Murder and Mimosas Podcast
A true crime podcast with a focus on lesser known crimes and the background of those who commit these heinous acts. Each case is told with a bit of southern sass, but with tons of in depth research and respect for those lost. Join this mom and daughter duo as they sip their mimosas while diving into tragic cases. New episodes every Saturday, just in time for brunch (and a mimosa of your own)!
Murder and Mimosas Podcast
Webs of Crime in Alaska
What happens when a chilling video lands in the hands of someone who must decide between their safety and doing the right thing? Join us as we unravel the dark tale of Brian Steven Smith, whose gruesome acts rocked Anchorage, Alaska. With Valerie Kastler's harrowing discovery of murder evidence, we explore the stark realities and legal challenges faced by sex workers in Alaska. Her courage in coming forward launches us into a tangled web of crime and justice, as we piece together the life and tragic end of Kathleen Henry. Brian's sinister connections, including the death of Alicia Youngblood, bring light to a chilling pattern of violence and vulnerability.
This episode takes an unexpected turn as we uncover Smith's confession to another murder, that of Veronica Abuchuk, and the haunting revelations that follow. Misidentifications by Alaska State Troopers, disturbing video footage, and unsettling implications of other potential victims paint a deeply disturbing portrait of Smith's psyche. Alongside, we dive into the heated controversy between Ian and Antonia Comack over advocacy for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, a conflict that adds layers of complexity and tension to an already gripping narrative. Keep your mimosa glasses topped, as this is a narrative you won't want to miss—one that challenges perceptions of justice and the stories behind the headlines.
https://www.wunderground.com/history/daily/us/ak/anchorage
https://youtu.be/nq7VolX4BTY?si=ttnyJ44WV1AfIyEe
https://www.ingramsmithturner.com/obituary/Alicia-Youngblood
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kathleen_Jo_Henry
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DarkCast Network. Welcome to the dark side of podcasting.
Speaker 3:Welcome to Murder and Mimosas a true crime podcast brought to you by a mother and daughter duo.
Speaker 2:Bringing you murder stories with a mimosa in hand. With a mimosa in hand, murder Mimosas is a true crime podcast, meaning we talk about adult matters such as murder, sexual assaults and other horrendous crimes. Listener discretion is advised. We do tell our stories with the victims and the victims families in mind. However, some information is more verifiable than others. However, you can find all of our information linked in the show notes. Welcome to Murder and Mimosas. I'm Danica and I'm Shannon. We are going to set the scene as I like to do.
Speaker 2:It was a Thursday evening in Anchorage, alaska. The high that day would have been in the 50s and the temperature was dropping. Valerie Kastler, a sex worker who lived in a tent in Anchorage, was working in the area near a grocery store when she was propositioned by a married man named Brian Stephen Smith. He asked her if she wanted to go for a ride and she gladly accepted. They rode around for about an hour. When Brian stopped at a gas station and ran in to get some money, valerie began to rummage through his truck and console to find anything she could steal and sell for money for drugs. Later she finds a phone in the console and grabs it in hopes that she can sell it for a quick buck. Brian later lets her out and she returns to her tent. She opens the phone and is horrified by what she sees. She says, quote I'd been up drinking and getting high for like two weeks straight and then I turned it on and I was sober in less than five minutes. End quote.
Speaker 3:What was on the phone?
Speaker 2:Well, it showed a woman being murdered. The killer's face was not visible, but she knows the voice is Brian. This is this crazy moral dilemma she's in. She wants to go to the police, but she got this evidence from a phone that she stole from a John who she was going to sell it. You know, and buy drugs.
Speaker 3:Not to mention the fear of this guy coming after you once he realizes that you stole his phone and what's on this phone.
Speaker 2:She already knows what he's capable of, valerie wasn't aware of this at the time and honestly, I'm not sure how many sex workers in the area would be, but in 2016, they passed a state law that allows sex workers to report anus crimes without prosecution. So technically, nothing would have happened to her, at least legally, but still there's lots of fears.
Speaker 3:Well, does she ever turn it in? And if so, does anything happen to her?
