US Army Soldier Accused of Killing His Wife in Alaska Faces Court Hearing

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A U.S. Military soldier accused of killing his spouse in Alaska after an evening out celebrating his twenty first birthday is about to be again in court docket Thursday, in accordance with court docket information.

Zarrius Ray Hildabrand faces homicide and proof tampering prices within the demise of his spouse, Saria Hildabrand, of Utah, whose physique was present in a storm drain in Anchorage, Alaska.

Hildabrand first reported his spouse lacking Aug. 7. Police arrested him after discovering Saria Hildabrand’s physique in addition to the mattress of their residence “saturated” by blood, in accordance with a criticism filed within the case.

A decide throughout a court docket listening to Aug. 11 set bail for Hildabrand at $500,000 and appointed a public defender for him, the Anchorage Day by day Information reported. He’s scheduled for a pre-indictment listening to in Anchorage on Thursday.

A message looking for remark from an lawyer representing Hildabrand was not returned.

In keeping with the criticism, Hildabrand reported his spouse lacking the night of Aug. 7. He mentioned they’d been partying on Aug. 5, to have fun his birthday, and obtained residence within the early hours of Aug. 6.

He mentioned each had been hung over and his spouse walked to work, a couple of mile away, that morning. He mentioned she did not take her cellphone along with her and that he waited to contact police “as a result of he thought he may discover his spouse and discover it was a misunderstanding,” the criticism states.

Coworkers of Saria Hildebrand instructed investigators she did not present up for work they usually reported getting textual content messages from her cellphone quantity on Aug. 6, about 45 minutes after Hildabrand mentioned she’d left residence, saying she was not coming to work. A pal of Saria Hildabrand who had been out with the couple for the birthday instructed investigators that Saria had instructed her she had no plans to go to work on Aug. 6, in accordance with the criticism.

Hildabrand denied sending his spouse’s coworkers a textual content “and could not clarify how that occurred,” the criticism says.

Zarrius Ray Hildabrand made three separate journeys to a retailer on Aug. 6, shopping for gadgets akin to a set of mattress sheets, a mattress cowl, hydrogen peroxide, a sprig bottle and different issues, together with marinara sauce, investigators say. He additionally bought a trash can at one other retailer, in accordance with the criticism.

He had initially allowed police to go searching the couple’s residence however refused to allow them to look beneath the mattress, saying there have been “embarrassing” gadgets saved beneath it, in accordance with the criticism.

Authorities later discovered the mattress “saturated” by blood, the criticism says.

Police on Aug. 10 discovered what seemed to be a pillow inside a storm drain and beneath the pillow found human stays, recognized as belonging to Saria Hildabrand. She appeared to have a gunshot wound to her head, the criticism says.

Police had responded to a disturbance criticism within the space of a doable gunshot early on the morning of Aug. 6 however patrol officers didn’t discover something suspicious, in accordance with the criticism.

Saria Hildabrand had been a member of the Alaska Military Nationwide Guard since April and beforehand served within the Utah Military Nationwide Guard.

Her mom, Meredith Barney, mentioned Saria was variety, clever and humorous. Her daughter joined the Guard to assist pay for an training that will enable her to enter the medical subject, she mentioned.

“She was such a tough employee — actually pushed. She was a extremely nice large sister. She actually cared about folks. She was sensible and able to transfer ahead, trying towards her future,” Barney mentioned in a phone interview from Utah.

Barney mentioned a funeral was deliberate for Aug. 25 in Mount Nice, Utah, and that the army would carry out a colour guard ceremony when her physique is flown in subsequent week.

Zarrius Ray Hildabrand joined the U.S. Military in September 2021 and was assigned to Alaska in March 2022, the place he was with the 2nd Infantry Brigade Fight Group (Airborne), eleventh Airborne Division at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. He’s from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, in accordance with data supplied by the Military.

Related Press reporter Sam Metz contributed from Salt Lake Metropolis.

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