Ex-soldier Zarrius Hildabrand sentenced to 59 years for murdering wife in Anchorage

Right · 2Zarrius Hildabrand, 24, was sentenced in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday to 59 years in prison for fatally shooting his 21-year-old wife, Saria Hildabrand, in August 2023 and hiding her body in a storm drain. 1 2 Right · 2An Anchorage jury convicted him in June of second-degree murder and evidence tampering. The Daily Mail reports he was acquitted of first-degree murder and convicted of two counts of tampering. 1 2 Right · 2Prosecutors said Saria was shot in the early hours of 6 August 2023 after the couple returned home from a night out celebrating his 21st birthday, which included Dave & Buster's. The Daily Mail says she had found messages on his phone showing he had been unfaithful; the New York Post says she accused him of infidelity, which he later admitted was true. 1 2

Right · 2He then bought cleaning supplies, including hydrogen peroxide, and a 96-gallon garbage can from Lowe's, which he used to move her body to a storm drain near their apartment. 2 1 Right · 1Hildabrand reported his wife missing and joined her family's search for her. The New York Post says he did so some 30 hours after the killing; she was found in about two feet of water roughly five days after her death. 1 Right · 1Investigators grew suspicious when the bed sheets were missing, he refused to let officers look under the mattress, and a message sent from Saria's phone to her workplace conflicted with his statement that she had left the phone at home. Blood had soaked through the mattress, according to the Daily Mail and the New York Post. 2

Right · 2At trial, Hildabrand testified that he planned to hide the body and clean the blood, but said he had no recollection of the night and did not know whether he had shot her. His defence suggested the death could have been accidental or self-inflicted, and his lawyer Lacey Jane Brewster said a 'drunken mishandling of a firearm' was more likely if he was responsible. Prosecutor Brittany Dunlop rejected this, saying 'You don't cover up an accident, you cover up a crime.' 1 2 Right · 2Judge Peter Ramgren said Hildabrand acted intentionally despite the first-degree acquittal. He called the killing 'inexplicable' and pointed to Hildabrand's apparent lack of remorse and failure to take responsibility. Hildabrand declined to speak at sentencing. 2 1 Right · 2The reports describe the sentence differently. The New York Post says 55 of the 59 years are for murder, with consecutive two-year terms for tampering and 'an additional sentence of 25 years'. The Daily Mail says 59 years for the murder plus a suspended 25-year term. Both say parole eligibility begins after two-thirds of the sentence. 1 2

Right · 1Saria's mother, Meredith Barney, told the court he 'showed no remorse or even emotion' and 'played a game with me and my family'. 2