Speaker 2:She doesn't turn in the phone. She saves the footage to an SD card and labels it homicide at Midtown Marriott. She contacts the police and says she found it on the ground. Police view the video and they actually recognize the voice on the video.
Speaker 3:How's that even possible? We have some Southern draws, but so does most people in the south. What makes his voice so recognizable?
Speaker 2:Well, Brian moved to Alaska in 2014 after meeting his wife, stephanie online gaming, and so he moved here from South Africa. The two got married in 2014, and he held a handful of jobs since being in the States, but his last one was at the Marriott in maintenance. He actually became a US citizen in 2019, so they hadn't heard a lot of people with the accent that he had.
Speaker 3:I get that. I mean, it may be distinguishable, but how did they know it was his voice?
Speaker 2:distinguishable, but how did they know it was his voice? Well, he was seeing a lady named alicia youngblood and she contacted the police in 2018 after brian had said something about killing a woman. Couldn't find out much about the investigation into that or her, but it was said that she testified for the grand jury. But she ends up committing committing suicide on July 4th of 2021. Her obituary says that she was an avid adventurer and a loving mother. The simplest pleasures in life brought her great comfort. She was 41 at the time and she left behind six children. Their relationship was apparently pretty short-lived, probably because he was still married and a psycho. Although we don't know a whole lot about the investigation, I'm assuming that they spoke to him in 2018.
Speaker 3:That's pretty bold, though. He was on their radar at some point and still didn't care If I had to guess, though, he probably had a superiority complex and thought the police were too dumb to even get him had a superiority complex and thought the police were too dumb to even get him.
Speaker 2:Well, we do know that Valerie turns the SD card in, but she doesn't do it immediately. The lady in the video turns out to be 30-year-old Kathleen Henry, an Alaskan native. Her remains were found near the railroad tracks by two railroad employees on October 2nd. Yes, kathleen was homeless. She was a sex worker who was struggling with addiction, but that doesn't make her less of a person, and she still had people that loved her.
Speaker 3:Most of those struggling with addiction have families that truly love them, but they're at their wits end on how to help them and they just can't if you don't want help.
Speaker 2:That's part of the problem. You can't make them get help if they don't want to. That can mean that tough love is the only option and you are staying up all the time sick, wondering where your loved one is, if they're safe. So, after the medical examiner positively ID'd the remains found by the railroad workers, they affirm that it is Kathleen Henry.
Speaker 2:October 7th of 2019, 48-year-old Brian Stephen Smith was arrested for the murder of Kathleen. The police spend eight hours questioning him about the murder, which he continues to deny knowing anything about. They even show him the video they have and he's saying yeah, it sounds like my voice, but I don't have a clue what this is. As we know, he worked at the Marriott and used his employee discount to stay there September 2nd through the 4th and, to no one's surprise really, the pictures and the videos on the SD card card are time stamped september 4th and he admits to staying there. He even admits to have a lady friend there, but he says he got so drunk he doesn't remember anything about that night. However, he claims he found a body in his truck the next morning. He didn't know what to do with it. He drove around with it the next two days before dumping it.
Speaker 3:Oh, come on. You wake up and there's a body in your truck and you don't know how it got there. You just drive around with it for two days, come on.
Speaker 2:It isn't that. I mean, that's what everybody does, right? They find trucks in their bodies, and that's just what they do. Oddly enough, the interview is appearing to come to an end and he asks for a break. He goes to the restroom and he tells the officers I'm about to make you famous. He returns to the interrogation room and begins to confess to a murder, but not Kathleen's. He confesses to shooting 52-year-old Veronica Abuchuk in 2018.
Speaker 3:What he's saying. No, I didn't do that, even with the video evidence. But he says let me tell you about a murder I did commit. I mean this is just odd, really, I mean it is so what happened?
Speaker 2:to Veronica. Well, he picked Veronica up when his wife was out of town. She too was homeless. He brought her back to his house and, as he tells this story, he told her to go take a shower, and she refused. He goes to his garage and he gets a pistol and he continues to argue with her about a shower, and she continues to refuse. While she was lying on his couch, he lifted his gun and shot her in the head. He admits to taking pictures of her and then wrapping her body in black plastic and dumping her body off the old Glen Highway.
