Alaska Man Sentenced to 59 Years for Hiding Wife's Body in Storm Drain

The sentence carried a weight of almost half a century. Zarrius Hildabrand, 24, will spend 59 years behind bars for the brutal murder of his wife. Saria Hildabrand, 21, was a combat medic. Her body was found stuffed down a storm drain near their Anchorage, Alaska, apartment in August 2023.

It happened hours after a birthday celebration. The couple had visited Dave & Buster’s and a downtown bar to mark Zarrius’s 21st birthday. They returned to their apartment in the early morning. According to prosecutors, Saria discovered messages on her husband’s phone revealing his infidelity that same night. The conversation ended with a gunshot.

Zarrius did not call 911. He bought supplies. He bought a 96-gallon rolling garbage can from Lowe’s. He purchased hydrogen peroxide, replacement bedsheets, and a mattress cover. He scrubbed the apartment. He placed Saria’s body in the wheeled bin and dumped it into an underground drainage system. Then he went to bed.

The next morning, he told police his wife was missing. He claimed she had left for work, forgetting her cellphone but taking her purse and wallet. He said she had walked to Bread and Brew, a restaurant about a mile away. He joined the search. He stood with distraught relatives, fellow soldiers, and police officers. As many as 70 volunteers combed the area. He pretended to look for a woman he already knew was dead.

Anchorage Judge Peter Ramgren handed down the sentence on Friday. The judge condemned Hildabrand’s conduct, pointing to his apparent lack of remorse during the investigation and trial. Although an Anchorage jury acquitted Hildabrand of first-degree murder in June, convicting him instead of second-degree murder and two counts of tampering with physical evidence, Ramgren stated he believed the killing was intentional.

Detectives found cracks in the story quickly. Saria’s colleagues received a text message from her phone at 10:45 a.m. saying she would not be coming to work. Zarrius claimed the device remained at their apartment. He denied sending the message. He could not explain how it was transmitted.

Inside the apartment, the scene looked wrong. The bed was missing its usual sheets. Unopened replacements sat on the kitchen table. When officers asked to look beneath the mattress, Hildabrand refused. He claimed there were embarrassing sexual items underneath. A search revealed blood had soaked through the mattress, onto the carpet, and into the wood frame. Traces of blood were found in the bathtub and on parts of the floor. It looked like extensive cleaning attempts.

Saria’s mother, Meredith Barney, flew from Utah to Alaska with Saria’s aunt to join the search. She remembered receiving a photograph of the couple smiling together during their birthday celebrations. That was the last communication she ever received from her daughter. She described her son-in-law as "very paranoid and very rigid" during the ordeal.

Investigators eventually located the discarded trash can. They used a drone to search the nearby drainage system. Beneath a pillow in a storm drain, they found Saria’s remains.

During his trial, Hildabrand admitted to disposing of the body. He claimed he could not remember whether he had actually killed her. "The plan was to hide the body of my wife and then clean up the blood off the mattress and the surrounding area," he testified. When asked how he knew he had not pulled the trigger, he replied, "I don't."

His defense attorneys suggested the death could have been accidental or self-inflicted. They argued prosecutors failed to establish precisely what happened. They pointed to Hildabrand’s testimony that he would drink to the point of blacking out once or twice a year.

Prosecutor Brittany Dunlop rejected the explanation. She told jurors that Hildabrand’s subsequent actions demonstrated a deliberate effort to conceal a murder. "Selective amnesia is a coward's way out of a hard truth," she argued.

You don't cover up an accident, you cover up a crime." That sentiment hung heavy over the courtroom as the jury reached its verdict, finding Hildabrand guilty of murder. The weight of that decision became painfully real during sentencing, where Saria’s relatives spoke to the court about the profound devastation their family now endures. Judge Ramgren handed down a severe punishment, imposing 55 years for second-degree murder. He added two consecutive two-year terms for evidence tampering, pushing the total prison sentence to 59 years. Hildabrand also received additional suspended prison time. He must serve at least two-thirds of his active sentence before becoming eligible for parole.