{"id":3400,"date":"2026-07-01T09:37:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T09:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3400"},"modified":"2026-07-01T09:37:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T09:37:18","slug":"us-army-soldier-zarrius-hildabrand-emotionless-as-hes-convicted-of-killing-wife-covering-up-her-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3400","title":{"rendered":"US Army soldier Zarrius Hildabrand emotionless as he’s convicted of killing wife, covering up her death"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

An ex-US Army soldier accused of fatally shooting his wife and covering up her death was stony-faced inside an Alaska courtroom as he was convicted of her murder.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Trump takes new Qatari jet for test flight to celebrate America 250 \u2014 and another president<\/a><\/p>\n

Zarrius Hildabrand, 23, faces up to 99 years in prison after an Anchorage jury found him guilty over the August 2023 death of Alaska National Guard combat medic Saria Barney Hildabrand, 21, last Thursday, according to Court TV.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hildabrand was acquitted of first-degree murder, but was convicted of second-degree murder and evidence tampering.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The killer looked straight at the judge and showed no emotion as the results of the jury deliberations were read out in the courthouse. He\u2019s set to be sentenced on October 23.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Saria was shot dead in the early hours of Aug. 6, 2023, after she celebrated her 21st birthday \u2013 and during the two-week trial, Hildabrand\u2019s lawyers tried to claim she may have taken her own life, or died accidentally, KTUU reported.<\/p>\n

Before being convicted, Hildabrand took the stand and said he wanted to put the truth on record.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of the outcome of the trial, I needed to tell the truth, I needed to get the weight off of three years of a lie,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During his testimony, he couldn\u2019t remember much of what followed because he was still drunk from the night before.<\/p>\n

He told jurors that he saw his wife dead in bed with a gunshot wound to the head after pulling back the covers.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors claimed Hildabrand shot his wife after she spotted explicit messages that suggested he was cheating \u2013 just a year into their marriage. Saria took screenshots of the sexual conversations, so she had them as proof.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing I was afraid of was having no recollection of the night before, and just not knowing what happened,\u201d Hildabrand said in court.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was afraid I was gonna lose my family; I was afraid that I was gonna go to jail for something that I had no recollection of.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust, there\u2019s so many unknowns and I immediately assumed the worst.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hildabrand, who admitted to cheating on Saria while testifying, said he feared he would be disowned if he was sent to prison.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But his testimony unraveled as he appeared to admit to evidence tampering.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe plan was to hide the body of my wife and then clean up the blood off the mattress and the surrounding area,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He admitted to buying hydrogen peroxide, which he said was used to clean up the \u201csurrounding areas and mattress,\u201d as well as deodorant.<\/p>\n

Read more Village People lead singer Victor Willis dead at 74 after battle with \u2018short, aggressive illness\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI just didn\u2019t know what to feel\u2026 I just knew that the next day was going to be rough \u2013 because I had to hide my wife\u2019s body and then clean up the surrounding area in our bedroom,\u201d Hildabrand said, describing his emotions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just knew it wasn\u2019t going to be easy. Like mentally, I knew it was going to be difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hildabrand admitted to buying a 96-gallon garbage can from Lowes \u2013 which he admitted he bought to help move his wife\u2019s body.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt so disrespectful and just disrespect, and just at that point, I\u2019m starting to get a little angry at myself,\u201d he told jurors after being asked how he felt at that moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hildabrand dumped his wife\u2019s body in a 15 to 20 foot storm drain \u2013 and she was found in water around two feet deep by emergency crews.<\/p>\n

Hildabrand didn\u2019t report his wife missing until around 30 hours after he had last seen her \u2013 and imitated her by sending messages from her phone to her work colleagues, saying she wouldn\u2019t show up.<\/p>\n

In one message, he claimed she was suffering from food poisoning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also put out desperate missing person appeals for his wife and joined the search \u2013 despite knowing she was dead.<\/p>\n

Hildabrand deleted the screenshots from Saria\u2019s phone because he was \u201cembarrassed of them,\u201d according to prosecutor Brittany Dunlop<\/p>\n

Dunlop said Hildabrand \u201cperpetuated a lie about her being missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe shot her in the head and then callously disposed of her body down a storm drain,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Dunlop claimed he \u201cacted impulsively, and drunkenly, no doubt \u2013 but he did act intentionally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSelective amnesia is a coward\u2019s way out of a hard truth,\u201d she said, ripping Hildabrand\u2019s excuses.<\/p>\n

Logan Calhoun, who served with Hildabrand in the Army, testified, \u201cHe [Hildabrand] got drunk. He was sloshed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hildabrand joined the Army in September 2021 and was assigned to Alaska in March 2022, where he was with the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 11th Airborne Division at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Mother of NFL star Calais Campbell found dead inside Atlanta home, his brother charged with murder<\/a><\/p>\n

With Post wires.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An ex-US Army soldier accused of fatally shooting his wife and covering up her death showed no emotion in court as he was convicted of her murder.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-news"],"yoast_head":"\nUS Army soldier Zarrius Hildabrand emotionless as he's convicted of killing wife, covering up her death - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3400\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US Army soldier Zarrius Hildabrand emotionless as he's convicted of killing wife, covering up her death - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An ex-US Army soldier accused of fatally shooting his wife and covering up her death showed no emotion in court as he was convicted of her murder.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3400\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-01T09:37:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3400#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3400\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"US Army soldier Zarrius Hildabrand emotionless as he’s convicted of killing wife, covering up her death\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-01T09:37:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3400\"},\"wordCount\":828,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3400#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e29171c3b46250e68546709bdfcdeffc.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"US News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3400#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3400\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3400\",\"name\":\"US Army soldier Zarrius Hildabrand emotionless as he's convicted of killing wife, covering up her death - Metro Transit Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3400#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3400#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e29171c3b46250e68546709bdfcdeffc.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-01T09:37:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3400#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3400\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3400#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e29171c3b46250e68546709bdfcdeffc.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e29171c3b46250e68546709bdfcdeffc.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3400#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"US Army soldier Zarrius Hildabrand emotionless as he’s convicted of killing wife, covering up her death\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Metro Transit Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"US Army soldier Zarrius Hildabrand emotionless as he's convicted of killing wife, covering up her death - Metro Transit Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3400","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"US Army soldier Zarrius Hildabrand emotionless as he's convicted of killing wife, covering up her death - Metro Transit Review","og_description":"An ex-US Army soldier accused of fatally shooting his wife and covering up her death showed no emotion in court as he was convicted of her murder.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3400","og_site_name":"Metro Transit Review","article_published_time":"2026-07-01T09:37:18+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3400#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3400"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"headline":"US Army soldier Zarrius Hildabrand emotionless as he’s convicted of killing wife, covering up her death","datePublished":"2026-07-01T09:37:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3400"},"wordCount":828,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3400#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e29171c3b46250e68546709bdfcdeffc.webp","articleSection":["US News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3400#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3400","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3400","name":"US Army soldier Zarrius Hildabrand emotionless as he's convicted of killing wife, covering up her death - Metro Transit Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3400#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3400#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e29171c3b46250e68546709bdfcdeffc.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-01T09:37:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3400#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3400"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3400#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e29171c3b46250e68546709bdfcdeffc.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e29171c3b46250e68546709bdfcdeffc.webp","width":1200,"height":799},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3400#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"US Army soldier Zarrius Hildabrand emotionless as he’s convicted of killing wife, covering up her death"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/","name":"Metro Transit Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/metrotransitreview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}