Jury shown pictures of small skeleton, curled into the fetal position in the Brian Smith murder trial

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - When the jury in the murder trial of Brian Smith Thursday morning was shown pictures of a skeleton found along the Seward Highway, muffled crying could be heard in the courtroom.

Kleenex tissues were handed back to the gallery as pictures of a small skeleton, curled in a fetal position, were shown to the jury. The human remains were discovered by Alaska Railroad workers along a windy stretch of the highway, and in previous testimony, prosecutors have said they belong to 30-year-old Kathleen Jo Henry.

An officer with the Anchorage Police Department testified that bones were missing from parts of the hand.

“The jawbone is right here,” said Shawn Davies, pointing to a picture on a large screen behind him. “You can see teeth on the bottom part of the jawbone.”

Smith was arrested for both Henry’s death in 2019 and 53-year-old Veronica Abouchuk’s death, which occurred sometime in 2017 or 2018. The homicides gained national attention after a woman said she found a memory card on the ground labeled “Homicide at midtown Marriott,” which showed the last 36 minutes of Henry’s life.

Abouchuk’s remains were found along the Old Glenn Highway by mushroom hunters and later law enforcement recovered a skull with a gunshot wound from an area east of the old Eklutna Power Plant. Smith confessed to killing Abouchuk during a police interrogation.

Thursday’s testimony was less intense and graphic than what the jury had come to expect after spending the previous couple of days watching the hotel video.

The prosecutors also revealed the name of a new person in this case, Ian Calhoun. An FBI agent testified Thursday about cell phone tower locations associated with the phones of both Calhoun and Smith, but no other details were revealed about Calhoun or his possible ties to the case.

During his testimony, agent Eric Perry said a combination of cellphone tracking data and Google location data showed Smith’s phone was in the same area where Henry’s body was later found. But under cross-examination, the agent conceded the data only shows the location of a phone, not the individual using the phone.

The jury was shown video of the police’s 2019 interrogation of Smith, which contained Smith’s story of finding a woman’s body in his truck and dumping it by the Seward Highway. Smith also said the person seen killing a woman on the SD card seemed to be him.

On Thursday afternoon, numerous law enforcement officers spoke to the jury while going over the hundreds of photos taken in the Marriott hotel room, Smith’s home and of the skeletal remains on the highway.

One of those officers was APD Lt. Amanda Fisher, who showed the jury multiple pictures of Smith’s home as well as the firearms they found there. It was in his living room that Smith said he shot Abouchuk while she lay on a red couch, telling detectives he became angry over her refusal to shower. Smith reportedly picked up Abouchuk outside a grocery store to have sex with her.

Fisher testified that during the investigation APD sprayed a substance on the carpet that turns an area a glowing blue color if blood is possibly found. After applying the substance, the carpet changed color, indicating that the carpet may contain blood.

“That told us that we needed to look in that general area for evidence,” Fisher said.

Later on Thursday, another APD officer showed pictures of the blue carpeting in Smith’s house, ripped up, turned upside down and stained dark brown and red.

Further testimony on the carpet is expected to come next week.