October 11, 2025 • 30 mins
What if a tiny memory card held the key to one of Alaska’s most horrifying murder cases? In 2019, a woman stumbled upon an SD card — inside were graphic recordings of a brutal killing. When investigators followed the trail, they uncovered the shocking truth: Brian Steven Smith, a friendly hotel worker and YouTuber, was living a double life as a sadistic serial killer who documented his own crimes.
In this episode, you’ll learn how one small piece of evidence exposed a monster hiding in plain sight, the stories of his victims Kathleen Henry and Veronica Abouch, and how justice finally caught up with him. But even after his conviction, one question still haunts Alaska — were there more victims?
In this episode, you’ll learn how one small piece of evidence exposed a monster hiding in plain sight, the stories of his victims Kathleen Henry and Veronica Abouch, and how justice finally caught up with him. But even after his conviction, one question still haunts Alaska — were there more victims?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
They found a plane at the card that she said
when she playing in her phone looked like it was
a phone video of a murderer, and she wants to
get a Steen guy.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
This call was placed on September thirtieth, twenty nineteen. What
started as a simple case of stolen property quickly spiraled
into one of the most horrifying murder discoveries in Alaska's history.
A woman unknowingly snatching an SD card from a man
found herself staring into pure evil, graphic footage of a
(00:33):
brutal killing. But the real nightmare the victim was someone
she knew.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Said she's going to lichrystore, She's gonna get a bottle.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
She had to meet up with somebody.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
That must have been him, because that was the last.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Time I ever saw Brian Stephen Smith lived a life
of deception. To his wife, he was a devoted husband
to his colleague at Marriott Hotel, a generous man with
a passion for vlogging, to his mistress, a dark and
twisted enigma. But to his victims, he was a self
(01:10):
proclaimed serial killer, one who inflicted unimaginable horror before stealing
their last breath. And it was all hidden in that
one tiny SD card, that tiny piece of evidence, would
finally rip the mask off the monster. But even with
him behind bars, a chilling question remains. Could there be
more victims we don't know about?
Speaker 4 (01:33):
I do not remember this on these audio, on the videos,
on several of them in my movies. Sadly everybody dies. Shit,
what are my followers going to think of you? People
need to know when they're being serial killed. These are
things you're saying to her while you're doing that.
Speaker 5 (01:52):
Well, how would I say?
Speaker 4 (01:53):
That's that's it?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
By all accounts, Smith was the kind of guy who
looked like your everyday American neighbor, the type no one
would ever suspect of anything sinister, and everyone, I mean
everyone vouched for his normalcy. Even his wife stood by
his innocence, refusing to believe he was capable of such
horror even after he was sentenced. But one night, as
(02:21):
Smith cruised the streets looking for company, he picked up
a woman, seemingly offering her a ride in a warm
place to stay. While he stepped into a store, she
sat alone in his car, her curiosity leading her to
pick up a cell phone he had left behind. What
she found inside would shake her to the core a
(02:41):
folder titled homicide at Marriott Hotel Midtown. Inside that folder
was a collection of horrifying photos and videos, gruesome evidence
of a woman's desperate cries for help. The footage showed
her gasping for air as a man mercilessly filmed himself
violating her, damping on her throat while her body lay
(03:02):
battered and broken.
Speaker 6 (03:04):
But the followers think about you. If I have to act,
take with her, I gether.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
The SD card contained thirty nine images and twelve videos,
all documenting the same horrifying incident. We have legally obtained
these files from law enforcement and there is no denying
that they are brutally graphic. The footage revealed extreme violence
and a brutal sexual assault against a woman inside what
appeared to be a hotel room. The man behind the
(03:40):
camera never showed his face, but his voice was clear.
He strangled the woman as she fought back, scratching at him,
trying to break free. At one point, he complained that
his hand was getting tired. Instead of stopping, he began
stomping on her neck, pressing down with his full weight.
Speaker 6 (04:05):
Are you still alive? Yes, it's been not what twenty minutes,
so I think it's I think it's time we feitch.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
At one point, the woman was already lifeless when the
man took a chord and strangled her again, leaving anyone
who saw the clip haunted for days. However, the images
that followed were even more disturbing. They showed the woman's
lifeless body on the floor, naked, battered, and brutalized. The
man had even taken close up photos of her genitals
(04:38):
and her severely beaten face, as if documenting his crime
with no remorse. The time stamps on the files revealed
they were recorded on September fourth, twenty nineteen, less than
a month before the SD card was discovered. For a
city like Anchorage, this was beyond disturbing. Despite being Alaska's
(04:58):
largest city, it has a population of just under three
hundred thousand, a place where people know their neighbors, where
violent crimes of this magnitude are rare. By the way,
I post true crime and new cases here every week,
So if that sounds like your kind of thing, please
consider subscribing. It helps a lot. As mentioned earlier, the
(05:22):
man never showed his face, but authorities recognized his voice
for reasons unknown. Brian Smith was already on their radar,
and the moment investigators heard the voice from the recordings,
they knew it was him. And that voice sounded just
like this.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
This is the beaver dam it. It was made by
ancient beavers a thousand years ago. You can still see
the burial grounds over they ill speaking shit, you know
(06:04):
that anyway? It's actual beav dase. I didn't have this
go broke and pick it up. But there's a little
beav house of the very pretty out there. It actually
looks prehistoric. Prehistoric with a capital P.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
What really stood out about this case was that at
first police believed there was only one victim, but during
Brian Smith's interrogation, just as the officers were about to
wrap up and leave, Smith said something chilling, something that
suggested there was more than one with you.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Are you guys in the rush to go?
Speaker 7 (06:49):
Are we in a rush?
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (06:50):
Do you want to talk some more?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
We're not in a rush.
Speaker 7 (06:54):
We got got all my.
