An Anchorage judge sentenced Zarrius Hildabrand to 59 years to serve for killing his wife.

Friday's hearing is the sentence on the counts the jury already found. Both outlets put the time to serve at 59 years. The Daily News is the one that prints 84 years with 25 suspended, discretionary parole after about 40 years, and 10 years of probation after that. KTUU did not print those figures. The first-degree murder count is an acquittal. It is not part of the term.

The Anchorage Daily News reported that Anchorage Superior Court Judge Peter Ramgren sentenced former U.S. Army soldier Zarrius Hildabrand on Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in the killing of his wife, 21-year-old Saria Barney Hildabrand. The paper reported the sentence is 84 years with 25 years suspended, which it said means 59 years in prison. It reported Ramgren said Hildabrand will be eligible to seek discretionary parole after serving about 40 years, and that he will then serve 10 years of probation. KTUU reported the same Friday hearing as a 59-year sentence and did not print an 84-year figure, a suspended term, a parole date, or probation. The time to serve matches. The way the two accounts build that number does not.

The Daily News reported a June jury convicted him of second-degree murder and two counts of evidence tampering and acquitted him of first-degree murder after a two-week trial. KTUU reported he was convicted of second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence and acquitted of first-degree murder. KTUU did not say how many tampering counts the jury returned. KTUU reported he is 24 and that he fatally shot 21-year-old Alaska National Guard Spec. Saria Hildabrand on Aug. 6, 2023, while both were on active duty. The Daily News reported he was stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson with the 11th Airborne Division, and that defense attorney Lacey Jane Brewster said he received an other-than-honorable discharge after his arrest. The paper reported Barney's family has described her by her maiden name since her death.

The Daily News reported prosecutors said that after the couple celebrated his 21st birthday, Hildabrand shot his wife in the head when she confronted him with evidence he was cheating, hid her body in a drainpipe near their apartment, and reported her missing more than a day later. KTUU reported the prosecution's account as a shooting after she discovered him cheating, and the defense account at trial as a claim that she died from a self-inflicted gunshot. The Daily News reported an Oct. 15 sentencing memorandum in which Brewster wrote that if he killed her, it was "more likely" the result "of a drunken mishandling of a firearm," and that she asked for about 22.5 years. The paper reported he has claimed he was too drunk to recall what led to her death, and that when Ramgren asked if he wanted to speak he said only, "No, your honor." The paper reported prosecutors asked for 74 years and told the judge a typical range for similar second-degree murders is 20 to 30 years.

The Daily News reported prosecutor Kaila Hurley said Hildabrand called police about 30 hours later, that the search included police and dozens of military members, and that when family arrived he helped them search and steered them away from the drain. The paper quoted Hurley: "He made sure to inflict the most amount of harm he could at every point." It quoted his mother-in-law, Meredith Barney: "This man showed no remorse or even emotion about what he did to her. He played a game with me and my family." It quoted Ramgren: "This was an inexplicable killing, completely unwarranted and without provocation," and, "He killed his wife and then methodically engaged in a dayslong attempt to cover up his conduct and to avoid its consequences, with no thought for anyone but himself." The paper reported the judge said the failure to take responsibility "reflects poorly on his prospects for rehabilitation." Friday's order is the sentence on the counts of conviction. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.