Military Husband Takes Stand in Wife's Murder Trial — Full Testimony

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: thank you please be seated [00:00:03] Zarius Hildebrand: my name is Zarius Hildebrand Z A R R I U S H I L D A B R A N D [00:00:26] Speaker 3: good morning Mr Hildebrand Mr Hildebrand what is your birthday uh my birthday is August [00:00:46] Zarius Hildebrand: 5th 2002 how old are you today I'm currently 23 and when was your 21st birthday my 21st birthday would have been August 5th 2003 three sorry 2023 Mr Hildebrand where were you born I was born in Elizabethtown Kentucky [00:01:16] Speaker 3: and do you have any brothers uh yeah do you have adopted brothers or blood brothers [00:01:25] Zarius Hildebrand: or both I have both [00:01:26] Speaker 3: how old were you when you were adopted when I was adopted I was six but I went to foster [00:01:34] Zarius Hildebrand: when I was adopted I was eight but I went to foster care when I was six [00:01:36] Speaker 3: and when you went to foster care did you have older brother uh did you have blood brothers with you yes what were their names um Danente and MJ and did you have a little sister yes and were they brought into your foster home with you they were and did they go to your adoptive parents home with you they did and then you said you also have some adopted relative brothers can you [00:02:04] Zarius Hildebrand: tell us tell us about them uh yes they were uh my two older brothers didn't or Caleb and Bradley and did you grow up with them um Bradley not so much and then Caleb was there every other weekend so [00:02:22] Speaker 3: and can you tell me did you grow up with MJ I did what was your first memory of MJ um just him being a little brother okay can you tell me if you do you remember much about your life before you went into foster care [00:02:47] Zarius Hildebrand: um bits and pieces but most of my memories didn't really start till after I was adopted [00:02:52] Speaker 3: okay do you recall if you've ever before you went into foster care what do you remember about your [00:03:01] Zarius Hildebrand: biological mom um not a lot kind of a ghost type presence like I knew she was there but I don't ever [00:03:09] Speaker 3: remember physically seeing her do you recall if you ever [00:03:23] Zarius Hildebrand: got in the way between your mom and MJ somehow um not my mom and MJ but my mom's boyfriends I took a butt whooping for my little brother at one point how old were you when that happened uh four or five he was still a baby when I did that and when you went to your mother Paula's home how did your relationship with MJ develop um I saw him as an annoying little brother until he got about sixth grade and that's when he started to get active in sports and start growing up and that's when I kind of realized that I wanted to be the older brother for him that I didn't have what do you mean by that um so my older brother was we're very different and me and MJ were very much more alike and I wanted to kind of help guide him to make sure that he did it the everything the right way [00:04:39] Speaker 3: and how far behind in school is MJ from you um four years five years do you remember where you went to high school I went to Central Hardin high school what year did you graduate uh 2020. did you get to walk for your graduation or was it during covid [00:05:00] Zarius Hildebrand: um it was a soft walk but I did walk across the stage for my graduation and what did you do after you graduated from high school after I graduated high school I worked a little bit um worked at a ford dealership for a little bit and then um I moved away worked at a factory and then came back home and realized that that's when I wanted to join the army how old were you when you joined the army I was 19. why did you join the army um I needed a sense of direction in life one point my mom found a bunch of beer cans and was like you need to do something with your life and the army was the direction I wanted to go so tell me about basic training how old were you when you went to basic training I was 19 when I went through basic training wait what time of year and month was that um it would have been September of 21 is when I started going through basic training what is basic training like um it's one of the most stressful environments you'll ever be you'll go through they they try to take you from a civilian and form you into a soldier essentially did you meet anyone [00:06:15] Speaker 3: that you would grow to be friends with at basic training uh yeah did you meet saraya at basic training I did yes tell me about the first time you saw her um the first [00:06:30] Zarius Hildebrand: time I saw her we were in formation I was in second platoon and she was in fourth platoon and so uh my my platoon was in front of hers and uh I remember someone yelling my name or like whispering like Hilda Brandon I looked back and that's when I saw Saraya for that's the first time I saw her what'd you think um I found her attractive but I didn't really pursue it at the point and you were on basic training at that time yes ma'am did you ever go on a date with her uh yes we went on a date in AIT and can you tell the jury what AIT is um it's a essentially advanced individual training is what it stands for and it's um job training so like I was a 13 bravo and my AIT taught me how to do that what is that a 13 bravo is just a cannon crewman [00:07:21] Speaker 3: cannon crew member cannon crew member yes ma'am how big of a cannon um [00:07:31] Zarius Hildebrand: I was on the triple seven so it's 155 millimeter round um it's the best way to describe it is massive [00:07:41] Speaker 3: it's a massive piece so tell us about this first date when you were in AIT uh so when you're in a [00:07:49] Zarius Hildebrand: training environment which is what AIT is considered it's considered TRADOC and um there's what's called a battle buddy system and it can't it can be two guys can go out by themselves or two girls can go out by themselves but it can never be just a guy and a girl that go out by themselves so um uh one of my friends said hey let's go to the PX uh it was a Saturday I didn't have anything else to do I figured why not and I get to the PX and we sit at a table and then Soraya's friends kind of drop her off and run away and leave me with me and my friend he's sitting like two tables down and it's me