A U.S. Army soldier who killed his 21-year-old wife, then joined her distressed family in searching for her while knowing she was dead, has been sentenced to 59 years in prison. The judge condemned his conduct and said he appeared concerned with “anyone other than himself.”
Zarrius Hildabrand, 24, received the sentence Friday in Anchorage, Alaska, after being convicted of fatally shooting his wife of seven months, Saria Barney Hildabrand, and attempting to conceal the crime.
Hildabrand was found guilty in June. Prosecutors said he shot Saria in August 2023, just hours after celebrating his 21st birthday, following an argument in which she accused him of infidelity. He later acknowledged that the accusation was true.
After the shooting, Hildabrand purchased cleaning supplies and hid his wife’s body inside a storm drain, according to the Alaska Department of Law.
He reported Saria missing and took part in efforts to find her, even though he knew she had been killed. At trial, his attorneys attempted to argue that Saria had taken her own life.
Hildabrand served at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson with the 11th Airborne Division. Judge Peter Ramgren said the defendant acted “intentionally” and described the killing and subsequent conduct as “abhorrent” after convicting him of second-degree murder and evidence tampering.
The judge also pointed to Hildabrand’s “apparent lack of remorse,” saying he “never seemed to show concern for anyone other than himself” after the killing.
Hildabrand was sentenced to 59 years in prison, including 55 years for the second-degree murder conviction.
He also received consecutive two-year terms for evidence tampering, along with an additional 25-year sentence.
He will not be eligible for parole until he has served at least two-thirds of his sentence.
Hildabrand shot Saria during the early morning hours of Aug. 6, 2023, after the couple returned home from an evening out with friends.
The group had visited a Dave & Buster’s venue and planned to continue to a nightclub. Hildabrand, however, was refused entry after a bouncer determined that he appeared intoxicated.
The friends then went their separate ways. Hildabrand and Saria returned to their Anchorage apartment, where an argument broke out before the shooting.
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During the trial, Hildabrand offered a different account, claiming he woke to find his wife dead in bed with a gunshot wound.
“The first thing I was afraid of was having no recollection of the night before, and just not knowing what happened,” he testified.
“I 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. Just, there’s so many unknowns and I immediately assumed the worst.”
Kenneth Gallagher of the Alaska State Medical Examiner’s Office testified that Saria died from a “penetrating, indeterminate range gunshot wound.” Investigators also found blood on the mattress.
While testifying, Hildabrand appeared to acknowledge tampering with evidence. He said he bought hydrogen peroxide to clean the “surrounding areas and mattress.”
“The plan was to hide the body of my wife and then clean up the blood off the mattress and the surrounding area,” he said.
Describing his state of mind, Hildabrand said: “I just didn’t know what to feel… I just knew that the next day was going to be rough – because I had to hide my wife’s body and then clean up the surrounding area in our bedroom.”
Hildabrand admitted to buying a 96-gallon garbage can from Lowes – which he admitted he bought to help move his wife’s body.
He dumped his wife’s body in a 15 to 20 foot storm drain – and she was found in water around two feet deep by emergency crews some five days after her death.
Brittany Dunlop, prosecuting, said Hildabrand “callously disposed” his wife’s body – and “perpetuated a lie about her being missing.”
The callous hubby posted desperate appeals on Facebook and “walked around for hours” searching for his wife, according to his victim’s mom Meredith Barney.
Hildabrand used his wife’s phone to message her work colleagues – around eight hours after the murder – to say she wouldn’t be turning in for work.
Then he went on a late night drive at around 10 p.m. on Aug. 5 as he started to “worry about his wife” before formally reporting her missing the following day – some 30 hours after she was killed.
Hildabrand told cops he waited to file a missing persons report because he thought she would appear.