Federal judge convicts Brian Smith, serving time for two murders, of lying to get citizenship

A federal judge in Anchorage convicted Brian Steven Smith on Wednesday on two counts of unlawfully obtaining U.S. citizenship. Smith, a South African national, is already serving a state sentence for murdering two Alaska Native women, Kathleen Jo Henry, 30, and Veronica Abouchuk, 52.

Prosecutors say that when Smith applied for citizenship between June and September 2019, he answered "No" under oath when asked whether he had ever killed, badly hurt or sexually assaulted anyone, or committed a crime for which he was not arrested. By then, they say, he had already committed two murders involving torture and sexual assault.

Smith waived his right to a jury in August, and his trial before the judge ran Tuesday and Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Aaron Christian Peterson will sentence Smith on Feb. 18, 2027. Each count carries up to 10 years in prison. Federal law requires a court to revoke the citizenship of anyone convicted of unlawfully obtaining it, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska said Smith faces denaturalization, the loss of his citizenship, after sentencing.

A state jury convicted Smith in February 2024 on 14 counts, including two counts of first-degree murder, sexual assault, evidence tampering and misconduct involving a corpse. Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby sentenced him to 226 years on July 12, 2024. His appeal to the Alaska Court of Appeals and a separate post-conviction relief case are pending.

A federal grand jury indicted Smith in April 2024.

In March, the court granted Smith's request to represent himself. In a September filing announcing a hunger strike over limits on his jail access to case evidence, he called the charges "solely intended to remove my citizenship so as to remove me from the country in the event that I prevail on my state appeal."

On Oct. 15, Peterson denied Smith's motions to dismiss the case, to suppress evidence from an SD card and to pause proceedings until the state appeal ends. The judge ruled that federal and state governments may prosecute at the same time.

U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman said the office would "utilize any available federal charge" to ensure "despicable criminals never have the privilege of calling themselves U.S. citizens."

The Anchorage Police Department investigated with Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.