Torture video found in Alaska contains vital clue to killing
FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019, file photo, Brian Steven Smith sits in a courtroom while waiting for his arraignment to start in Anchorage, Alaska. Losing a digital memory card that contained photos and videos of a horrendous killing may have been careless, but what led police to charge Smith was something he had no control over whatsoever: His South African accent. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File
"When a woman found the memory card on the street and turned it over to police, what detectives saw was horrific. At one point, the suspect complained to the victim, whose face was swollen and bloodied: ""My hand's getting tired." He then stomped her throat with his right foot.
Amid the shocking footage, a clue: The killer spoke in an "English sounding accent," and detectives recalled Brian Steven Smith, a 48-year-old South African, from another investigation, the details of which they have not disclosed.
They arrested Smith, who has pleaded not guilty to the September slaying of 30-year-old Kathleen Henry, a homeless Alaska Native woman. During his interrogation, police say he confessed to killing another Alaska Native woman. Police won't say if they think there may be other victims."