Speaker 5 (06:57):
I picked up a very drung girl. A wife was gone,
she was away for the weeknnot to go home, and.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Hi I shock to.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
That same day, authorities identified the first victim as thirty
year old Kathleen Joe Henry born on December twenty second,
nineteen eighty eight. Not much was widely known about Kathleen,
but she had been active on social media right up
until five days before those horrifying videos were recorded in
the hotel room. She was originally from Eke, Alaska, a
(07:44):
remote village with fewer than five hundred residents, made up
mostly of Native Alaskans. The place was so isolated that
you couldn't even drive there. For Anchorage, it was over
four hundred miles away, across rugged mountains and harsh terrain.
Kathleen had left that small world behind and moved to Anchorage.
She had been divorced and described herself online as a
(08:07):
tough Alaska chick since nineteen ninety seven. In twenty twelve,
while incarcerated, she earned her ged. Her record stretched back
to two thousand and seven, including multiple counts of assault,
disorderly conduct, drunk driving, resisting arrest, and theft. Her most
recent charge was on January twelfth, twenty nineteen, a fourth
(08:31):
degree assault, which in Alaska could mean anything from causing
bodily harm to throwing bodily fluids on law enforcement or
other protected individuals. Despite her past, Kathleen seemed determined to
turn things around. She had spoken about feeling hopeful for
the future. She had people who cared about her, she
was loved, and it was also known that she had
(08:52):
a passion for writing poetry. But how she crossed paths
with Brian Smith remains a mystery. Two days after the
discovery of the card, police responded to a call about
human remains in the southern part of the city, which
they believed belonged to the woman in the video. At
the time, Brian Smith was not even in Alaska. He
was vacationing in Virginia with his wife. You could even
(09:15):
see their videos on YouTube where they truly looked like
a happy couple because you can get away. He can't
get down there that fast.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
No, the mommy can come down and kick my eyes. Hello, kitty,
Oh you like that?
Speaker 8 (09:29):
Like?
Speaker 3 (09:29):
And do you Hey? That's Stiffany's roses. It's fucking cold
out here.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
When Smith finally returned to Anchorage, stepping off his flight
at Ted Stephen's International Airport, he had no idea what
was waiting for him. Authorities were already there. He had
come back to start a new job at the Residen's Inn,
another hotel under the Marriott brand. Though he was already
working at a Marriott location near University Lake. This new
(10:23):
position was supposed to be a fresh start. Instead, the
second his feet touched the ground, police moved in. He
was arrested on the spot and charged with murder. But
here's the real question. Who was Brian Stephen Smith and
how did his wife never suspect a thing. Brian Stephen
Smith was born in Queenstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. His
(10:46):
past remains largely a mystery, except for a trail of
eerie Facebook posts and an unsettling online presence. He attended
Queen's College High School and once ran a guesthouse in
South Africa with dreams of one day owning his own hotel.
But something led him to leave his home country behind
and start fresh in Alaska. There's been endless speculation about
(11:09):
why he made the move. Some believe his dark impulses
didn't begin in Alaska, that he may have been engaging
in disturbing activities long before setting foot in the US.
What we do know for certain is that his life
took a sharp turn when he met his future wife,
Stephanie through online gaming. Stephanie was nearly twenty years older
than Smith, but that didn't stop them from falling hard
(11:32):
and fast. Just seven months after meeting, they tied the
knot in twenty fourteen, and Smith relocated to Alaska that
same year. Stephanie had a passion for music, but worked
as an administrative officer for US Immigration and Naturalization Services,
a position that conveniently handled immigration paperwork. Looking back, Stephanie
(11:55):
claimed she never suspected a.
Speaker 9 (11:57):
Thing this happy, doting husband and is the man Stephanie
Bislin said she married the man accused of murdering vulnerable women,
someone she doesn't recognize.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
I've never seen anything that dark in him. For the record,
Brian Stephen Smith had no known criminal record in Alaska. However,
details about his past in South Africa were scarce, aside
from the fact that he had served in the military.
After moving to the United States, Smith worked various jobs
(12:30):
over the years, including positions at Alaska Tire Service, Dell Engineers,
and the Marriott at University Lake. He appeared to be
an ordinary man blending into his new life. Then, in
September of twenty nineteen, just weeks before the chilling SD
card was discovered, he officially became a US citizen. At
(12:52):
the time of his arrest, Smith lived in a quiet
Anchorage neighborhood called Geneva Woods, sharing a home with his
wife and their cat. On the surface, they seemed like
an average couple, but Smith's online activity painted a different picture.
He had an active YouTube channel where he posted travel
vlogs and random videos documenting his life in Alaska. What
(13:14):
he didn't realize was that his obsessive need to film
everything would later play a crucial role in his downfall.
Beyond YouTube, Smith frequently used Quorra, a platform where users
ask and answer questions, and it was here that another
disturbing side of him emerged. He was a blatant racist.
His posts revealed a deep rooted hatred, particularly toward race
(13:36):
relations in South Africa and Africa as a whole. His
rants were filled with toxic, extremist views that left little
doubt about his prejudices. On the other hand, Brian Stephen
Smith's wife, Stephanie, insisted once again that she never noticed
anything strange about her husband. To her, he was just
a hard working man with a steady job and a
(13:58):
quiet life in Anger, Ncourage, Alaska. But as we all know,
killers can be masters of deception. Behind closed doors, Smith
was living a double life. He had a mistress, someone
much younger than his wife. Her name was Alicia Youngblood,
and she wasn't just any affair. She was a woman
who shared his darkest desires. According to Smith himself, their
(14:22):
connection was built on twisted fantasies. They didn't just love
each other, they fed off each other's hunger for sadistic pleasure.