and Soraya [00:08:27] Speaker 3: and give us a little bit of background on this where what state were you in at that time I was [00:08:31] Zarius Hildebrand: still at forceful Oklahoma and what is a PX um it stands for post exchange but it's like a big store [00:08:42] Speaker 3: that sells everything that you could ever need essentially does it have any fast food restaurants [00:08:48] Zarius Hildebrand: or um it's kind of like a mall there's restaurants there's little stations and then there's the big [00:08:54] Speaker 3: store attached to it and who is the friend that set this up uh Zach Farrar [00:09:06] Zarius Hildebrand: how long were you at AIT um a couple months my AIT was only five weeks but I was a holdover for airborne school so that took a little bit and took a while for me to go to airborne school and how long were you in airborne school um once again probably about five weeks it was a I was a holdover because after I graduated I had to had to get all my stuff situated so that I can come up to Alaska when did you find out you were moving to Alaska um after I got my airborne orders I didn't want to go to the duty station I was initially supposed to go to so I picked up an airborne contract thinking I would go somewhere else and I ended up coming to Alaska instead [00:09:50] Speaker 3: do you remember the month and year you came to Alaska um March April of 22 were you still dating Soraya at that time I was [00:10:06] Zarius Hildebrand: when did you decide you wanted to marry Soraya um say when she first came up here she came and visited me on my first block leave which was in June of 22 and that's pretty much when I decided like we I wanted to marry her where did you get married we got married in Utah who was there um her mom her stepdad at the time her grandparents and then one of her friends was [00:10:37] Speaker 3: there as well and what day did you get married uh December 29th did Soraya live in Alaska when you [00:10:42] Zarius Hildebrand: got married uh no she still lived in Utah but then ended up moving to Alaska when did she move um she came up here in January and February of 2023 were you living in the barracks um from the point to where I initially came up here to when I cleared the barracks yeah I was living in the barracks did Soraya live with you in the barracks no we had an apartment off post when she moved up here when did you move to that apartment um it would have been a January late January early February of 2023 do you recall the address of that apartment um 5210 mockingbird drive and there was apartment number 13. [00:11:26] Speaker 3: sorry so I want to talk a little bit more about some of your background information uh specifically relating to alcohol can you how old were you the first time you had alcohol um 14 [00:11:41] Zarius Hildebrand: through 16 one of those early years and how would you get it um initially I would you know sneak a beer here and there for my parents and then um later on when I was about 16 I had a friend's mom who would buy us alcohol and she would essentially let us drink at their place because she wanted us to be in a safe environment she knew we were high school kids we were going to drink anyways and she just wanted us to be safe in in a healthy environment to where we weren't it was controlled essentially [00:12:16] Speaker ?: okay [00:12:20] Speaker 3: did you keep drinking after you graduated from high school uh yes I did and had you ever had you ever drunk to the point where you didn't remember what happened the night before [00:12:40] Zarius Hildebrand: prior to your 21st birthday once once or twice yeah maybe more than that but yes [00:12:48] Speaker 3: and how old were you in those when that happened um I'd say the first time that happened I was [00:12:54] Zarius Hildebrand: 18 or 19 and maybe happened once or twice a year until my 21st birthday was Soraya older than you she was she was older than me by one year one month and one day [00:13:13] Speaker 3: did she ever buy you alcohol of course did your colleagues in the army buy you alcohol yes when you drink heavily you said sometimes you've blacked out you recall that yes or you recall waking up and not knowing what happened yes would you ever watch videos of yourself doing things you don't [00:13:37] Zarius Hildebrand: remember doing occasionally yes I would typically go through my phone after a night where I didn't remember what happened and that's my usually what my routine was and [00:13:53] Speaker 3: have you ever with besides blackout blackout drinking when you drink a lot what would normally happen [00:13:58] Zarius Hildebrand: usually find somewhere to go to sleep [00:14:04] Speaker 3: have you ever slept hard through something while you were drinking uh yeah when I decide I want to lay [00:14:12] Zarius Hildebrand: down the pretty much the only thing that's going to wake me up is myself uh like I will wake up when I want to [00:14:23] Speaker 3: go to sleep when you're drinking at the point when you were 17. When you were 17 were you drinking at the point when you were 17 where you would just fall asleep? yeah and that was in Kentucky yes ma'am did you ever drink at a bonfire many times do you ever do you recall if you ever slept through anything allowed when you were at a bonfire in Kentucky yes naturally bonfires are loud um and [00:14:51] Zarius Hildebrand: people were throwing beer cans in the fire and it was making popping noises and I slept through that [00:15:06] Speaker 3: I want to talk a little bit more about your relationship with Soraya I specifically want to talk about a girl named Cheyenne okay sorry who is Cheyenne um she was a woman I was having an [00:15:20] Zarius Hildebrand: affair with she lived back in Kentucky how did you meet her um we met when I was younger before um [00:15:26] Speaker 3: I left for the army how did you communicate with Cheyenne oh we communicated on snapchat when did you start talking to Cheyenne on snapchat um initially probably around 2020 [00:15:43] Zarius Hildebrand: and then we kind of fell off and then reconnected in 2023 what month did we reconnect yeah um March April [00:16:01] Speaker 3: when you were married to Soraya correct yes ma'am did you did you ever have a conversation or were you ever confronted about Cheyenne by Soraya no were there other girls besides Cheyenne just once yes did Soraya ever confront you with