A former U.S. Army soldier has been sentenced to 59 years in prison for murdering his wife and dumping her body into a storm drain in Anchorage, Alaska. But court documents filed ahead of his sentencing reveal disturbing details about what he did in the hours and days after her death, including browsing OnlyFans, impersonating his dead wife, shopping for cleaning supplies, and participating in searches alongside fellow soldiers who had no idea her body was hidden nearby.
Former Army Spc. Zarrius Ray Hildabrand, 24, was sentenced on October 23, 2026, for the August 2023 murder of his 21-year-old wife, Spc. Saria Hildabrand, a member of the Alaska Army National Guard.
An Anchorage jury convicted Hildabrand of second-degree murder and two counts of tampering with physical evidence in June 2026. He was acquitted of first-degree murder.
While the conviction and prison sentence have received widespread media attention, a 26-page sentencing memorandum filed by Alaska prosecutors on October 13 provides a detailed account of Hildabrand’s conduct after the killing.
The document, obtained and reviewed by The Salty Soldier, describes how Hildabrand allegedly spent the day following his wife’s death purchasing household items, cleaning their apartment, and concealing her remains before browsing OnlyFans and other adult-oriented websites into the early morning hours.
He subsequently told friends and family that Saria was missing, setting off a search that eventually involved more than 70 soldiers from his own Army battery.
Six Minutes Between a Missed Call and a Gunshot
According to the prosecution’s sentencing memorandum, the couple spent the evening of August 5, 2023, celebrating Hildabrand’s 21st birthday with friends at several Anchorage establishments.
The couple returned to their apartment at approximately 1:15 a.m. on August 6.
Between 2:12 a.m. and 2:24 a.m., phone records showed that Saria discovered evidence of her husband’s infidelity through conversations on Snapchat and Instagram.
Prosecutors said she took screenshots of those conversations and transferred copies to her own phone.
At 2:40 a.m., Saria attempted to call her friend Marie Wenz.
The call went unanswered.
Just six minutes later, at 2:46 a.m., a neighbor, Taylor Engstrom, called 911 after hearing a gunshot outside his apartment window.
Prosecutors identified that gunshot as the one that killed Saria inside the couple’s apartment across the courtyard.
A subsequent examination determined that Saria died from a single gunshot wound to her forehead.
Despite the shooting, prosecutors said Hildabrand never called for medical assistance.
Instead, phone records documented a series of actions that prosecutors presented as part of his effort to conceal what had happened.
Calling Himself From His Dead Wife’s Phone
At 7:58 a.m., approximately five hours after the shooting, Hildabrand used Saria’s phone to call his own number, according to the sentencing memorandum.
He answered the call.
At 8:25 a.m., he reportedly repeated the process twice, this time allowing both calls to go unanswered.
The prosecution did not establish a specific explanation for the calls in its memorandum, but the records place Hildabrand in possession of Saria’s phone hours after her death.
At 8:32 a.m., he searched for the Alaska Bush Company, an Anchorage adult-entertainment establishment, and visited its website.
At 9:19 a.m., he searched for the location of Castle Megastore, an adult-oriented retail store.
Later that morning, at 10:44 a.m., prosecutors said Hildabrand impersonated his dead wife by sending a text message from her phone to her employer, Nadia Jones, saying she would not be coming to work.
Throughout the day, he also communicated with Wenz using Saria’s Snapchat account, claiming Saria had forgotten her phone.
The communications created the appearance that Saria was still alive, although prosecutors said she had already been killed.
Cleaning Supplies, a Trash Can, and a Trip to the Storm Drain
The prosecution’s memorandum documents three separate trips Hildabrand made to Fred Meyer on August 6.
At 12:26 p.m., he purchased Gatorade, marinara sauce, and new bedsheets.
At 4:39 p.m., he communicated with his father, describing the previous night’s celebration as fun, perhaps a little too much.
By then, according to the prosecution’s account, Saria had been dead for more than 13 hours.
At 6:12 p.m., Hildabrand returned to Fred Meyer, this time purchasing hydrogen peroxide, deodorant, a cleaning spray bottle, and Q-tips.
At 7:59 p.m., he visited Lowe’s Home Improvement and purchased a 96-gallon rolling trash can.
Prosecutors said that trash can would become the means by which he removed his wife’s body from their apartment.
He made a third Fred Meyer trip at approximately 10 p.m., purchasing a Red Bull and a new mattress pad.
According to the sentencing memorandum, phone-location records and Hildabrand’s own trial testimony established that he dragged Saria’s body from their bed and placed her feet-first into the large trash can.
The prosecution noted that while describing the process during his testimony, Hildabrand referred to his wife’s body as “it.”
He then wheeled the trash can less than a quarter mile from their apartment and placed her body approximately 15 feet down into a storm drain.
Afterward, he replaced the manhole cover, discarded the trash can nearby, and returned home.
Browsing OnlyFans After Concealing His Wife’s Body
What Hildabrand did after returning to the apartment was another focus of the prosecution’s sentencing memorandum.