Alicia would send Smith chilling messages describing violent fantasies of
assaulting and even killing someone, and instead of being horrified,
Smith was turned on. In Smith's interview, he claimed that
(14:44):
it was actually his mistress who first confessed to having
dark secrets, secrets that supposedly involved killing someone. However, this
turned out to be nothing more than a story. But
that story, according to Smith, became his motivation to co
his own crimes. Many people, however, weren't convinced. They believed
(15:04):
Smith had violent urges long before he ever set foot
in Alaska. After all, he once described the state as
the perfect place to carry out heinous acts, boasting that
it was easy to commit crimes and dispose of bodies
without a trace. Even more disturbing, Smith had a clear
preference for targeting Native Alaskan women, making his crimes even
(15:26):
more chilling now. As for Alicia Youngblood, text messages revealed
that Brian Smith had actually confided in her about the killings,
long before the SD card was even discovered. In one message,
Youngblood asked, did you ever find your deleted videos? Just
a teeny tiny clip would be the ultimate, baby. I
(15:49):
promise I would erase it. In fact, you wouldn't even
have to send a video. Audio would be great, to
which Smith replied, I deleted it at the airport when
I came to the US. I was so paranoid that
the FBI would scan my hard drive. But then he
couldn't help himself. He started describing what he had done.
(16:10):
He talked about kicking and slapping the woman's private area.
At one point, he even admitted that he felt better
believing she had survived, when in fact she had died,
but young Blood's chilling response, I would have loved to
see that, to which Smith replied, I didn't know then
how serious you were. This isn't the first time Smith
(16:31):
talked about his violent urges, especially when it came to sex.
In multiple messages he sent young Blood videos of his
rough and aggressive desires, seemingly testing how far she was
willing to go. But young Blood wasn't the only one
he trusted with his dark secrets. Smith also confided in
a friend named Ian Calhoun. During the trial, prosecutors presented
(16:55):
text messages showing that Smith had told Calhoun about his crimes.
In one exchange, he even hinted at wanting to show
him Kathleen Henry's body before dumping it along the Seward Highway.
Speaker 7 (17:07):
This is from Smith's phone. I have something to show
you period, something I can't keep for too long.
Speaker 10 (17:14):
The lead detective and the Brian Smith murder case read
text messages prosecutors say are from the accused killer.
Speaker 7 (17:21):
Need to find a secluded spot to.
Speaker 10 (17:23):
Meet the manny text with pleaded his Fifth Amendment rights
and did not have to testify, but messages prosecutors say
are between them. Was presented to the jury.
Speaker 7 (17:33):
And he responds, I was not upcomma, sounds like you
were having a lot of fun. I did have fun
wanted to share.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Yet, despite this damning evidence, Calhoun was never charged with
a crime. As for young Blood, she eventually cooperated with
the police, exposing everything she knew about Smith. But the
most disturbing part CCTV footage from a drive through showed
her and Smith casually ordering food while Kathleen's body lay
(18:01):
inside the very same truck. And just when the world
was waiting for more answers, Alicia young Blood was gone
in the year twenty twenty one. She took her own life,
leaving behind more questions than closure, and the horror didn't
stop there. As it turned out, Kathleen wasn't Smith's only victim.
(18:22):
If young Blood had lived, she might have uncovered even
more chilling details about the man she once called a lover,
because on the day Smith was arrested, he casually confessed
to yet it's another murder.
Speaker 5 (18:41):
Did go to the and.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
I just said it.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
Well, not listening to.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
When authorities searched Smith's home, they seized multiple electronic devices,
hard drives, SD cards, USBs, and among them they found
something horrifying, a video of a woman lying motionless on
a couch. That woman was Veronica Abochuck. Veronica had been
missing for months. When news of her disappearance first spread,
(19:32):
her daughter, Christy Grimaldi, posted a heartbreaking plea on Facebook.
I don't think anyone should have to go through this
just hoping she is alive and well. Tragically, Veronica's remains
had actually been discovered months before Smith's arrest in April
of twenty nineteen, but with only a skeleton left and
(19:53):
a bullet fragment lodged in her skull, no one knew
who she was. It wasn't until smith confession that her
identity and the gruesome truth came to light. Smith later
admitted that he had picked Veronica up from the streets,
offering her a warm bed for the night while his
wife was out of town. He even let her shower,
(20:15):
claiming she smelled, but after that his monstrous nature took over.
Just like Kathleen, Veronica was brutally murdered, except this time
Smith shot her before dumping her body in the woods.
Veronica's tragic past made her story even more heartbreaking, according
to reports, Her daughter, Christie Grimaldy, revealed that Veronica never
(20:38):
had the chance to raise her and her siblings. She
had endured a troubled life, one that Christie believed stemmed
from childhood trauma. She shared that her mother had been
molested by a Catholic priest in Saint Michael, a trauma
that shaped her life forever. After becoming a mother herself,
Grimaldi had tried to reconnect with Veronica. She even invited
(21:01):
her to live with her, discovering that they shared a
simple but comforting favorite snack, rice with melted cheese. But
no matter how many times Veronica tried to rebuild her life,
the streets always pulled her back. And that's how she
crossed paths with Valerie Castler, the woman who would later
uncover the key to this entire case. Because Valerie found
(21:23):
the one piece of evidence that sealed Smith's fate, the
SD card. And how did she find it well, Brian
Smith had a dark habit, one that would ultimately lead
to his downfall. Every night, he prowled the streets searching
for vulnerable women, sex workers runaways though society overlooked. One night,
(21:46):
Brian Smith picked up Valerie Castler from the streets and
they spent the next twelve hours together. According to Valerie,
nothing about him seemed off. He didn't hurt her, threaten her,
or even say anything unusual to her. He was just
another client. But everything changed when Smith stopped at an
a t M to withdraw money for their date. While
(22:10):
waiting in his car, Valerie's curiosity got the best of her.
