Alaska

Man Who Recorded Torture Found Guilty of 2 Murders

Published

2 years ago

February 23, 2024

Man Who Recorded Torture Found Guilty of 2 Murders

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, 52, showed no reaction in court and stared ahead as the judge read the jury’s verdict, the AP reports. He was arrested after a woman stole his cellphone from his truck and discovered the gruesome footage from 2019. The woman, a sex worker who became a key witness during the trial in Anchorage, then copied the footage to a memory card and ultimately turned it over to police, prosecutors said.

The graphic videos never show the man’s face but his distinctive accent is heard on the tape. He narrates as if to an audience and urges Kathleen Henry to die as she’s repeatedly beaten and strangled in an Anchorage hotel room. “In my movies, everybody always dies,” the voice says. Smith later confessed to killing another Alaska Native woman whose body had been found earlier but had been misidentified. Smith was found guilty of all 14 charges, including two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Henry in 2019 and Veronica Abouchuk, either in 2018 or 2019. He was also convicted of multiple counts of sexual assault. Alaska does not have the death penalty, so a life sentence is expected.

The jury also found that Smith “subjected Henry to substantial physical torture,” an aggravator that carries a mandatory 99-year sentence, the Anchorage Daily News reports. Sentencing was set for two days in July. Freda Dan, who is part of the Abouchuk family by marriage, sat through the trial nearly every day and gave high marks to law enforcement and the judicial system for their thorough work. “We weren’t invisible, and we are people,” said Dan, who is from the village of Stebbing, adding they were treated with respect. Also attending the trial was Smith’s wife, Stephanie Bissland of Anchorage. “He was very good for me, but he had another life, I guess,” she said, adding his problems were likely exacerbated by heavy drinking. She said she doesn’t plan to divorce him.

(More Alaska stories.)

Source link

Related Topics:alaska anchorage Featured murder

Click to comment

Alaska

Warnings continue for wind, snow, and extreme cold across Alaska

Published

2 hours ago

December 9, 2025

Press Room

Warnings continue for wind, snow, and extreme cold across Alaska

ANCHORAGE, AK (Alaska’s News Source) – Extreme wind has been non-stop for more than 60 hours in Wasilla in Palmer, where peak wind gusts have reached over 80 mph three days in a row.

Peak winds have been over 80 mph for the last three days in Palmer.(Melissa Frey)

Wind gusts at the Palmer Airport climbed over 50 mph Friday evening and didn’t drop below until late Monday evening.

Peak winds have been over 50 mph for more than 60 hours.(Melissa Frey)

The High Wind Warning for the Matanuska Valley will continue through 6 a.m. on Tuesday. Calmer conditions are likely on Tuesday afternoon as the winds relax across the area.

High Wind Warnings continue in the Mat-Su.(Melissa Frey)

Send us your weather photos and videos here!

The rest of Southcentral remains clear and dry, with temperatures likely dropping to the lowest levels of the season starting Tuesday morning. This pattern will continue through the end of the week.

Download the free Alaska’s News Source Weather App for the latest forecast in your area.

In Southeast, Winter Storm Warnings are still in effect near Ketchikan for up to 8″ of additional snow through Tuesday. Winter Weather Advisories are also in effect near Hyder for an additional 9-12″ of snow on Tuesday.

The snow has ended across the northern areas of Southeast, but extreme cold is setting in. Wind Chill values will reach as low as -50° near Skagway, to -25° near Haines, and to -15° near Juneau.

The Copper River Basin will also experience extreme wind chill values to -50° through Tuesday afternoon.

In the Interior, temperatures dropped to -30° for the first time Monday morning, and we’ll see several nights at that cold level this week.

24/7 Alaska Weather: Get access to live radar, satellite, weather cameras, current conditions, and the latest weather forecast here. Also available through the Alaska’s News Source streaming app available on Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV.

Source link

Alaska

Oregon State women pull away late to avoid upset against Alaska Anchorage

Published

14 hours ago

December 8, 2025

Press Room

Oregon State women pull away late to avoid upset against Alaska Anchorage

That was close. At least for a while.

Oregon State women’s basketball avoided an upset loss to Division II Alaska Anchorage on Sunday at Gill Coliseum, going on a 15-3 run to end the game and beat the visiting Seawolves, 69-53.

The Beavers (6-4) started slow but took control in the second half, surviving a barrage of three-pointers (11 of 37) from Alaska Anchorage (7-2) to pull out a win.

