Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby handed down the sentence in an Anchorage courtroom for the deaths of Veronica Abouchuk in 2018 and Kathleen Jo Henry in 2019.
convicted in February of killing two Alaska Native womenIn an Anchorage courtroom packed with family members, advocates and members of the media, Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby handed down the sentence, which ensures that Smith will spend the rest of his life in prison for the deaths of Veronica Abouchuk in 2018 and Kathleen Jo Henry in 2019.
During a monthlong trial in February, jurors heard about how South Africa-born Smith cruised Anchorage for vulnerable women -- often homeless, suffering from mental illness or addiction -- for sexual encounters that turned violent. Smith had promised Abouchuk shelter, alcohol and food when he picked her up in 2018, took her to his home, shot her in the head and dumped her body near the Old Glenn Highway.
Saxby found that Smith was among the worst offenders in each of the charges because he callously and for his own pleasure killed Henry and Abouchuk, filming and taking photos of the deaths and speaking, in the case of Henry’s torture and killing, about doing it for an audience.ADVERTISEMENTPhotos of Kathleen Jo Henry, left, and Veronica Abouchuk are displayed during Brian Steven Smith's murder trial on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024 at the Nesbett Courthouse in Anchorage.
When confronted with the images by police, Smith said he had left a woman passed out on the grass. The encounter had occurred shortly after Henry’s death, Dunlop said.
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