She picked up two phones he had left behind, wondering
if they shared any mutual contacts or if she'd recognize
any pictures. But what she found was far worse than
she could have ever imagined. She stumbled upon the horrifying
video the brutal murder of Kathleen Henry. The moment she
(22:33):
realized what she was watching, panic set in. Without hesitation,
she grabbed the phone and ran. For days, she hid
deep in the woods, terrified that Smith would come after her.
She had seen what he was capable of, and now
he likely knew she had his phone. But despite her fear,
Valerie found the courage to do what no one else had.
(22:56):
She turned the evidence in and with that, Brian Smith's
reign of terror was finally brought to an end. But
justice didn't come easy. It would take four long years
after Brian Smith's arrest before his trial even began, and
despite the fact that he had already confessed before, Smith
suddenly changed his tune, claiming he was pressured into admitting
(23:19):
to the crimes after being interrogated for eight hours straight,
but the evidence against him was undeniable. On top of that,
The trial was brutal. Jurors had to watch the horrifying
videos Smith had recorded, footage so disturbing that the judge
debated whether to show them in open court. Smith's lawyer
(23:40):
fought hard to get the recordings thrown out, but the
court wasn't having it. The case was live streamed and
the whole country watched as the chilling details of his
crimes were laid bare.
Speaker 5 (23:52):
No, no, no, we going off half and how he's now.
Speaker 8 (24:04):
We're joining on half of how now, m okay, come
(24:29):
on please man h yeah, did you hey? That's let's
just do it.
Speaker 4 (24:45):
Just take it.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Then, in February of twenty twenty four, the jury delivered
its verdict guilty on all fourteen charges. Smith was convicted
of two counts of first degree murder for the brutal
killings of Kathleen, Joe oh Henry, and Veronica Abochuck. But
that wasn't all. He was also found guilty of second
(25:06):
degree sexual assault, tampering with evidence, and even mistreating their
bodies after death. The jury made it clear that what
he did to Kathleen was beyond cruel. She had been tortured,
and for that Smith was handed an automatic ninety nine
year sentence. Veronica's murder added another thirty to ninety nine
(25:27):
years on top of that. His final sentencing was set
for July of twenty twenty four. When that day finally arrived,
the courtroom was packed. Family members of the victims, supporters,
and advocates gathered, many of them wearing red to honor
Indigenous women who had gone missing or been murdered. Veronica's
(25:48):
daughter stood before the court and made it clear she
wanted Smith to spend the rest of his days in
prison with no hope of freedom, and the judge agreed.
In one interview, even her niece expressed hope for a
better her outcome in the trial.
Speaker 9 (26:02):
The Boocheck sisters grief too much to hold back as
Smith entered the courtroom. For the family, knowing what happened
is a small step forward, but healing a journey with
many unanswered questions.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Like why this has happened to their family member.
Speaker 9 (26:18):
Family members told KT you a Baucheck liked her lifestyle
of homelessness, of freedom, but they worried.
Speaker 6 (26:26):
It was scary.
Speaker 9 (26:27):
We've always wanted it the best for her her niece
to talk, Muma remembers her Auntie Veronica teaching her how
to cook, and the kindness she had.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Very sweet lady.
Speaker 8 (26:38):
She loved her kids, she loved everyone. I really miss that.
Speaker 9 (26:45):
When she went missing two years ago, they worried, but
never did they imagine it would end like this. We
didn't know what to think.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
We were hoping a better outcome with that.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Smith was sentenced to two hundred and twenty six years
behind bars, no chance of parole, no chance of ever
walking free again. But the case didn't just bring justice
to the victim's families. It shed light on something much bigger,
the terrifying reality that Indigenous women in Alaska face every day.
Advocates spoke out demanding change, urging authorities to do more
(27:21):
to protect these communities because for too long, women like
Kathleen and Veronica had been disappearing and nobody was paying attention.
But even after Brian Smith was sentenced, another mystery still
lingered the fate of Cassandra Boskovsky. She was last heard
from in the summer of twenty nineteen, and then one
(27:42):
day she simply vanished. Cassandra wasn't just some missing person case.
She was a mother of seven, someone who kept in
close contact with family and friends, Her sudden silence was alarming. Then,
in September of twenty nineteen, Cassandra was officially reported missing,
but the truth wouldn't begin to surface until detectives got
(28:05):
their hands on Smith's phone later that year. Buried in
the files were chilling images photos of a woman lying
on the ground, either unconscious or dead. The woman in
the pictures bore a striking resemblance to Cassandra. Her family
had no doubt it was her, Yet despite the gruesome evidence,
the police never officially identified her as a victim. Even
(28:27):
Smith himself admitted he had been with the woman in
the pictures, but insisted he left her alive. It wasn't
until five years later, in September of twenty twenty four,
that a jury finally declared her legally dead. Her family
fought tirelessly to prove that she was one of Smith's victims,
pointing to small but unmistakable details a butterfly tattoo, the
(28:49):
size of her feet clear signs that the woman in
the photos was Cassandra.
Speaker 7 (28:54):
At the Anchors Police Department, we have not been able
to one hundred percent identify the female in d photos
as Cassandra.
Speaker 10 (29:02):
That is what the lead detective in the Smith case
told jurors her family disagrees.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
Yes, they do highly and.
Speaker 6 (29:11):
Because her photos were taking off of his phone and
he admitted to taking the photos.
Speaker 10 (29:16):
Grateful for a jury's decision in a hopeless situation.
Speaker 6 (29:20):
Feel him good about the verdict, but really sad and
it's hurty, really sad.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
When the jury reached its verdict, emotions ran high. There
was relief, but there was also deep sorrow. Cassandra's loved
ones wanted more than just a legal declaration. They wanted justice.