suspicions that you were cheating on her yes and [00:16:40] Zarius Hildebrand: when was that um that would have been around April or May of 2023 how can you remember that date how um I tend to use when I go out to the field to kind of date my years and we had just recently gone came back from the field [00:17:03] Speaker 3: so when when was when did you go to the field last in 2023 um July of 2023 and before the July 2023 field [00:17:18] Zarius Hildebrand: training when was the time that you'd been out before that um February into March of 2023 was a pretty big training exercise how many weeks was it five where was it it was I'm going to say Fairbanks because I don't really know the interior very well but it was I remember my phone locating it at the North Pole did you take your phone with you to the training uh I had it on me but like once we it's called going into the box the phones were kind of left off because it was a very serious training environment [00:17:55] Speaker 3: and did Soraya confront you about her suspicions of cheating after your February March field training in Fairbanks she did [00:18:11] Zarius Hildebrand: how did that conversation go um she basically just wanted to know what was going on and why and just normal why are you cheating on me questions did you feel guilty yes but you stepped [00:18:29] Speaker 3: you kept talking to Cheyenne I did right why would you do that um [00:18:36] Zarius Hildebrand: because I felt it would have been suspicious if I just stopped talking to her in general so I tried to wind it down slowly that way it looked less suspicious on Cheyenne's end did Cheyenne know you were married I don't believe so no [00:18:54] Speaker 3: okay we're gonna talk more about your snapchat conversations later I want to talk a little more about your phone okay what kind of phone did you have back in August of 2023 I believe it was an iPhone 12 or 13. [00:19:17] Zarius Hildebrand: I can't tell you exactly what model how long had you had it um maybe a year I think I got a new phone when I moved up to the state of Alaska so around a year [00:19:31] Speaker 3: what was your relationship like with your phone Zarius pretty much always on me it's a way to [00:19:36] Zarius Hildebrand: communicate in the army so you kind of have to have it always on you um I just do what everyone else does on their phone instagram tick tock facebook marketplace stuff like that by the time you're [00:19:49] Speaker 3: living in your marketing for department as a where would you keep your phone as a matter of habit when [00:19:55] Zarius Hildebrand: you went to sleep um it would have been right next to me on the ground that's where we charged our phones it was right next to the bed and so it would have been right there [00:20:05] Speaker 3: do you recall your phone had a password yes do you recall anyone else had the password to your phone [00:20:12] Zarius Hildebrand: yes my wife sir i had my password [00:20:19] Speaker 3: your phone was always with you though is that fair to say yeah okay i want to talk a little bit more about some of the things in your apartment did you have firearms in the mockingbird apartment yes ma'am we did what what type of guns did you have um there was a sig [00:20:37] Zarius Hildebrand: six hour handgun and then a glock handgun in there who who owned the glock um it was a friend's he lived in the barracks so i told him he could register the glock to my apartment that way he didn't have to go through the long process of checking his gun in and out of the arms room when he wanted to take it out i don't know who bought the cigs uh i didn't who used the cig um mainly me but sariah was familiar with it she had shot a very similar gun in the national guard and she was comfortable shooting it and carrying it as well [00:21:11] Speaker 3: where would the cig normally be in your home um it would have normally been like slightly under my bed by me did saraya know where the cig was kept yes zaris i want to talk to you a little more now about your 21st birthday yes ma'am [00:22:02] Zarius Hildebrand: were you excited to turn 21 yes why um i could finally stop relying on people to buy alcohol i could finally go into a liquor store and buy my own beer buy my own liquor and i could also buy my own tobacco products [00:22:23] Speaker 3: your memory of august this 20 23 your 21st birthday do you remember everything that happened that day no okay i want to talk to you a little bit about your memories the following days do you remember everything that happened from august 6 23 to august 11 2023 i do not we saw in the course of your this trial we've seen cell phone records for example does your memory work like a cell phone can you remember everything verbatim like a phone no ma'am okay and the time from the morning of august 6 2023 to august 11 2023 you said your memory your memory is not the best of that time why is that um i'm just going through a lot of [00:23:32] Zarius Hildebrand: stress and processing a lot of different emotions and it just all kind of felt like one really long day [00:23:45] Speaker 3: when you look back on those days do they feel real no it kind of felt like i was watching myself [00:23:53] Zarius Hildebrand: like third person almost [00:23:58] Speaker 3: has it been difficult to see what you've seen throughout the course of this trial about those days yeah so let's go back to your 21st birthday on august 5th 2023 what's the first thing you remember on that day um the first thing i remember was uh soraya came home [00:24:22] Zarius Hildebrand: she got a bunch of decorations and stuff and um i was a little upset because i didn't want my 21st birthday to be that big of a deal i didn't really want to decorate for it um and i was a little upset but we moved past it it was nothing to like it was nothing after that after we moved past it was irrelevant [00:24:44] Speaker 3: did anybody that you're friends with come over to your apartment uh yes marie came over later that [00:24:52] Zarius Hildebrand: evening after we went out to eat uh because we all went to dave and buster's together where'd you go to eat uh we went to naruto's it's a ramen sushi place in town and do you remember if you drank there uh yeah i i did have a beer there it was my first official beer being 21. do you remember what that beer was uh i don't know how to pronounce it but it was supporos i believe