Former Soldier Found Guilty of Murdering Wife

A former U.S. Army soldier showed little emotion in an Alaska courtroom after being convicted of murdering his wife. Zarius Hildabrand, 23, could face a sentence of up to 99 years following a jury’s verdict on Thursday regarding the death of 21-year-old Thalia Barney Hildabrand, a combat medic with the Alaska National Guard.

While acquitted of first-degree murder, Hildabrand was found guilty of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence. As the jury’s decision was announced, he maintained a steady gaze at the judge without showing any feelings. Sentencing is expected on October 23.

Thalia was fatally shot on August 6, 2023, shortly after celebrating her birthday. During the two-week trial, Hildabrand’s defense suggested that her death could have been either a suicide or accidental. Before his sentencing, he took the stand and expressed a need to “tell the truth,” reflecting on three years of dishonesty.

He admitted that he was still intoxicated from the prior night’s celebrations and could not recall much of the events leading to Thalia’s death. He described pulling back the covers to discover her lifeless body, which had sustained a gunshot wound.

Prosecutors claimed that the shooting occurred after Hildabrand learned about explicit messages suggesting Thalia was unfaithful. She had saved screenshots of the conversations as proof.

“My first instinct was panic; I couldn’t remember the previous night,” Hildabrand testified. “I feared for my family and worried about being wrongfully imprisoned.”

During his testimony, he acknowledged having had an affair with Thalia and noted her fear of being disowned if sent to prison. However, this admission also hinted at his acknowledgment of evidence tampering. He explained planned actions to conceal her body and clean the crime scene, including purchasing hydrogen peroxide for the task.

Hildabrand expressed, “I didn’t know what to feel; I just knew it would be hard.” He described the burden of hiding his wife’s body and cleaning up the aftermath as mentally taxing.

He even bought a 96-gallon dumpster, admitting it was intended for disposing of Thalia’s body. “It felt utterly disrespectful and made me angry at myself,” he recounted in court.

In a disturbing move, he discarded her body into a nearby storm drain, which was later discovered by rescuers. Hildabrand delayed reporting Thalia missing for about 30 hours, during which he impersonated her to avoid suspicion from her colleagues, claiming she was suffering from food poisoning.

Prosecutor Brittany Dunlop stated that Hildabrand had deleted incriminating evidence from Thalia’s phone, framing it as an act of shame on her part. She argued that he continued to lie even after shooting her and eventually dumped her body.

Dunlop portrayed Hildabrand’s actions as impulsive but deliberate, criticizing his attempts to escape responsibility through selective memory loss. Testimony by Logan Calhoun, a fellow soldier, indicated Hildabrand was indeed intoxicated during the incident.

Hildabrand enlisted in the Army in September 2021 and had been stationed in Alaska since March 2022.