According to prosecutors, shortly after midnight on August 7, he resumed using his phone.
At approximately 12:20 a.m., he searched for Patagonia, an outdoor clothing retailer.
The memorandum also states that beginning around 12:15 a.m., Hildabrand accessed OnlyFans and other adult-oriented websites, continuing to browse into the early morning hours.
These activities occurred after he had removed his wife’s body from their apartment and concealed it in the storm drain.
The prosecution’s account places him browsing OnlyFans in the same apartment where his wife had been fatally shot and where investigators would later discover extensive blood evidence.
The memorandum does not establish precisely how long he spent browsing the websites, but prosecutors included the activity in their account of his behavior following the killing.
A Missing-Person Story and a Search Involving His Own Soldiers
By Monday, August 7, Hildabrand began telling others that Saria had disappeared.
At 11:58 a.m., he called Wenz using Saria’s phone and claimed his wife had been missing for more than 26 hours.
He told Wenz that Saria had left for work around 10 a.m. the previous day, had forgotten her phone, and had not returned.
The account was false.
According to the prosecution, Hildabrand already knew his wife was dead and that her body was concealed in a nearby storm drain.
Wenz eventually met with Hildabrand, and at 5:32 p.m., she called 911 to report Saria missing.
The memorandum describes Hildabrand participating in the supposed search by contacting hospitals and jails with Wenz.
At 7:44 p.m., he finally informed Saria’s mother, Meredith Barney, that her daughter was missing.
Barney traveled thousands of miles to Alaska, believing she was coming to help find her daughter.
Hildabrand knew otherwise, prosecutors said.
On August 8, Barney and her sister arrived in Anchorage and went directly to Anchorage Police Department headquarters. Hildabrand did not accompany them, claiming he could not locate his wallet and identification.
Later that day, a major search operation was organized.
Anchorage police deployed dozens of officers.
More than 70 soldiers from Hildabrand’s own Army battery also participated in the search, according to the prosecution’s memorandum.
His fellow soldiers were searching for the missing wife of one of their own, unaware that the man they were helping had already concealed her body.
Barney and her sister also searched the area around Waldon Park, north of Mockingbird Drive.
Hildabrand accompanied Barney during part of the search.
Prosecutors said they passed within yards of the location where he had concealed her daughter’s body.
According to the memorandum, Hildabrand stayed close to Barney during the search, at times keeping her within sight.
Investigators Found Blood Beneath the Mattress
The deception began to unravel as investigators examined Hildabrand’s account.
According to prosecutors, Anchorage police detectives Tyler Clark and Jeffery Elbie visited the apartment on August 8.
Hildabrand repeated his explanation that Saria had disappeared after leaving for work.
He also allowed detectives to look around the apartment, which he had spent considerable time cleaning.
When detectives sought to examine the mattress, Hildabrand initially withdrew his consent and claimed there were embarrassing items beneath the bed.
Investigators eventually discovered significant blood evidence associated with the mattress and surrounding area.
The prosecution’s memorandum also describes extensive cleaning, including attempts to remove biological evidence from the apartment.
Investigators subsequently located the discarded trash can near the storm drain. According to the filing, it contained biological material and blood belonging to Saria.
On August 10, 2023, investigators recovered her body from the storm drain near the couple’s apartment.
Prosecutors Sought 74 Years Behind Bars
The October 13 sentencing memorandum portrayed Hildabrand’s conduct after the killing as evidence of his willingness to conceal the crime and avoid responsibility.
Prosecutors emphasized not only the shooting, but also the cleaning, purchases, disposal of Saria’s body, impersonation through her phone, and false accounts that led friends, relatives, police, and soldiers to search for her.
The state requested a composite sentence of 94 years, with 20 years suspended, leaving 74 years to serve.
In a separate October 15 sentencing memorandum, Hildabrand’s defense sought a substantially shorter prison term.
The defense emphasized his lack of prior criminal convictions, conduct while incarcerated, and prospects for rehabilitation.
His attorney also disputed the state’s characterization of the killing as intentional, suggesting that Saria’s death was more consistent with drunken mishandling of a firearm.
During the trial, Hildabrand maintained that he could not remember the fatal shooting. His defense also raised the possibility of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The jury nevertheless found him guilty of second-degree murder and evidence tampering.
On October 23, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Peter Ramgren imposed an 84-year sentence with 25 years suspended, leaving 59 years to serve, followed by probation.
A Search That Ended Close to Home
Saria Hildabrand was 21 years old when she was killed. She served in the Alaska Army National Guard and had previously served in the Utah National Guard.
The investigation was conducted by the Anchorage Police Department with assistance from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division.
For Saria’s family, friends, and fellow soldiers, what began as a search for a missing young woman ended with the discovery that she had been killed inside her own home.
The sentencing documents lay out the troubling chronology of what happened afterward: a husband concealing his wife’s remains, browsing OnlyFans after disposing of her body, creating the appearance that she was missing, and accompanying the people desperately searching for her.
Those people included more than 70 soldiers from his own unit, searching an area near where he had left her body.
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