is how it's pronounced and so you left dinner and went home and marie was there was anyone else there at that point no it was just me marie and soraya my wife and then you said you went to dave and buster's yes ma'am what was dave and buster's like um it was fun we met a couple more people that were going out with us um we really wanted this pickle rick like it was about a three foot tall stuffed animal that we really wanted so like it was my main objective that night [00:25:47] Speaker 3: to get the pickle rick did you drink at dave and buster's i don't remember were you buzzed at dave and buster's at that point yeah i i i had a buzz how much did you drink before you went to dave and buster's [00:26:01] Zarius Hildebrand: um maybe five or six beers where did you go after dave and buster's um after dave and buster's we then went back to our apartment did an outfit change and um waited for a couple other people to come over uh at that point uh if there's three guys there we shotgunned a beer together and then they two uh one of the guys left and then me marie isaac and my wife went to uber to willowa [00:26:39] Speaker 3: had you ever been to the willowa before i had not [00:26:45] Zarius Hildebrand: do you recall what you were drinking at the willowa um yeah initially we were taking shots and then um started drinking trash cans and amfs and amf that has a name yeah amf is abbreviation without saying the [00:27:06] Speaker 3: last word of it what are the first two words um adios mother ever is what the amf stands for are those strong yes [00:27:20] Zarius Hildebrand: how many of those did you have um at least two and i also had at least two trash cans which the trash can and amf are essentially the same drink except for the trash can has a red bull like on top of it and you were doing shots yes before i started drinking mixed drinks we were taking shots how many shots did you do um at least four it was probably more than that though do you remember what time you got to the willowa um no at that point i was in between somewhere in between buzzed and drunk so i didn't really check my phone frequently throughout the night [00:28:06] Speaker 3: do you remember leading to willowa i do not okay mr hilderbrand i'm gonna um we're gonna put on the screen i'm gonna have to turn on the [00:28:32] Speaker ?: to have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen [00:29:05] Speaker 3: and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen [00:29:13] Speaker ?: and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen [00:29:17] Speaker 3: and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen [00:29:18] Speaker 1: and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen [00:29:20] Speaker ?: and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen and i'm gonna have to turn on the screen [00:29:24] Speaker 3: and if you look behind you do you see plaintiff exhibit 297 [00:29:47] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am [00:29:49] Speaker 3: mr hildebrand do you recognize that plaintiff exhibits 297 [00:29:53] Zarius Hildebrand: vaguely [00:29:54] Speaker 3: do you recognize the people in that picture [00:29:58] Zarius Hildebrand: uh i do yeah that's uh sariah my wife [00:30:01] Speaker 3: and who is she with [00:30:04] Zarius Hildebrand: uh she's with me [00:30:05] Speaker 3: and where is that picture taken [00:30:09] Zarius Hildebrand: um i believe that's in the smoking area of willowall [00:30:12] Speaker 3: do you remember taking this picture with sariah [00:30:17] Zarius Hildebrand: kind of this is one of my last memories of the night when this is when the night starts getting spotty [00:30:29] Speaker 3: sargis have you seen pictures of yourself when you're intoxicated before yes can you tell how do you look in this picture um well my eyes are kind of lower [00:30:45] Zarius Hildebrand: um smiling which is i'm smiling which is i'm always smiling when i'm drunk and then um throughout the process of me drinking my hat tends to make its way backwards and that's how i know that i'm how i know that i'm drunk in this picture [00:31:03] Speaker 3: and next i want to talk to you about state's exhibit 298 i recognize the the people in the picture yes [00:31:21] Zarius Hildebrand: who's in that picture um that would be me leaning on my wife's shoulder [00:31:27] Speaker 3: and do you remember this picture i do not do you remember do you know based on your memory do you have any idea where this was taken no but you've seen it in the trial yes how would you describe yourself in this photo um [00:32:00] Zarius Hildebrand: passed out drunk [00:32:10] Speaker 3: i want to talk now about where you live you you said you lived in in an apartment mockingbird on mockingbird drive apartment 13. yes ma'am and you've seen in the course of this trial have you seen plaintiff exhibit 17. [00:32:45] Speaker 4: i have [00:32:48] Speaker 3: and i don't know if we could get a the laser [00:32:59] Speaker 1: that's a spot [00:33:04] Speaker 3: can you show the jury with the laser pointer on the screen where your apartment was in plaintiff exhibit 17. [00:33:15] Zarius Hildebrand: uh yes ma'am it was right about there and where would you walk the dogs um this area right here usually from here and then there's a park over here we would sometimes walk them as well and how many exits [00:33:33] Speaker 3: are there on your side of the building from the building can you show us on the whole building [00:33:39] Zarius Hildebrand: or just on your side of the building um i'd say technically two there's an exit right here [00:33:45] Speaker 3: and then there's another exit right here as well and where's your apartment relative to that um [00:33:53] Zarius Hildebrand: i would send my apartment right here and the exits at this corner okay thank you [00:34:05] Speaker 3: i have another question that's just to clarify clear something up using plaintiff at 335. [00:34:16] Zarius Hildebrand: i have yes do you know who that is yes who's that um that's just someone i went we i went to um i was in the basic training and then ait with as well okay um did you have any reason to suspect any sorts [00:34:32] Speaker 3: of affairs or anything like that with this person no that was one of my friends okay and plaintiff's exhibit 98 [00:34:47] Zarius Hildebrand: do you recognize that yes ma'am what is that um that'd be the glock