South African-born Brian Smith walks out of the courtroom after being sentenced to 226 years behind bars by Anchorage Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby for the murders of two Alaska native women. | Matt Faubion Alaska Public Media
Durban — A judge sentencing a South African-born killer to 226 years in an Alaskan jail for two savage murders said there was no hope for rehabilitation, just the need to keep him off the streets.
South African-born Brian Steven Smith, now 53, recorded himself raping, beating and killing homeless Alaskan woman Kathleen Jo Henry, 30, on an SD card labelled “Homicide at Midtown Marriott”. The videos and images – which never showed Smith’s face – were copied by a woman in possession of Smith’s phone and sent to police.
The 39 graphic pictures and 12 videos showed a woman being raped, beaten and murdered. Smith’s voice in the recordings led to his arrest in 2019.
A detective reviewing the images recalled an earlier investigation of a man with the same unusual accent. He made the link to Smith, who grew up in Queenstown (Komani), because of his accent which stood out as there were so few South Africans living in Anchorage.
After Smith was arrested, he confessed to shooting another woman, whose body was recovered and identified as Veronica Abouchuk, 52.
In January 2020, IOS reporter Tanya Waterworth obtained a copy of the bail memorandum detailing the prosecution’s case. It revealed horrifying details of Henry’s murder.
It said the first image on the SD card showed a female Alaskan native with dark hair “lying on a floor next to a bed. The female is completely naked and on her back. The female’s left eye was bruised and swollen shut. There was blood along the opening of her left eye. The female’s right eye was partially open. The female’s lips were bloody and blue.”
There were further images of the body, wrapped in a sheet with the head exposed, being rolled on a cart to a black pickup truck, later confirmed as belonging to Smith.
The bail memorandum states that in the first video “the person filming was slapping and strangling the female with his right hand around her neck”.
In the second video, “the man in the recording talks, saying such things as ‘my hand’s getting tired’ and he proceeds to stomp on the female’s throat with his right foot. The male can be heard saying ‘you need to f*****g die, b**** ’ and ‘just f*****g die’. The male had some sort of an English accent”.
“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.”
Smith was convicted in February of 14 counts including two counts of murder in the first degree, sexual assault in the second degree, tampering with physical evidence and misconduct involving a corpse. This refers to sexual penetration of a corpse.
Last week, Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby sentenced Brian Steven Smith, 53, to 226 years in prison for the murders.
Alaska Public Media reported that Smith sat still, with no reaction, at the sentencing. His wife, Stephanie Bissland, sat directly behind him, but he did not look at her.
After sentencing, jurors described the case as unspeakable and said it had taken a mental toll on them.
Lead prosecutor Brittany Dunlop called Smith truly evil, someone who should never be permitted “to walk among us”.
Abouchuk’s daughter Kristy Grimaldi gave a statement wishing Smith would live the rest of his life with no hope.
The Seattle Times reported the judge saying: “Both were treated about as horribly as a person can be treated. It’s the stuff of nightmares.”
Smith confessed to killing Abouchuk after picking her up in Anchorage when his wife was out of town. He took her to his home, and she refused when he asked her to shower because of an odour.
Smith said he became upset, retrieved a pistol from the garage and shot her in the head, dumping her body north of Anchorage. He told police the location, where authorities later found a skull with a bullet wound.
Smith and Bissland, 69, met through online gaming and he went to Alaska in 2014, getting engaged soon after. He became a naturalised US citizen.
In an interview with a local station after her husband’s arrest, Bissland described Smith as an adoring husband and who liked to go on “solo trips around Alaska” which he liked to document on film.
In February 2020 Bissland spoke to Waterworth about how the couple came to know each other and how a story of true love turned to heartbreak.
Blues musician Bissland, 69, said she and Smith met through online gaming in February 2013 and Skyped together for the first time in March 2013 and the relationship grew.
Smith tried to get a visa to work in the US so he could visit his new girlfriend Stephanie in Alaska, but the restrictions were too tight.
Bissland said that in July 2013, Smith proposed to her on Skype. She said “Yes” and planned her first trip to South Africa so they could meet face-to-face in August 2013.
“I first saw him rushing over to me in the Durban airport. We were both excited and happy and not awkward at all. The next day we drove to Estcourt and stayed in the guesthouse he managed. He proposed again on his knee,” she said.
The couple shared their first proper date in a local steakhouse on the day she arrived.
Staying at the guesthouse in Estcourt, Bissland said they spent the holiday visiting nearby places, sharing a picnic next to a fire at Wagendrift Dam and having dinner in Nottingham Road. When they drove back to Durban, Bissland said Smith bought her “a token dinner in Nottingham Road.
When they drove back to Durban, Bissland said Smith bought her “a token engagement ring” before she left.
In September 2013, Bissland petitioned for a visa for her fiance and Smith arrived March 2014.
Smith proposed again and gave her his mother’s De Beers flower-shaped engagement ring. They were married on May 17, 2014.
“Brian took care of me, he is a clever man. He was proud of my accomplishments. He was an open, pleasant, normal person,” she said.
In February 2016, the couple visited South Africa so Bissland could get to know his family and friends better. They travelled from Johannesburg to tour around the Cape and to Smith’s home town, Queenstown, as well as East London, where he had lived and worked. They visited the Cango Caves, animal reserves, historic sites, stopping at small villages and stalls.
Bissland said that on learning of his arrest, “I was horrified and could not believe it. No-one who knew him believed it”.
Detectives “showed me that there were things I didn’t know, I was a mess, lost”.
She said she and Smith exchanged letters and she had visited him in jail. She said they never discussed the case, but “just us”.
“Some people are hot on why I haven’t divorced him, why would I stand behind him, why visit? I am his wife. I take care of his welfare, how he is mending. I can do things for him.
Independent on Saturday