"He was a good husband" - Wife defends man suspected of recorded murder

Stephanie Bissland was visiting family in Virginia when she was approached by two Anchorage Police Department detectives.

What she found out shocked her: Her husband, in Anchorage, had been charged with the brutal murder of a 30-year-old woman in a midtown hotel - all caught on camera.

Bissland told Channel 2 Thursday that she was shocked by the accusations, and that police told her they wanted her to know before she heard it on the news.

That information was released to the public just moments after she was notified.

She says the news left her numb, "because he was a good husband."

Bissland says there was never a hint of the violent man described by police. "Never in my life would I have thought what they are saying is going on ... I don't believe it."

Her husband of five years, Brian Steven Smith, originally from South Africa, had just become a United States citizen on September 20.

Bissland said that Smith had much to celebrate and a future that looked bright.

"I'll stand behind him, beside him, while he's going through this," she said.