that i i kept at my apartment for [00:34:54] Speaker 3: my friend thank you i want to talk a little bit about your apartment and where you lived and while i do that i want to talk about the apartment you live specifically the apartment complex yes ma'am and your apartment building and while we do that i would it be helpful for you when we're talking about your apartment to have a diagram of it yes ma'am okay um do you recall the layout of your apartment yes ma'am [00:35:51] Speaker 1: judge if i can approach with you're wanting him to sketch out the layout yes judge you have an easel [00:35:57] Speaker 3: yes judge i think right [00:36:08] Speaker ?: okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay and while i'm working on this do we have the easel that we use for the it's already that's it might be easier than wrestling with that yeah let's get to go [00:36:57] Speaker 1: okay okay [00:37:23] Speaker ?: okay okay okay okay okay okay [00:37:27] Speaker 1: Thank you, Madam Clerk. [00:37:57] Speaker 3: I'm working on this, if you could take your microphone and come into the well. [00:38:11] Zarius Hildebrand: Walk around? Yeah. [00:38:13] Speaker ?: Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. [00:38:39] Speaker 3: Sorry, is there a marker? [00:38:54] Zarius Hildebrand: Yes, ma'am. [00:38:59] Speaker 1: You folks, I'll see. [00:39:04] Speaker 3: Sorry, can you draw the outline of your apartment? [00:39:09] Zarius Hildebrand: Yes, ma'am. [00:39:11] Speaker 3: Starting with the walls. [00:39:14] Zarius Hildebrand: Just the... [00:39:16] Speaker 3: Just the outside, like the box. [00:39:18] Zarius Hildebrand: Okay. [00:39:29] Speaker 3: Can you show... Can you draw where the front door is? Uh, yes, ma'am. And what is to your immediate left when you come in the front door? [00:39:46] Zarius Hildebrand: Um, after you come to the front door, there's a closet right here. Um, there's a little closet, it's just coats and shoes. Where's the kitchen? Um, the kitchen is down a hallway over here in this corner right here. [00:40:07] Speaker ?: Where is the dining room? [00:40:08] Zarius Hildebrand: Um, directly next to the kitchen. That wouldn't really consider a dining room. [00:40:10] Speaker ?: We just had a kitchen table right here. [00:40:11] Speaker 3: Or a dining room table, I would say. Where's the living room? Um, the living room's over here. [00:40:14] Zarius Hildebrand: You want to draw it? Okay. Um, like here. Sorry, the proportions aren't really the best, but I'd say that's the living room. Where was your bedroom? Um, my bedroom would have been over here. Okay. Okay. [00:40:24] Speaker 3: Okay. Okay. [00:40:26] Zarius Hildebrand: Okay. [00:40:27] Speaker ?: Okay. [00:40:28] Zarius Hildebrand: Okay. Okay. Um, like here. Sorry, the proportions aren't really the best, but I'd say that's the living room. Where was your bedroom? Um, my bedroom would have been over here. [00:40:40] Speaker 3: Okay. Okay. Okay. [00:40:43] Zarius Hildebrand: Okay. Okay. Okay. [00:40:46] Speaker ?: Let's put in view. [00:40:51] Zarius Hildebrand: And you have dogs? [00:40:56] Speaker 3: Yes, ma'am. Where was the dog room? [00:40:58] Zarius Hildebrand: Uh, it would have been the second bedroom in the apartment. [00:41:01] Speaker 3: Where was the bathroom? [00:41:11] Zarius Hildebrand: Um, the bathroom was kind of right here. [00:41:15] Speaker ?: Yeah, there's a little hall. [00:41:16] Speaker 3: It had a little closet over here on this side. [00:41:30] Zarius Hildebrand: And then a closet, bigger closet over here on this side. And then the hall led through here. [00:41:37] Speaker 3: Was there a door to the bathroom? [00:41:40] Zarius Hildebrand: Um, a little slider door, I guess, is what you could call it, like accordion style door. That's the best way I could describe it. [00:41:46] Speaker 3: Was there another bathroom door? Yes, ma'am. [00:41:49] Zarius Hildebrand: There was another bathroom door. I'm gonna make, I can't make the bathroom any bigger. Um, but, right here was the other bathroom door. [00:42:02] Speaker 5: Is this the scale? [00:42:03] Zarius Hildebrand: No, not even close. [00:42:05] Speaker 3: Does this reflect your memory of kind of the basic outline of the apartment on the bathroom [00:42:16] Zarius Hildebrand: It's a very basic, yes. While you're there, I want to ask you some questions. [00:42:18] Speaker 3: Yes, ma'am. Mr. Hillbrand, do you want to just step aside for a minute so we can all see some of them? [00:42:36] Speaker 1: Yes, ma'am. Mr. Hillbrand, do you want to step aside for a minute so we can all see some of them? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Hillbrand, do you want to step aside for a minute so we can all see some of them? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Hillbrand. Mr. Hillbrand, do you want to step aside for a minute so we can all see some of them? Yes, ma'am. [00:42:44] Speaker ?: Mr. Hillbrand, do you want to step aside for a minute so we can all see some of them? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Hillbrand, do you want to step aside for a minute so we can all see some of them? Yes, ma'am. I think some of them you're blocking there. There we go. There we go. That's probably better if you're on that side. [00:42:52] Speaker 3: Mr. Hillbrand, can you explain this? Uh, where's the front door again? [00:43:02] Zarius Hildebrand: Uh, this is the front door, 13. [00:43:04] Speaker 3: So when you come in the front door, what do you, what do you normally do? [00:43:08] Zarius Hildebrand: Um, it depends on what's going on. Usually I'll go over here to the living room. I didn't label that. I usually go over to the living room, uh, take my boots off and then, like, start, um, uh, relaxing from the day. [00:43:23] Speaker 3: Is there anything missing from your apartment here? [00:43:26] Zarius Hildebrand: Um, some doors, some furniture, stuff like that. Can you put some doors? [00:43:30] Speaker 3: Uh, yes, ma'am. [00:43:31] Zarius Hildebrand: There's a door to the main bedroom right here and another door to the dog room right here. [00:43:36] Speaker 3: And is there, um, where's the, where's the couch for example? [00:43:44] Zarius Hildebrand: Uh, so we had two couches. There was two couches. There was one right here. [00:43:48] Speaker ?: And then, I'll draw that so it's a little bit better. [00:43:51] Zarius Hildebrand: