Man charged with murders of two Alaska Native women

A digital camera card containing videos of a man beating and strangling a woman in a hotel room led to the arrest of an immigrant from South Africa charged with murders of two Alaska Native women who had gone missing, authorities said on Thursday.

In each case, the victims’ remains were found dumped in wooded outskirts of Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city. The suspect, Brian Steven Smith, 48, has confessed to both slayings to police, according to a bail memorandum filed by prosecutors on Thursday.