They wanted Smith to be held accountable for her death,
just as he had been for the others. But as
(29:49):
of now, Brian Smith has not been charged or convicted
in connection with Cassandra Boskovsky's death. Her case remains a
painful reminder of how many Indigenous women are taken, how
many families are left searching for answers, and how long
justice can take if it comes at all. Now I
(30:09):
want to hear what you think. Do you believe Brian
had more victims? Could he have been doing this even
back in South Africa? Drop your thoughts below and remember
the scariest monsters aren't the ones in horror movies. They're
the ones hiding in plain sight, waiting for their next move.
They found a plane at the card that she said
when she playing in her phone looked like it was
a phone video of a murderer, and she wants to
get a Steen guy.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
This call was placed on September thirtieth, twenty nineteen. What
started as a simple case of stolen property quickly spiraled
into one of the most horrifying murder discoveries in Alaska's history.
A woman unknowingly snatching an SD card from a man
found herself staring into pure evil, graphic footage of a
(00:33):
brutal killing. But the real nightmare the victim was someone
she knew.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Said she's going to lichrystore, She's gonna get a bottle.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
She had to meet up with somebody.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
That must have been him, because that was the last.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Time I ever saw Brian Stephen Smith lived a life
of deception. To his wife, he was a devoted husband
to his colleague at Marriott Hotel, a generous man with
a passion for vlogging, to his mistress, a dark and
twisted enigma. But to his victims, he was a self
(01:10):
proclaimed serial killer, one who inflicted unimaginable horror before stealing
their last breath. And it was all hidden in that
one tiny SD card, that tiny piece of evidence, would
finally rip the mask off the monster. But even with
him behind bars, a chilling question remains. Could there be
more victims we don't know about?
Speaker 4 (01:33):
I do not remember this on these audio, on the videos,
on several of them in my movies. Sadly everybody dies. Shit,
what are my followers going to think of you? People
need to know when they're being serial killed. These are
things you're saying to her while you're doing that.
Speaker 5 (01:52):
Well, how would I say?
Speaker 4 (01:53):
That's that's it?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
By all accounts, Smith was the kind of guy who
looked like your everyday American neighbor, the type no one
would ever suspect of anything sinister, and everyone, I mean
everyone vouched for his normalcy. Even his wife stood by
his innocence, refusing to believe he was capable of such
horror even after he was sentenced. But one night, as
(02:21):
Smith cruised the streets looking for company, he picked up
a woman, seemingly offering her a ride in a warm
place to stay. While he stepped into a store, she
sat alone in his car, her curiosity leading her to
pick up a cell phone he had left behind. What
she found inside would shake her to the core a
(02:41):
folder titled homicide at Marriott Hotel Midtown. Inside that folder
was a collection of horrifying photos and videos, gruesome evidence
of a woman's desperate cries for help. The footage showed
her gasping for air as a man mercilessly filmed himself
violating her, damping on her throat while her body lay
(03:02):
battered and broken.
Speaker 6 (03:04):
But the followers think about you. If I have to act,
take with her, I gether.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
The SD card contained thirty nine images and twelve videos,
all documenting the same horrifying incident. We have legally obtained
these files from law enforcement and there is no denying
that they are brutally graphic. The footage revealed extreme violence
and a brutal sexual assault against a woman inside what
appeared to be a hotel room. The man behind the
(03:40):
camera never showed his face, but his voice was clear.
He strangled the woman as she fought back, scratching at him,
trying to break free. At one point, he complained that
his hand was getting tired. Instead of stopping, he began
stomping on her neck, pressing down with his full weight.
Speaker 6 (04:05):
Are you still alive? Yes, it's been not what twenty minutes,
so I think it's I think it's time we feitch.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
At one point, the woman was already lifeless when the
man took a chord and strangled her again, leaving anyone
who saw the clip haunted for days. However, the images
that followed were even more disturbing. They showed the woman's
lifeless body on the floor, naked, battered, and brutalized. The
man had even taken close up photos of her genitals
(04:38):
and her severely beaten face, as if documenting his crime
with no remorse. The time stamps on the files revealed
they were recorded on September fourth, twenty nineteen, less than
a month before the SD card was discovered. For a
city like Anchorage, this was beyond disturbing. Despite being Alaska's
(04:58):
largest city, it has a population of just under three
hundred thousand, a place where people know their neighbors, where
violent crimes of this magnitude are rare. By the way,
I post true crime and new cases here every week,
So if that sounds like your kind of thing, please
consider subscribing. It helps a lot. As mentioned earlier, the
(05:22):
man never showed his face, but authorities recognized his voice
for reasons unknown. Brian Smith was already on their radar,
and the moment investigators heard the voice from the recordings,
they knew it was him. And that voice sounded just
like this.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
This is the beaver dam it. It was made by
ancient beavers a thousand years ago. You can still see
the burial grounds over they ill speaking shit, you know
(06:04):
that anyway? It's actual beav dase. I didn't have this
go broke and pick it up. But there's a little
beav house of the very pretty out there. It actually
looks prehistoric. Prehistoric with a capital P.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
What really stood out about this case was that at
first police believed there was only one victim, but during
Brian Smith's interrogation, just as the officers were about to
wrap up and leave, Smith said something chilling, something that
suggested there was more than one with you.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Are you guys in the rush to go?
Speaker 7 (06:49):
Are we in a rush?
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (06:50):
Do you want to talk some more?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
We're not in a rush.
Speaker 7 (06:54):
We got got all my.
Speaker 5 (06:57):
I picked up a very drung girl. A wife was gone,
she was away for the weeknnot to go home, and.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Hi I shock to.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
That same day, authorities identified the first victim as thirty
year old Kathleen Joe Henry born on December twenty second,
nineteen eighty eight. Not much was widely known about Kathleen,
but she had been active on social media right up
until five days before those horrifying videos were recorded in
the hotel room. She was originally from Eke, Alaska, a
(07:44):
remote village with fewer than five hundred residents, made up
mostly of Native Alaskans. The place was so isolated that
you couldn't even drive there. For Anchorage, it was over
four hundred miles away, across rugged mountains and harsh terrain.
