The Anchorage judge sentencing convicted killer Brian Smith on Friday gave prosecutors exactly what they asked for: a 226-year sentence for the murders of two Alaska Native women.
Smith sat still, with no reaction, but the packed courtroom was charged with emotion.
Even before sentencing got underway, there was a demonstration outside the Nesbett Courthouse.
A group of mostly Native women, dressed in red, gathered outside, carrying signs that said, “Honk for justice,” and “We do not feel safe.”
“These are our sisters,” Sarah Wiseman said. “We have to look out for each other.”
Wiseman is related to Veronica Abouchuk, one of the women Smith was convicted of killing. The jury also found Smith guilty in the death of another woman, Kathleen Jo Henry. Both were from small western Alaska villages but struggled to survive in Anchorage. Smith told detectives he preyed upon them, because they were vulnerable.
Anchorage Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby told the court he hopes the harsh sentence for Smith will be a deterrent.
“Some people come to Alaska because it’s an easy place to take advantage of people, people who live on the street,” he said.
Saxby recapped a series of videos that were played during the trial. They came from a cellphone, stolen from Smith by a sex worker. She copied the images, which Smith shot and narrated, and turned them over to police. They captured Kathleen Henry’s last moments at a Midtown hotel, as Smith tormented her.
“He says, quote, you’re alive and you die. And you’re alive and you die," said the judge, as he read from the video transcript. “So, I guess I need to stop this because the blood is getting to the floor.”
Only the jury saw the video, but the whole courtroom heard the sound of Smith’s voice, as he said, “You live. You die,” while pressing his fingers on and off Henry’s throat.
The judge’s description of the footage brought sobs from Veronica Abouchuk’s family, who were invited to sit together in a large group inside the jury box.
Abouchuk’s daughter, Kristy Grimaldi, told the court that, since the trial, it’s as if a heavy fog descended on her life, but there are times when she remembers her mother’s full-hearted laughter -- and moments, like the other day, when a store clerk gave her two quarters for change. One had her birthdate, and the other, her mother’s.
“It was an insignificant moment that became significant to me,” Grimaldi said. “I feel her all around me, watching over me. No one can take that away. This experience has taught me so much and has shown me that true love never dies.”
She told the court Brian Smith was a sick human being, unable to comprehend the meaning of life.
“Forget the defendant’s name,” Grimaldi said, “and remember Veronica Rosaline Abouchuk and Kathleen Jo Henry.”
Abouchuk’s sister, Rena Sapp, said the sentencing brings relief for now, but worries about what may come next for other families. She believes Smith had more victims.
“It’s not done. This is not the end for Brian Smith. There are more,” she said.
Smith did not speak at his sentencing. Although his wife, Stephanie Bissland, sat in a gallery bench directly behind him, he did not turn around to look at her. His attorney Timothy Ayer pushed for a 132-year sentence, about a hundred years less than what he received. He said either way, Smith would spend the rest of his life in prison.
Outside the courthouse, before the sentencing, there was a large poster-sized sketch of a woman who appears to be an Alaska Native, believed to be Brian Smith’s third victim. Police found her photos on another one of his cell phones. She looks battered in the pictures, and it isn’t clear if she’s alive. The woman has yet to be identified, a reminder that there are likely more chapters to come.
“It was absolutely horrific. That man is a monster,” said D. Matt Duncan, who was one of the jurors.
Duncan said he currently sees a therapist to help him cope with what he saw and heard during the trial, but said it was an honor to serve on the jury. He said Alaska has a serious problem, and he hopes the case will open people’s eyes.
Duncan said it’s alarming that Smith felt safe enough to brag about his killings to a girlfriend and appeared to have tried to show off Kathleen Henry’s body to another friend.
“I am very confident that there was a community of people that are involved in that behavior that Brian Smith is convicted for,” Duncan said. “And they are preying on defenseless women in our community. That needs to change.”
Another juror, Michael Stewart, also attended the sentencing. He said he’s glad the judge, rather than just throwing the book at Smith, “threw a pallet full of encyclopedias.”
Both Stewart and Duncan sat together in the courtroom to watch the sentencing. Stewart said what he experienced during the trial was unspeakable.
“It’s burned into my head. It’s hard to watch crime dramas now,” he said.
Both jurors say they wish police would have acted sooner on leads in the case.
“Brian Smith’s girlfriend, Alicia Youngblood, reported him to police years before the police did anything," Duncan said. “If it wasn’t for dumb luck, he would still be out there murdering women.”
Duncan also believes that Smith’s friend, Ian Calhoun, should be brought to justice. The prosecution said Smith tried to meet Calhoun at a park near his home, presumably to show off Kathleen Henry’s body. In the state’s sentencing recommendations, attorneys said, they believe it’s likely Calhoun saw Henry’s remains, but so far, he hasn’t been charged. Calhoun was not compelled to testify during the trial.
Brittany Dunlop, the lead prosecutor in the case, said it may not seem like police are working to pursue a case, because a lot of work goes on behind the scenes and police are limited in what they can say about an ongoing investigation. During the trial, the jury saw massive amounts of cellphone and satellite data to connect Smith to the killings of Abouchuk and Henry. At the sentencing she called Smith truly evil, someone who should never be permitted “to walk among us.”
The Anchorage police's big break in the case came from Valerie Casler, the sex worker who stole Smith’s phone. The images on it gave police the evidence they needed to make an arrest.
“What she did, and the danger that she put herself in — and is still in danger today — is absolutely heroic,” Duncan said.
Stewart and Duncan say the jurors discussed amongst themselves how Smith has likely killed more women. But thanks, in large part to Casler, Smith has been stopped.
Stewart said he hopes lessons from the trial will “open up the floodgates for more justice.”
