'He Killed Her': Murdered Military Wife's Mom Speaks Out After She Was Found Dead Inside an Alaska Storm Drain

An Anchorage jury found former U.S. Army soldier Zarrius Hildabrand guilty of second-degree murder and two counts of tampering with physical evidence for the August 2023 death of his 21-year-old wife, Saria Barney Hildabrand.

Following the conviction, Law&Crime's Jesse Weber hosted an exclusive interview on the outlet's "Sidebar Podcast" with the victim's mother, Meredith Barney, to address the trial's conclusion and the emotional toll on the family.

Barney described her daughter's murderer as controlling and emotionally detached, noting he participated in search efforts while knowing he had hidden the victim's body.

Meredith further revealed that Zarrius exhibited paranoid surveillance behavior, insisted on controlling the search efforts, and attempted to push false narratives during the investigation.

He was “very paranoid and very rigid,” she testified at the trial. “He kept making excuses on why he couldn’t meet with us to do things like hang up posters or go to the police station, or when we went searching, he really didn’t want me and my sister out of his sight.”

Her mother’s intuition told her something wasn’t right when Zarrius called to say Saria was missing.

“Like when I got that original phone call, I ended that phone call and literally looked at my husband and said he killed her. Like I knew immediately,” she said.

The jury acquitted Zarrius of first-degree murder but convicted him on two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of evidence tampering.

Prosecutors demonstrated that Zarrius shot his wife in the head after she discovered his infidelity. He stuffed her body into a 96-gallon trash can and concealed her remains inside an Alaska storm drain.

Before his arrest, Zarrius bought cleaning supplies and spent days actively participating in community search parties alongside his wife's frantic mother.

“I already had this suspicion in me. And so, like, all the things we did were coming from that perspective. And you know also I need to stay his friend, right? So that was probably the most difficult thing: I needed to try to stay where he felt supported in case something slipped, and try to be engaging with him and supportive to him, even though, like, I didn't trust a single thing he said. That's why, when me and my sister went on the search party with him, at one point we let him lead us so we would look for where he didn't take us. But the reality is it doesn't change anything for me,” Meredith said.

Zarrius took the stand himself, making the highly criticized claim that he had memory loss from alcohol consumption and didn't know if he pulled the trigger. His attorneys unsuccessfully argued that the death was a suicide or an accident.

Zarrius showed no visible emotion as the verdict was read in court. He is scheduled to appear for a sentencing hearing on October 23, with a statutory penalty range of 15 to 99 years in prison.

In response to the verdict, Meredith said, “The reality is it doesn't it doesn't change anything for me, right? Like, doesn't bring my daughter back. It doesn't give me a sense of relief. It just means he's going to be held accountable, but it doesn't mean my life is still the same. She's still gone.”