Kathleen had left that small world behind and moved to Anchorage.
She had been divorced and described herself online as a
(08:07):
tough Alaska chick since nineteen ninety seven. In twenty twelve,
while incarcerated, she earned her ged. Her record stretched back
to two thousand and seven, including multiple counts of assault,
disorderly conduct, drunk driving, resisting arrest, and theft. Her most
recent charge was on January twelfth, twenty nineteen, a fourth
(08:31):
degree assault, which in Alaska could mean anything from causing
bodily harm to throwing bodily fluids on law enforcement or
other protected individuals. Despite her past, Kathleen seemed determined to
turn things around. She had spoken about feeling hopeful for
the future. She had people who cared about her, she
was loved, and it was also known that she had
(08:52):
a passion for writing poetry. But how she crossed paths
with Brian Smith remains a mystery. Two days after the
discovery of the card, police responded to a call about
human remains in the southern part of the city, which
they believed belonged to the woman in the video. At
the time, Brian Smith was not even in Alaska. He
was vacationing in Virginia with his wife. You could even
(09:15):
see their videos on YouTube where they truly looked like
a happy couple because you can get away. He can't
get down there that fast.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
No, the mommy can come down and kick my eyes. Hello, kitty,
Oh you like that?
Speaker 8 (09:29):
Like?
Speaker 3 (09:29):
And do you Hey? That's Stiffany's roses. It's fucking cold
out here.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
When Smith finally returned to Anchorage, stepping off his flight
at Ted Stephen's International Airport, he had no idea what
was waiting for him. Authorities were already there. He had
come back to start a new job at the Residen's Inn,
another hotel under the Marriott brand. Though he was already
working at a Marriott location near University Lake. This new
(10:23):
position was supposed to be a fresh start. Instead, the
second his feet touched the ground, police moved in. He
was arrested on the spot and charged with murder. But
here's the real question. Who was Brian Stephen Smith and
how did his wife never suspect a thing. Brian Stephen
Smith was born in Queenstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. His
(10:46):
past remains largely a mystery, except for a trail of
eerie Facebook posts and an unsettling online presence. He attended
Queen's College High School and once ran a guesthouse in
South Africa with dreams of one day owning his own hotel.
But something led him to leave his home country behind
and start fresh in Alaska. There's been endless speculation about
(11:09):
why he made the move. Some believe his dark impulses
didn't begin in Alaska, that he may have been engaging
in disturbing activities long before setting foot in the US.
What we do know for certain is that his life
took a sharp turn when he met his future wife,
Stephanie through online gaming. Stephanie was nearly twenty years older
than Smith, but that didn't stop them from falling hard
(11:32):
and fast. Just seven months after meeting, they tied the
knot in twenty fourteen, and Smith relocated to Alaska that
same year. Stephanie had a passion for music, but worked
as an administrative officer for US Immigration and Naturalization Services,
a position that conveniently handled immigration paperwork. Looking back, Stephanie
(11:55):
claimed she never suspected a.
Speaker 9 (11:57):
Thing this happy, doting husband and is the man Stephanie
Bislin said she married the man accused of murdering vulnerable women,
someone she doesn't recognize.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
I've never seen anything that dark in him. For the record,
Brian Stephen Smith had no known criminal record in Alaska. However,
details about his past in South Africa were scarce, aside
from the fact that he had served in the military.
After moving to the United States, Smith worked various jobs
(12:30):
over the years, including positions at Alaska Tire Service, Dell Engineers,
and the Marriott at University Lake. He appeared to be
an ordinary man blending into his new life. Then, in
September of twenty nineteen, just weeks before the chilling SD
card was discovered, he officially became a US citizen. At
(12:52):
the time of his arrest, Smith lived in a quiet
Anchorage neighborhood called Geneva Woods, sharing a home with his
wife and their cat. On the surface, they seemed like
an average couple, but Smith's online activity painted a different picture.
He had an active YouTube channel where he posted travel
vlogs and random videos documenting his life in Alaska. What
(13:14):
he didn't realize was that his obsessive need to film
everything would later play a crucial role in his downfall.
Beyond YouTube, Smith frequently used Quorra, a platform where users
ask and answer questions, and it was here that another
disturbing side of him emerged. He was a blatant racist.
His posts revealed a deep rooted hatred, particularly toward race
(13:36):
relations in South Africa and Africa as a whole. His
rants were filled with toxic, extremist views that left little
doubt about his prejudices. On the other hand, Brian Stephen
Smith's wife, Stephanie, insisted once again that she never noticed
anything strange about her husband. To her, he was just
a hard working man with a steady job and a
(13:58):
quiet life in Anger, Ncourage, Alaska. But as we all know,
killers can be masters of deception. Behind closed doors, Smith
was living a double life. He had a mistress, someone
much younger than his wife. Her name was Alicia Youngblood,
and she wasn't just any affair. She was a woman
who shared his darkest desires. According to Smith himself, their
(14:22):
connection was built on twisted fantasies. They didn't just love
each other, they fed off each other's hunger for sadistic pleasure.