Speaker 2:This body had actually been recovered by mushroom hunters but had yet to be identified. This is the sad and disturbing part. Okay, well, like the whole story is. But Alaska State Troopers incorrectly ID'd someone else when they found a body and they like ID'd it as Veronica, but it wasn't. Apparently, veronica's ID was near the body, so they made the assumption that the deceased female was Veronica. They even called her daughter in and told her that they found her mother. They don't do anything extra to try to identify her. Once Brian told them where he discarded Veronica, they did ID her with their dental records.
Speaker 3:Oh my. So who's that other woman they thought was veronica?
Speaker 2:well, sadly they still don't know. When the police get a search warrant, they find a flash drive that had been deleted. But guess what those images were recovered? They are images of veronica before and after her death on there. They were fairly sexual in nature and some of them were of brian naked, leaning over a red couch with veronica like posed on the couch that's creepy and weird.
Speaker 2:Yes, something else they were covered with the search warrant was another lady that appeared to be alaskan native on his phone. She appears to be dead and they don't know if that was staged or if she was another victim. Has she been identified? Well, put a pin in that, we'll get to it. Although he is the one that offered up the confession on veronica, he actually pleads guilt, not guilty, both counts of murder.
Speaker 3:Is this to keep from going to prison right away? Actually, it's probably more wanting to relive his crimes in court and see the looks and horror on people's faces.
Speaker 2:I would assume that too, because he gets to relive it and that's really what he does, Even though his attorney wanted the video thrown out. It wasn't. In fact, the hearing starts with the jury watching the videos. That is not something others in the courtroom could see, but you can hear the video and we will do that. I have to warn you, it's a little hard to hear, but it will chill you to the core that was crazy.
Speaker 3:This is what snuff films are made out of. And he also calls himself a serial killer. You have to kill at least three people to be a serial killer, so are there more out there? Well, hang on on that himself a serial killer. You have to kill at least three people to be a serial killer, so are there more out there?
Speaker 2:Well, hang on on that. We will have the link to that full video if you would like to hear the whole thing. I had to stop there because it's disgusting, but I couldn't find anything about his life in South Africa, so I don't know what he was up to when he was there and he came to the States, like I said, in 2014. And we know that there's someone on his phone that appears to be dead, and we know the lady that was incorrectly ID'd for, veronica fits the MO. But, to answer your question like for sure, no, I don't know.
Speaker 3:So what about his wife? Did she see this coming at all?
Speaker 2:Well, brian ends up being found guilty for both murders and he's sentenced to 266 years in prison. But his doting wife says she will not divorce him. She says she took vows and she's going to stand by her man, just like that. You know Tammy Wynette, so I you know whatever. So to answer your question, she's completely shocked. She talked about what a wonderful husband he is and he was so kind and thoughtful to her. She did say maybe she missed something, but that he never had a violent temper with her or did anything that could make her think he was capable of this.
Speaker 3:This is giving me David Russell. William vibes Remember his wife didn't see this coming either, and she talked about what a great husband he was.
Speaker 2:Yeah, true, maybe because they take all their rage out on these women, they go home and they're like super great husbands, but it's just strange to me. Also, everyone that knew him said that they couldn't see him doing this. But they also said that about David Russell Williams, and you're right, they both made their snuff films. There is one phone call I want to talk about. So she calls him while he's in jail, his wife that is, and as we know, the calls are recorded. And she asked him if he slept with the woman he killed and he says not those two.
Speaker 3:One sleeping with them is the least of her concerns at this point. But more so, not those two, that sounds like there are more. I mean, did she ask him that at all?
Speaker 2:No, she just dropped it. So one thing that Ryan Stephen Smith did that David would probably never do is tell anyone. So we haven't talked about this yet, but it came out in trial about a man named Ian Calhoun he's 27 year old musician that he met through his wife, who's also a musician his wife, who's also a musician and the first text was sent at 12.54am on September 4th of 2019. Do you want to do Brian's part and I'll do Ian's?
Speaker 3:sure Are you anywhere. Wait, go back.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you skipped a few yeah.
Speaker 4:Hey you up, I'm having fun 7.08 am.