And then there was another one right here. And where was the bed in the bedroom? [00:44:01] Speaker 3: Um, the bed in the bedroom was on this corner right here. [00:44:06] Zarius Hildebrand: Facing like our feet would have been facing the door. Okay. [00:44:12] Speaker 3: So let's talk about some of the space exhibits that we've seen. Let's talk about the exhibit 61. Yes, ma'am. We're gonna have it displayed up here too. [00:44:27] Zarius Hildebrand: Sorry. [00:44:28] Speaker 3: Do you recognize the state's exhibit 61? Yes, ma'am. Where is it on your map? [00:44:32] Speaker ?: Um, on my map, I would say state's exhibit 61 is. Here. [00:44:38] Zarius Hildebrand: It's like right after you, you walk past the first little tiny closet going into the hallway that leads to the bedrooms and then the bathrooms. The bedrooms being, um, here and then the bathroom being here. Okay. [00:45:07] Speaker 3: And so, um, can you explain the doors that we see? Uh, yes. [00:45:12] Zarius Hildebrand: The door closest to, I'm gonna say the, the, the exhibit number is the dog room. And then the one furthest away on the same wall would have been the bedroom, the main bedroom. And then the one directly across from that is the bathroom door. Okay. [00:45:33] Speaker 3: And then state's exhibit 69. Do you recognize that? [00:45:40] Zarius Hildebrand: Uh, yes, ma'am. I do. This is, um, that little accordion style door I was telling everyone about right here. That is in the bathroom facing the main bedroom. [00:45:58] Speaker 3: And so it's looking into the main bedroom. [00:46:01] Zarius Hildebrand: Yes. [00:46:02] Speaker 3: All right. And so is there a hallway between the main bedroom and the bathroom? [00:46:06] Zarius Hildebrand: Yes, ma'am. That's what, this little line is a hallway. [00:46:09] Speaker 3: And state's exhibit 75. Yes, ma'am. [00:46:16] Zarius Hildebrand: I recognize this. This is a picture taken from our bedroom into the hallway. So the picture would have been taken right here facing this way out the door into the bathroom. Right there. [00:46:33] Speaker 3: Is there a sink in your bathroom hallway? [00:46:37] Zarius Hildebrand: Um, in this hallway there's a sink. There's a little vanity sink, uh, like storage area. Do you want me to draw that? [00:46:44] Speaker 5: Do you want me to draw that? [00:46:45] Zarius Hildebrand: Yes. Uh, sorry. Once again. Um. [00:46:49] Speaker ?: Look at that. [00:46:50] Zarius Hildebrand: Look at that. Sink. [00:46:52] Speaker 3: Can you show again exactly where, how that would look on this map? [00:47:06] Zarius Hildebrand: Yeah. So if you're looking at the picture, the picture is getting took from right here looking this way, but you can also see into the, the, the hallway that leads to the bathroom. And you can see that, you can start to see the vanity sink area, uh, over here. Okay. [00:47:21] Speaker ?: Face exhibit 72. Yes. [00:47:23] Zarius Hildebrand: So if you saw the previous exhibit, that one was facing this way and it feels like this one was just flipped around and now that's facing, essentially that's right after you walk into our bedroom. [00:47:42] Speaker 3: Um, let me see, um, on the, right of the picture, there's a, there's a little dresser [00:47:52] Zarius Hildebrand: style thing with the TV on it. Is that a cube? Uh, it's, yeah, it's cute. It holds like cube storage style for like all the clothes we folded. Yeah. [00:48:02] Speaker 3: Um, if you see where the, the, where the bed, it meets the sheet that's on the wall, right [00:48:22] Zarius Hildebrand: in that area. Yeah, there's charges behind the sheet and that's where we, that's just where we kept them charged and that's where they were. [00:48:30] Speaker 3: Yes, ma'am. [00:48:31] Zarius Hildebrand: Okay. [00:48:32] Speaker ?: And you see in the exhibit of pickle? Yes, that's, uh, pickle rake. [00:48:34] Speaker 3: Uh, we won it the night of my birthday. [00:48:35] Speaker ?: And this is space exhibit 76. [00:48:35] Speaker 3: Yes, ma'am. That's a better picture of the, the, the tiny closet I drew here. [00:48:37] Zarius Hildebrand: And then looking into the hallway that leads to the bathroom, you can see the, the sink vanity area a little bit better. Okay. [00:48:45] Speaker ?: Okay. [00:48:46] Speaker 3: Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. [00:48:50] Speaker ?: And that's a better picture of the, the, the tiny closet I drew here. [00:48:51] Zarius Hildebrand: And then looking into the hallway that leads to the bathroom, you can see the, the sink vanity area a little bit better. [00:49:06] Speaker ?: Yes, ma'am. [00:49:07] Speaker 3: Okay. [00:49:08] Zarius Hildebrand: Okay. [00:49:09] Speaker 3: Thank you. Yes, ma'am. And place exhibit 93. Yes. [00:49:13] Zarius Hildebrand: This is, um, the hallway leading into the living room. As you can see, there's a kitchen table, a kitchen, and then, uh, there's the, the sexual couch I drew right there. And you can start to see, uh, a coffee table. [00:49:29] Speaker 3: And. Is it at 92? [00:49:38] Zarius Hildebrand: It's just a, another picture. It's more centered towards walking into the living room. [00:49:46] Speaker 3: And where's the hallway on the picture? [00:49:49] Zarius Hildebrand: Um, on the picture, sorry, I'm going to, this would have been the hallway. I feel like I'm making this worse, but the hallway. And then there's like another hallway right here that leads in. [00:50:05] Speaker 3: On the picture, can you label the hallway as tile? Uh, yeah. [00:50:12] Zarius Hildebrand: Sure. [00:50:13] Speaker 3: And then the living room was in, in kitchen area with that carpet? Carpet? [00:50:19] Zarius Hildebrand: Yes. [00:50:20] Speaker ?: Carpet. [00:50:21] Speaker 3: Okay. [00:50:22] Zarius Hildebrand: Yeah. And then the living, the kitchen was also like tile. The kitchen was also tile. Okay. [00:50:29] Speaker 3: And is this an accurate, the kitchen of your kitchen? [00:50:38] Zarius Hildebrand: Yes, ma'am. [00:50:39] Speaker 3: Uh, exhibit number? 