Alicia would send Smith chilling messages describing violent fantasies of
assaulting and even killing someone, and instead of being horrified,
Smith was turned on. In Smith's interview, he claimed that
(14:44):
it was actually his mistress who first confessed to having
dark secrets, secrets that supposedly involved killing someone. However, this
turned out to be nothing more than a story. But
that story, according to Smith, became his motivation to co
his own crimes. Many people, however, weren't convinced. They believed
(15:04):
Smith had violent urges long before he ever set foot
in Alaska. After all, he once described the state as
the perfect place to carry out heinous acts, boasting that
it was easy to commit crimes and dispose of bodies
without a trace. Even more disturbing, Smith had a clear
preference for targeting Native Alaskan women, making his crimes even
(15:26):
more chilling now. As for Alicia Youngblood, text messages revealed
that Brian Smith had actually confided in her about the killings,
long before the SD card was even discovered. In one message,
Youngblood asked, did you ever find your deleted videos? Just
a teeny tiny clip would be the ultimate, baby. I
(15:49):
promise I would erase it. In fact, you wouldn't even
have to send a video. Audio would be great, to
which Smith replied, I deleted it at the airport when
I came to the US. I was so paranoid that
the FBI would scan my hard drive. But then he
couldn't help himself. He started describing what he had done.
(16:10):
He talked about kicking and slapping the woman's private area.
At one point, he even admitted that he felt better
believing she had survived, when in fact she had died,
but young Blood's chilling response, I would have loved to
see that, to which Smith replied, I didn't know then
how serious you were. This isn't the first time Smith
(16:31):
talked about his violent urges, especially when it came to sex.
In multiple messages he sent young Blood videos of his
rough and aggressive desires, seemingly testing how far she was
willing to go. But young Blood wasn't the only one
he trusted with his dark secrets. Smith also confided in
a friend named Ian Calhoun. During the trial, prosecutors presented
(16:55):
text messages showing that Smith had told Calhoun about his crimes.
In one exchange, he even hinted at wanting to show
him Kathleen Henry's body before dumping it along the Seward Highway.
Speaker 7 (17:07):
This is from Smith's phone. I have something to show
you period, something I can't keep for too long.
Speaker 10 (17:14):
The lead detective and the Brian Smith murder case read
text messages prosecutors say are from the accused killer.
Speaker 7 (17:21):
Need to find a secluded spot to.
Speaker 10 (17:23):
Meet the manny text with pleaded his Fifth Amendment rights
and did not have to testify, but messages prosecutors say
are between them. Was presented to the jury.
Speaker 7 (17:33):
And he responds, I was not upcomma, sounds like you
were having a lot of fun. I did have fun
wanted to share.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Yet, despite this damning evidence, Calhoun was never charged with
a crime. As for young Blood, she eventually cooperated with
the police, exposing everything she knew about Smith. But the
most disturbing part CCTV footage from a drive through showed
her and Smith casually ordering food while Kathleen's body lay
(18:01):
inside the very same truck. And just when the world
was waiting for more answers, Alicia young Blood was gone
in the year twenty twenty one. She took her own life,
leaving behind more questions than closure, and the horror didn't
stop there. As it turned out, Kathleen wasn't Smith's only victim.
(18:22):
If young Blood had lived, she might have uncovered even
more chilling details about the man she once called a lover,
because on the day Smith was arrested, he casually confessed
to yet it's another murder.
Speaker 5 (18:41):
Did go to the and.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
I just said it.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
Well, not listening to.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
When authorities searched Smith's home, they seized multiple electronic devices,
hard drives, SD cards, USBs, and among them they found
something horrifying, a video of a woman lying motionless on
a couch. That woman was Veronica Abochuck. Veronica had been
missing for months. When news of her disappearance first spread,
(19:32):
her daughter, Christy Grimaldi, posted a heartbreaking plea on Facebook.
I don't think anyone should have to go through this
just hoping she is alive and well. Tragically, Veronica's remains
had actually been discovered months before Smith's arrest in April
of twenty nineteen, but with only a skeleton left and
(19:53):
a bullet fragment lodged in her skull, no one knew
who she was. It wasn't until smith confession that her
identity and the gruesome truth came to light. Smith later
admitted that he had picked Veronica up from the streets,
offering her a warm bed for the night while his
wife was out of town. He even let her shower,
(20:15):
claiming she smelled, but after that his monstrous nature took over.
Just like Kathleen, Veronica was brutally murdered, except this time
Smith shot her before dumping her body in the woods.
Veronica's tragic past made her story even more heartbreaking, according
to reports, Her daughter, Christie Grimaldy, revealed that Veronica never
(20:38):
had the chance to raise her and her siblings. She
had endured a troubled life, one that Christie believed stemmed
from childhood trauma. She shared that her mother had been
molested by a Catholic priest in Saint Michael, a trauma
that shaped her life forever. After becoming a mother herself,
Grimaldi had tried to reconnect with Veronica. She even invited
(21:01):
her to live with her, discovering that they shared a
simple but comforting favorite snack, rice with melted cheese. But
no matter how many times Veronica tried to rebuild her life,
the streets always pulled her back. And that's how she
crossed paths with Valerie Castler, the woman who would later
uncover the key to this entire case. Because Valerie found
(21:23):
the one piece of evidence that sealed Smith's fate, the
SD card. And how did she find it well, Brian
Smith had a dark habit, one that would ultimately lead
to his downfall. Every night, he prowled the streets searching
for vulnerable women, sex workers runaways though society overlooked. One night,
(21:46):
Brian Smith picked up Valerie Castler from the streets and
they spent the next twelve hours together. According to Valerie,
nothing about him seemed off. He didn't hurt her, threaten her,
or even say anything unusual to her. He was just
another client. But everything changed when Smith stopped at an
a t M to withdraw money for their date. While
(22:10):
waiting in his car, Valerie's curiosity got the best of her.
She picked up two phones he had left behind, wondering
if they shared any mutual contacts or if she'd recognize
any pictures. But what she found was far worse than
she could have ever imagined. She stumbled upon the horrifying
video the brutal murder of Kathleen Henry. The moment she
(22:33):
realized what she was watching, panic set in. Without hesitation,
she grabbed the phone and ran. For days, she hid
deep in the woods, terrified that Smith would come after her.
She had seen what he was capable of, and now
he likely knew she had his phone. But despite her fear,
Valerie found the courage to do what no one else had.
