ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A South African man who tortured an Alaska Native woman and narrated as he recorded a video of her dying was found guilty of first-degree murder on Thursday for killing her and another Native woman.
The Anchorage jury returned a unanimous verdict against Brian Steven Smith after deliberating for less than two hours.
Smith, a 52-year-old from South Africa, showed no reaction in court and stared ahead as the judge read the jury’s verdict.
He was arrested after a woman stole his cellphone from his truck and discovered the gruesome footage from 2019.
Smith later confessed to killing another Alaska Native woman whose body had been found earlier but had been misidentified.
Authorities say Henry was the victim whose death was recorded at the TownePlace Suites by Marriott, a hotel in midtown Anchorage.
He told police where the body was left, and authorities later found a skull with a bullet wound there. »