OSU was led by Tiara Bolden with 23 points, six rebounds and five assists. Katelyn Field poured in 11 as well for the Beavers on 3 of 6 three-point shooting.

10 different players scored as OSU coach Scott Rueck relied on his bench to get the team out of a funk.

The Beavers got off to a sluggish start. Alaska Anchorage came out firing, and took a 10-8 lead at the midpoint in the first quarter on a three by Kimberly Carrada.

After one, with the Seawolves shooting 56%, the Beavers trailed 24-18.

In the second quarter, Rueck emptied his bench and put typical reserves in the game, seemingly to send a message after a lackluster effort by his starters.

Alaska Anchorage extended its lead to 34-27 at one point, but OSU rattled off a 7-0 run to end the half and tie things up. The Beavers had 10 turnovers at half, with the Seawolves hitting six of an eye-popping 20 three-point attempts.

Rueck kept reserves in the game to start the second half, but when he re-inserted his starters, the Beavers opened up a 44-36 lead thanks in large part to Bolden’s scoring.

Jenna Villa hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to end the third, her first basket of the game after a cold start, which gave OSU a 52-42 lead through three.

Alaska Anchorage kept chucking from downtown as the fourth quarter began, and a pair of makes cut the OSU lead down to 54-48.

Despite going cold from the field, the Beavers tightened up their defense to keep it a six-point lead for an extended period. It got as close as four.

But Field nailed a three to get it to 59-50 with under four minutes remaining, and Bolden hit a pair of jumpers to extend the run to 10-0 and lead to 64-50 with 1:35 to go. The Beavers didn’t look back.

Next game: Oregon State (6-4) vs. Arizona State (10-0)

When: Sunday, Dec. 14
Time: 1:00 pm PT
Where: Gill Coliseum, Corvallis
Stream: ESPN+

Source link

Alaska

World WatchThe Shillong Times

Published

1 day ago

December 8, 2025

Press Room

7.0 quake hits Alaska-Canada border, no casualties so far

JUNEAU, Dec 7: A powerful, magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck in a remote area near the border between Alaska and the Canadian territory of Yukon on Saturday. There was no tsunami warning, and officials said there were no immediate reports of damage or injury. The U.S. Geological Survey said it struck about 230 miles (370 km) northwest of Juneau, Alaska, and 155 miles (250 km) west of Whitehorse, Yukon. In Whitehorse, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Calista MacLeod said the detachment received two 911 calls about the earthquake. “It definitely was felt,” MacLeod said. “There are a lot of people on social media, people felt it.” Alison Bird, a seismologist with Natural Resources Canada, said the part of Yukon most affected by the temblor is mountainous and has few people. “Mostly people have reported things falling off shelves and walls,” Bird said. “It doesn’t seem like we’ve seen anything in terms of structural damage.” (AP)

Three killed as unexploded device goes off in Afghanistan

Kabul, Dec 7: Three workers were killed when an unexploded device left over from past wars went off in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, provincial police spokesman Sayed Tayeb Hamad said on Sunday. The incident occurred in a scrap shop in Kama district when workers were busy at the site on Saturday afternoon, the spokesman said, adding that three workers died on the spot due to the blast. Police have urged residents to inform security authorities if they see or come across any suspicious objects. Earlier in November, a similar incident claimed one life in the Rodat district of Nangarhar province. Post-war Afghanistan has been regarded as one of the most mine-contaminated countries in the world, and the unexploded ordnances, which were left over from more than four decades of wars and civil unrest, often kill or maim people, mostly children, in the country. (IANS)

Man held after pepper spray incident at UK’s Heathrow Airport

London, Dec 7: A man was arrested on suspicion of assault at the Heathrow Airport on Sunday after police were called to reports of a number of people being attacked with pepper spray, with the incident causing major travel disruptions. The Metropolitan Police said the morning incident was not terrorism related and that the injuries to the victims were not thought to be “life-threatening or life changing”. The force believes the incident involved an argument between a group of people known to each other. “A number of people were sprayed with what is believed to be a form of pepper spray by a group of men who then left the scene,” the Met Police said in a statement. “Armed response officers attended and arrested one man on suspicion of assault. He remains in custody and enquiries continue to trace further suspects,” the statement said. The incident caused major disruption to flights, with the airport advising passengers to allow extra time for their journeys. (PTI)

Source link