The Case of Veronica Abouchuk

Veronica Abouchuk was 52 when she was murdered by Brian Steven Smith in Alaska in 2018. Her disappearance remained unsolved until Smith was questioned about the 2019 murder of Kathleen Jo Henry. During his interrogation, Smith confessed to killing another woman the previous year, leading investigators to identify Abouchuk and recover her remains.

Veronica Abouchuk was a 52-year-old Alaska Native woman from Anchorage. She disappeared in 2018, approximately one year before Smith murdered Kathleen Jo Henry. For years, Abouchuk's disappearance remained unresolved and her family did not know what had happened to her. The investigation into her death did not become connected to Smith until detectives were investigating Henry's murder in 2021.

The precise circumstances of Abouchuk's killing were established primarily through Smith's confession and evidence recovered during the subsequent investigation. Smith admitted to investigators that he had killed Abouchuk in 2018, approximately a year before Henry's murder. He also provided information about the disposal of her body. Investigators subsequently located and recovered Abouchuk's remains, allowing her family to finally learn what had happened to her. The prosecution later presented video evidence showing Abouchuk before and after her murder, along with Smith's detailed confession.

Abouchuk's murder came to light as a direct result of the investigation into Kathleen Jo Henry's killing. In 2021, Anchorage homicide detectives were given videos from Smith's cellphone showing an unidentified woman being tortured and murdered. Investigators identified the victim as Henry and began questioning Smith. During his interrogation, Smith admitted that he had killed another woman approximately one year earlier. That woman was subsequently identified as Veronica Abouchuk. Smith provided investigators with a detailed confession describing Abouchuk's murder. Investigators recovered her remains and gathered additional evidence supporting his confession. The prosecution later presented the jury with Smith's confession as well as video recordings of Abouchuk from before and after her murder. The discovery of Abouchuk's remains finally resolved a case that had remained unsolved for several years.

Brian Steven Smith was charged with Abouchuk's murder and prosecuted alongside the murder of Kathleen Jo Henry. On February 22, 2024, an Anchorage jury found Smith guilty of first-degree murder in Abouchuk's death, along with the other charges arising from the two killings. For Abouchuk's murder, Smith faced a sentence of 30 to 99 years. On July 12, 2024, Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby sentenced Smith to a combined 226 years in prison for the murders of Abouchuk and Henry.

Abouchuk's murder was significant because Smith's confession during the Henry investigation finally solved her previously unresolved disappearance. Her daughter gave a statement at Smith's sentencing, expressing the family's desire that he spend the rest of his life in prison.