Brian Steven Smith has been sentenced to 226 years in prison for the deaths of two Native Alaskan women, Kathleen Jo Henry and Veronica Abouchuk.
Smith was found guilty in February on 14 criminal counts, including first and second-degree murder, tampering with evidence and sexual assault in the deaths of both women. He declined to speak at Friday’s hearing and did not speak at all throughout the trial.
The 226-year sentence matches the length recommended by prosecutors from the Anchorage District Attorney’s office, Brittany Dunlop and Heather Nobrega.
Smith’s defense attorney, Timothy Ayer, recommended a 132-year sentence, arguing that his client would be in prison for the rest of his life either way.
Brian Steven Smith sits in a courtroom while waiting for his arraignment to start in Anchorage, Alaska, Oct. 16, 2019.
Mark Thiessen/AP
Before Friday’s sentencing hearing, the prosecution released photographs found on Smith’s phone and a forensic sketch of an unidentified Native Alaskan or Asian woman who is believed to be a third possible victim in these crimes.
Smith discussed the images in an interview with Anchorage police that played in court during his trial.
The prosecution said the photos establish a pattern of violence.
“As long as I’ve been doing this work, I still believe that most people are good and there are very, very few truly evil humans in the world. Mr. Smith is one of them,” Dunlop said at Friday’s sentencing. “He is a person that should never be permitted to walk among us. He should spend the rest of his life in jail and your sentence should make a statement that the women’s lives that he stole so brutally mattered.”
During the trial, prosecutors presented graphic video and photo evidence, captured by Smith himself, of Smith narrating his actions during Henry’s murder.
Kristy Grimaldi, Abouchuk’s daughter, spoke at the sentencing hearing, following her appearance at the trial earlier this year.
“It’s a relief knowing that the defendant will rot. I hope he is swarmed with guilt someday knowing he stalled so many people’s joy,” Grimaldi said. “To me, he will always be an unintelligent sick human being who couldn’t comprehend the meaning of life.”
Judge Kevin Saxby, who has been presiding over Smith’s case since the trial began in February, said before pronouncing the sentence that the killings of Abouchuk and Henry have a larger effect on society, especially for women.
Rena Sapp, outside a courtroom, Oct. 21, 2019, in Anchorage, Alaska, shows a photo of her sister, Veronica Abouchuk, taken during a day out shopping in 2013.
Mark Thiessen/AP
“Those killings actually affect all of society, and especially women in our society. It’s the stuff of nightmares,” Saxby said, “They strip women of any feelings of safety in their own neighborhoods. That damage continues long after the crimes are solved.”
At the beginning of Friday’s sentencing, Saxby said that though it is standard practice to use initials when referring to victims, he would like to use the victims’ full names.
“They were treated as something other than human, and they were dehumanized,” Saxby said. “It seems to me that the more respectful thing to do is to refer to them by name… and that will help actually, to some tiny extent restore their personhood.”
Grimaldi echoed this sentiment in her remarks about her mother, saying, “Forget the defendant’s name and remember: Veronica Rosaline Abouchuk and Kathleen Jo Henry.”