he urges the victim to die during the assault. He also admitted killing both women and boasted about it in text messages and conversations.
The key witness in the case was a sex worker who stole Smith’s phone and found the incriminating footage, which she later turned over to the police. However, Smith’s defense attorney attacked the credibility of the witness, stating that her story changed over the years about how she came into possession of the files. Despite the evidence, Smith’s wife expressed her intention to remain married to him and visit him in prison.
The sentencing for Smith is scheduled for July, where he faces a mandatory 99-year sentence for one of the killings and 30 to 99 years for the other. The case has brought attention to the issue of violence against Indigenous women in Alaska, highlighting the need for greater protection and justice for these communities.