(22:56):
She turned the evidence in and with that, Brian Smith's
reign of terror was finally brought to an end. But
justice didn't come easy. It would take four long years
after Brian Smith's arrest before his trial even began, and
despite the fact that he had already confessed before, Smith
suddenly changed his tune, claiming he was pressured into admitting
(23:19):
to the crimes after being interrogated for eight hours straight,
but the evidence against him was undeniable. On top of that,
The trial was brutal. Jurors had to watch the horrifying
videos Smith had recorded, footage so disturbing that the judge
debated whether to show them in open court. Smith's lawyer
(23:40):
fought hard to get the recordings thrown out, but the
court wasn't having it. The case was live streamed and
the whole country watched as the chilling details of his
crimes were laid bare.
Speaker 5 (23:52):
No, no, no, we going off half and how he's now.
Speaker 8 (24:04):
We're joining on half of how now, m okay, come
(24:29):
on please man h yeah, did you hey? That's let's
just do it.
Speaker 4 (24:45):
Just take it.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Then, in February of twenty twenty four, the jury delivered
its verdict guilty on all fourteen charges. Smith was convicted
of two counts of first degree murder for the brutal
killings of Kathleen, Joe oh Henry, and Veronica Abochuck. But
that wasn't all. He was also found guilty of second
(25:06):
degree sexual assault, tampering with evidence, and even mistreating their
bodies after death. The jury made it clear that what
he did to Kathleen was beyond cruel. She had been tortured,
and for that Smith was handed an automatic ninety nine
year sentence. Veronica's murder added another thirty to ninety nine
(25:27):
years on top of that. His final sentencing was set
for July of twenty twenty four. When that day finally arrived,
the courtroom was packed. Family members of the victims, supporters,
and advocates gathered, many of them wearing red to honor
Indigenous women who had gone missing or been murdered. Veronica's
(25:48):
daughter stood before the court and made it clear she
wanted Smith to spend the rest of his days in
prison with no hope of freedom, and the judge agreed.
In one interview, even her niece expressed hope for a
better her outcome in the trial.
Speaker 9 (26:02):
The Boocheck sisters grief too much to hold back as
Smith entered the courtroom. For the family, knowing what happened
is a small step forward, but healing a journey with
many unanswered questions.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Like why this has happened to their family member.
Speaker 9 (26:18):
Family members told KT you a Baucheck liked her lifestyle
of homelessness, of freedom, but they worried.
Speaker 6 (26:26):
It was scary.
Speaker 9 (26:27):
We've always wanted it the best for her her niece
to talk, Muma remembers her Auntie Veronica teaching her how
to cook, and the kindness she had.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Very sweet lady.
Speaker 8 (26:38):
She loved her kids, she loved everyone. I really miss that.
Speaker 9 (26:45):
When she went missing two years ago, they worried, but
never did they imagine it would end like this. We
didn't know what to think.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
We were hoping a better outcome with that.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Smith was sentenced to two hundred and twenty six years
behind bars, no chance of parole, no chance of ever
walking free again. But the case didn't just bring justice
to the victim's families. It shed light on something much bigger,
the terrifying reality that Indigenous women in Alaska face every day.
Advocates spoke out demanding change, urging authorities to do more
(27:21):
to protect these communities because for too long, women like
Kathleen and Veronica had been disappearing and nobody was paying attention.
But even after Brian Smith was sentenced, another mystery still
lingered the fate of Cassandra Boskovsky. She was last heard
from in the summer of twenty nineteen, and then one
(27:42):
day she simply vanished. Cassandra wasn't just some missing person case.
She was a mother of seven, someone who kept in
close contact with family and friends, Her sudden silence was alarming. Then,
in September of twenty nineteen, Cassandra was officially reported missing,
but the truth wouldn't begin to surface until detectives got
(28:05):
their hands on Smith's phone later that year. Buried in
the files were chilling images photos of a woman lying
on the ground, either unconscious or dead. The woman in
the pictures bore a striking resemblance to Cassandra. Her family
had no doubt it was her, Yet despite the gruesome evidence,
the police never officially identified her as a victim. Even
(28:27):
Smith himself admitted he had been with the woman in
the pictures, but insisted he left her alive. It wasn't
until five years later, in September of twenty twenty four,
that a jury finally declared her legally dead. Her family
fought tirelessly to prove that she was one of Smith's victims,
pointing to small but unmistakable details a butterfly tattoo, the
(28:49):
size of her feet clear signs that the woman in
the photos was Cassandra.
Speaker 7 (28:54):
At the Anchors Police Department, we have not been able
to one hundred percent identify the female in d photos
as Cassandra.
Speaker 10 (29:02):
That is what the lead detective in the Smith case
told jurors her family disagrees.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
Yes, they do highly and.
Speaker 6 (29:11):
Because her photos were taking off of his phone and
he admitted to taking the photos.
Speaker 10 (29:16):
Grateful for a jury's decision in a hopeless situation.
Speaker 6 (29:20):
Feel him good about the verdict, but really sad and
it's hurty, really sad.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
When the jury reached its verdict, emotions ran high. There
was relief, but there was also deep sorrow. Cassandra's loved
ones wanted more than just a legal declaration. They wanted justice.
They wanted Smith to be held accountable for her death,
just as he had been for the others. But as
(29:49):
of now, Brian Smith has not been charged or convicted
in connection with Cassandra Boskovsky's death. Her case remains a
painful reminder of how many Indigenous women are taken, how
many families are left searching for answers, and how long
justice can take if it comes at all. Now I
(30:09):
want to hear what you think. Do you believe Brian
had more victims? Could he have been doing this even
back in South Africa? Drop your thoughts below and remember
the scariest monsters aren't the ones in horror movies. They're
the ones hiding in plain sight, waiting for their next move.
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