103. [00:50:41] Zarius Hildebrand: 103. [00:50:42] Speaker 3: And do you see, uh, the fridge, can you point out the fridge in the kitchen? [00:50:53] Zarius Hildebrand: Uh, yeah, the fridge would have been like, in, right at the edge of the, the kitchen. So this would have been the fridge. So this would have been the fridge. [00:51:00] Speaker ?: And we also see that there's kind of a, uh, island, red balloon? [00:51:00] Zarius Hildebrand: Yeah. [00:51:01] Speaker ?: Yeah. Yeah. [00:51:03] Speaker 3: Okay. And on the other side of the kitchen, is this carpet? Yes, ma'am. [00:51:06] Speaker ?: Okay. [00:51:06] Speaker 3: Thank you. Um, I'm gonna leave that there and we can come back to it later. Yes, ma'am. [00:51:09] Speaker 6: If you wanna take a seat. Okay. [00:51:11] Speaker ?: Okay. [00:51:12] Speaker 3: I'm gonna leave that there and we can come back to it later. Yes, ma'am. If you wanna take a seat. Okay. Thank you. Um, I'm gonna leave that there and we can come back to it later. Yes, ma'am. Okay. Thank you. Um, I'm gonna leave that down. We can come back to it later. Yes, ma'am. If you wanna take a seat. Are you leaving that? Do you love? Um, would you, what would you like? Should I? Are you needing it? I'll take it. I'll put it down for now. Thank you. [00:51:50] Speaker ?: Thank you. [00:52:20] Speaker 3: I want to talk a little bit, understanding the outline of your apartment a little better. What was the last thing you remember on your 21st birthday? [00:52:59] Zarius Hildebrand: Um, I remember, like, I wanted to call it a night. I remember, like, leaning on my, on my wife and probably yelling into her ear that I, I wanted to go home. Like, let's, let's leave. Let's go. Do you remember what time it was? I do not. Where were you? Um, we were still at Willow at that point. [00:53:25] Speaker 3: Okay. Okay. [00:53:31] Speaker ?: Okay. [00:53:32] Speaker 3: Sorry, sorry. Where did you wake up on the morning of August 6th, 2023? I woke up in my bed. Okay. And, is that in your apartment? [00:53:54] Speaker ?: Yes, ma'am. Okay. Do you recall where your phone was? [00:53:54] Zarius Hildebrand: No. [00:53:55] Speaker 3: Do you recall where your phone was? No. Do you recall where Saria was? I, she was lying next to me. Do you recall what you were wearing? [00:54:05] Zarius Hildebrand: I knew I was wearing boxers, but no. [00:54:07] Speaker 3: Did you look for your phone when you woke up? I did, that was kind of the first thing I did. [00:54:10] Zarius Hildebrand: How did you feel in the morning? Um, hung over times a hundred. Uh, still a little drunk from the night before. [00:54:14] Speaker 3: How'd your head feel? Um, I felt like it was getting split in two. [00:54:16] Zarius Hildebrand: Where did you look at your house when you woke up? I did, that was kind of the first thing I did. [00:54:18] Speaker 3: How did you feel in the morning? [00:54:20] Zarius Hildebrand: Um, hung over times a hundred. [00:54:22] Speaker ?: Uh, still a little drunk from the night before. How'd your head feel? [00:54:24] Zarius Hildebrand: Um, felt like it was getting split in two. [00:54:28] Speaker 3: Where did you look at your house when you woke up? [00:54:30] Zarius Hildebrand: I did, that was kind of the first thing I did. How did you feel in the morning? Um, hung over times a hundred. [00:54:35] Speaker ?: Uh, still a little drunk from the night before. How'd your head feel? [00:54:41] Speaker 3: Um, felt like it was getting split in two. Did you look for your phone? [00:54:46] Zarius Hildebrand: Yes, ma'am. [00:54:47] Speaker 3: And it wasn't where you normally have it? Yes, ma'am. What did you do next? [00:54:53] Zarius Hildebrand: Um, I began looking for my phone with, by calling myself off of my wife's phone. Okay. [00:55:00] Speaker 3: I'm gonna show you state exhibit 292. Sure. Can I get approached? Yes, ma'am. [00:55:13] Speaker ?: Do you recognize the exhibit 292? Yes, ma'am. I do. What is that a screenshot of? [00:55:19] Speaker 3: Um, that's a screenshot of the two calls I placed to my phone off of Shariah's phone. And where did you go? Did you hear your phone? [00:55:23] Zarius Hildebrand: Oh, I heard it buzzing. [00:55:24] Speaker ?: Oh, I heard it buzzing. But the ringer wasn't on. Okay. So it was on by phone. Yes, ma'am. [00:55:25] Speaker 3: Yes, ma'am. [00:55:26] Speaker ?: I do. [00:55:26] Speaker 3: Yes, ma'am. I do. Yes, ma'am. [00:55:29] Speaker ?: I do. [00:55:30] Speaker 3: What is that a screenshot of? [00:55:31] Zarius Hildebrand: Um, that's a screenshot of the two calls I placed to my phone off of Shariah's phone. And where did you go? [00:55:39] Speaker 3: Did you hear your phone? Oh, I heard it buzzing. But the ringer wasn't on. Okay. So it was on vibrate? Yes, ma'am. [00:55:45] Zarius Hildebrand: And... [00:55:46] Speaker ?: Could you hear where it was coming from? [00:55:46] Zarius Hildebrand: Vaguely. Did you start looking around the apartment for it? Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. [00:55:50] Speaker ?: Oh, I heard it buzzing. [00:55:51] Speaker 3: But the ringer wasn't on. Okay. [00:55:53] Zarius Hildebrand: So it was on vibrate? [00:55:54] Speaker ?: Yes, ma'am. [00:55:55] Speaker 3: And... Could you hear where it was coming from? Vaguely. Did you start looking around the apartment for it? Yes, ma'am. Do you recall where you found it? Not really. [00:56:21] Zarius Hildebrand: It was either in the little hallway that led into our bathroom or on our kitchen table. I don't remember which one exactly. [00:56:29] Speaker 3: Do you recall what you did? Did you find it? Yes, ma'am. [00:56:36] Zarius Hildebrand: I eventually found the phone. [00:56:38] Speaker 3: About what time was that? How long had it been from the time that you woke up and couldn't find your phone to the time that you found your phone? [00:56:49] Zarius Hildebrand: Five, ten minutes. It wasn't long. [00:56:54] Speaker 3: Did you remember what had happened the night before? [00:56:57] Zarius Hildebrand: No, like I said, the last memory I had was around this picture. [00:57:04] Speaker 3: What did you start doing? [00:57:06] Zarius Hildebrand: Typically, after I go out and either pass out or forget what happens, I go through social medias to try to rejog my memory. I check my bank account to see how much damage was done the night before. Stuff like that I did. Because it usually helps me remember what had happened the night before. [00:57:27] Speaker 3: Did you look at your phone after you found it? Yes, ma'am. What did you look at? [00:57:33] Zarius Hildebrand: I remember checking Instagram, Snapchat, and my bank account and stuff like that. What did you find on Snapchat? On Snapchat I found, it tells you when you screenshot a chat and then when someone else screenshots a