A found SD card that was labelled “Homicide at midtown Marriott” and contained videos and photos depicting a brutal killing has led to an arrest for murder.
On September 30, a woman told police she found the memory card in a street in the Anchorage, Alaska, neighbourhood of Fairview, reports local news outlet KTUU. The card reportedly held 12 videos and 39 photos that show the progression of a murder.
A charging document states that the videos depict a woman being choked, and a man saying “just … die,” reports the Associated Press. Photos reportedly show the victim’s body on a hotel luggage cart.
On October 2, U.S. law enforcement was alerted to remains by the 174km marker on Seward Highway. Authorities determined it was the woman who was captured in the videos.
Anchorage Police spokesperson MJ Thim told KTUU that detectives were able to identify the suspect as Brian Steven Smith, whom they had already known about him through another investigation.
According to the New York Times, police spoke to the TownePlace Suites by Marriott Anchorage Midtown and confirmed that Smith had stayed there from September 2 to 4. The carpet of the room matched what was shown in the SD card videos.
KTUU reports that the charging documents state police searched the suspect’s cell phone records after obtaining a warrant and determined he was near where the victim’s remains were discovered.
Thim told KTUU police arrested Smith on Wednesday at the Ted Stevens International Airport as he was returning to Anchorage. He faces one charge of murder.