Speaker 5:I was not up. Sounds like you were having a lot of fun. Hi, I did have fun. Wanted to share we need to get together for a drink soon.
Speaker 4:Are you anywhere near me today?
Speaker 5:What I'm in Anchorage. Yes, I'll be working until four-ish.
Speaker 4:I have something to show you, something I can't keep for too long. I will be fine finishing at 4.30. Need to find a secluded spot to meet. Okay, I should be off pretty close to then. Hey, I'm at a small park close to your home. You finished work yet, forsyth Park. 11301301 Birch Road, anchorage, alaska.
Speaker 5:Give me one minute.
Speaker 2:With cell towers. They show both men in the area around this park. Then there's a Facebook message on October 2nd 2019. Brian sends a link to Ian with a news article to a body found. Brian replies oops Under it.
Speaker 5:As soon as I saw it, I knew I should send you a text.
Speaker 4:I'm surprised it took so long. In a few weeks it would have been covered in snow.
Speaker 5:I was kinda hoping it would hurry in snow Me too. Lol. I that means I'll be in the clear.
Speaker 4:There is something else I must tell. I will talk next week, but keep an eye on this about any leads. Can't talk, not alone, and everyone is upset that I am carrying my phone around on vacation. Gotcha, we'll get together soon, get back Thursday noon, but I go into work a few hours, then they won't take it as a leave day.
Speaker 5:Okay, keep me in the loop.
Speaker 2:The police talked to Ian. He did lawyer up and did not testify at trial because he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights.
Speaker 1:Well, hello there, I'm Regina King the Evil Queen.
Speaker 7:And I'm Lynn Roskamp, the Docent of Darkness, and we're the hosts of Disturbing Interests.
Speaker 1:Do you get excited about mummies decorating skulls? Obsess over the loss of the Library of Alexandria, even though it was lost in a different age.
Speaker 7:Do you kill the conversation with your in-depth serial killer knowledge, facts about items made out of human skin, or have a strange longing to know the softer side of Mothman? Have you spent an?
Speaker 1:objectively disproportionate amount of time studying the life of HH Holmes.
Speaker 7:Oh, I wouldn't know anybody like that. No, certainly not.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, we did call our podcast Disturbing Interest for a reason.
Speaker 7:That's right, We've got them and we are doing you the favor of keeping the questions like at what temperature does it take to destroy a cadaver out of your browsing history? Well we hope, Because with us you might be disturbed.
Speaker 1:But you're not alone. You can find us on any podcasting platform under Disturbing Interest or check us out online at disturbinginterestcom.
Speaker 2:Nothing has happened to him and there have been protesters wanting him arrested too. Most of the protesters are from the missing and murdered indigenous peoples, also known the mmip movement, and we've had a couple, one or two people on here to talk about that movement. They have an online petition advocating police to charge ian with failing to report a murder and hindering prosecution. We can link that petition, so if you want to sign it, you can. The last I it had about 4,000 signatures. Listen to this craziness. Ian was seeking a protective stalking order against Antonia Comack, who is the main organizer of the protest. She's a huge advocate for MMIP and I see a lot of her posts on TikTok. They were even protesting outside of his house, but not in his yard. He did say in the petition that he was being slandered.
Speaker 3:He wants a protective order when he did nothing after meeting up to look at a murdered body.
Speaker 2:Right. So the court, of course, denied the request.
Speaker 3:I get the outrage and it sucks. I mean something wasn't done to him. But I even get that if they charged him with anything, it would be so minor that it wouldn't even matter.
Speaker 2:That's true. He wasn't a participant in the murders and while he clearly has, like a sick weird fetish, something, getting something to stick would be difficult.
Speaker 3:We always recommend more bubbly and less OJ Cheers.
Speaker 6:If you'd like to see pictures from today's episode, you can find us at murdermimosas on Instagram. You can also find us at murdermimosas on TikTok Twitter, and if you have a case you would like us to do, you can send that to murdermimosas at gmailcom. And lastly, we are on Facebook at Murder and Mimosas Podcast, where you can interact with us there. We love any type of feedback you can give us, so please write and review us on spotify, itunes or wherever you listen to your podcasts.