chat. And I saw that I had screenshotted chats with Cheyenne off my phone and that's when I checked my phone and saw that the screenshots were there. And then saw that they were sent to my wife's phone and saw that they were on her phone as well. [00:58:06] Speaker 3: How many phones did you have in your hand at that time? [00:58:09] Zarius Hildebrand: I had one in each hand. [00:58:13] Speaker 3: And I'm going to approach with what's been marked as States Exhibit 301 through States Exhibit 310. Mr. Hildebrand, do you recognize 301 through 310? Yes, ma'am. [00:58:52] Zarius Hildebrand: I recognize all these. [00:58:53] Speaker 3: What are those? [00:58:55] Zarius Hildebrand: Um, pictures of me cheating with Cheyenne. [00:59:03] Speaker 3: About what time of year are those? [00:59:07] Zarius Hildebrand: Uh, April. April, uh, end of May. [00:59:12] Speaker 3: Of what year? [00:59:14] Zarius Hildebrand: 2023. [00:59:15] Speaker 3: Is that what you saw when you looked at your phone? Yes, ma'am. And did you see those also on Soraya's phone? Yes, ma'am. What did you think when you saw those photos on Soraya's phone? Um. [00:59:32] Zarius Hildebrand: Thought in, oh crap, but in a much more vulgar way. Okay. [00:59:45] Speaker 3: What was going through your head? [00:59:50] Zarius Hildebrand: Uh, oh, oh crap, how can I, how am I going to fix this? [01:00:06] Speaker 3: So what did you do? [01:00:09] Zarius Hildebrand: Um, I went back into the bedroom and I was going to ask my wife about it. And, um, that's when I realized that she was no longer alive. [01:00:22] Speaker 3: Were both of your phones in your hands? [01:00:26] Zarius Hildebrand: I had two phones in one hand and she was like partially covered. I went to uncover her and essentially the first thing I saw was the gunshot wound to the, to my wife's head. [01:00:43] Speaker 3: Did you do CPR? [01:00:44] Zarius Hildebrand: Uh, I did not just because I checked for a pulse once I saw the gunshot wound and didn't feel a pulse. [01:00:58] Speaker 3: What's going on in your head at that time? Um. [01:01:04] Zarius Hildebrand: Um. A lot. Um. Um. [01:01:17] Speaker ?: I just. [01:01:17] Zarius Hildebrand: Was confused. [01:01:18] Speaker ?: Um. This is where the fear started to set in. [01:01:20] Zarius Hildebrand: I was hurt. And I basically didn't know what I was, I didn't know what I was going to do. You supported fear? [01:01:37] Speaker 3: Yes ma'am. [01:01:38] Zarius Hildebrand: And hurt? Yes ma'am. [01:01:40] Speaker ?: Why were you hurt? [01:01:41] Zarius Hildebrand: I had just discovered the, the body of my wife who I loved and that's going to hurt anyone, regardless of, it's just something that hurts. [01:02:08] Speaker ?: Um. [01:02:10] Zarius Hildebrand: Were you shocked? I was confused. [01:02:18] Speaker 3: And you said you felt fear. [01:02:20] Zarius Hildebrand: Yes. [01:02:23] Speaker 3: Had you ever felt a fear like that before? [01:02:27] Zarius Hildebrand: No. Never once. [01:02:30] Speaker 3: What were you afraid of? [01:02:32] Zarius Hildebrand: Um. Um. The first thing I was afraid of is. Having no recollection of the night before. And. Just not knowing what happened. And then. After that is when the fear of just letting. Everyone that I loved down. [01:03:01] Speaker 3: Who were you afraid of letting down? Um. [01:03:03] Zarius Hildebrand: Specifically my, my little brother MJ. [01:03:09] Speaker 3: Why? [01:03:10] Zarius Hildebrand: Um. So. I'm very proud of being adopted. And I'm very proud that I. Essentially got out of a life that wasn't good. And I took a lot of pride in that. And I wanted. [01:03:28] Speaker ?: The people that I. [01:03:30] Zarius Hildebrand: I was just really proud of being adopted. I was proud of my family. And MJ was probably the most. Person. The. Who I was proudest of. Out of my family was my little brother. [01:03:43] Speaker ?: Um. [01:03:45] Zarius Hildebrand: And I just didn't. Want to let him down. [01:03:47] Speaker 3: How did you let him down? [01:03:49] Zarius Hildebrand: Um. I felt like I was his role model. Like he wanted to be like me. [01:03:54] Speaker ?: And. [01:03:55] Zarius Hildebrand: I feel like. I immediately assumed the worst in this situation. As in what was going to happen. Next. I just saw. Someone that. My little brother. Someone that I relied on. He relied on me. Just. Never talking to me again. And just that. The breakage of that such strong connection. I had with him. [01:04:26] Speaker 3: What. Would. [01:04:35] Speaker ?: You're. [01:04:40] Speaker 3: You found your wife deceased. And you're afraid. Why are you afraid, Zarius? [01:05:00] Zarius Hildebrand: I was afraid. Why? [01:05:06] Speaker 3: Yes. [01:05:09] Zarius Hildebrand: Because of what was going to happen. [01:05:12] Speaker 3: What were you afraid was going to happen? [01:05:15] Speaker ?: Um. [01:05:16] Zarius Hildebrand: I was afraid I was going to lose my family. I was afraid that. I was going to. [01:05:23] Speaker ?: Go to jail. [01:05:24] Zarius Hildebrand: For. Something that I had no recollection of. Um. I just. There's so many unknowns. And I. Immediately assumed the worst. And thought that. I just assumed the worst. [01:05:48] Speaker ?: that you were afraid. [01:05:49] Speaker 3: And so you were afraid. That you were going to. That you were going to. Your brother would disown you. Because you went to jail. Yeah. Were you afraid of what he would think? [01:06:07] Zarius Hildebrand: What I would think? [01:06:08] Speaker 3: What MJ would think. [01:06:09] Speaker ?: Yeah. [01:06:09] Zarius Hildebrand: Yeah. [01:06:10] Speaker 3: Were you afraid of what the police would think? Yes. Were you afraid of what your mom would think? [01:06:18] Speaker 6: Yeah. [01:06:19] Speaker ?: Were you afraid of what Meredith would think? Yeah. [01:06:23] Speaker 3: Were you afraid that people would presume the worst? Yeah. Were you afraid that people would presume the worst? Yeah. [01:06:27] Speaker 6: Yeah. [01:06:28] Speaker ?: Were you afraid that people would presume the worst? [01:06:30] Speaker 3: Yeah. Were you afraid that people would presume the worst? Yeah. Yeah. [01:06:34] Speaker ?: What do you do in that fear? [01:06:34] Speaker 3: Um. [01:06:35] Speaker 6: I panic. [01:06:36] Speaker ?: How long? Um. I panic. How long? Um. I panic. How long? Um. I panic. How long? Um. Um. I panic. How long? Um. [01:06:48] Speaker 3: I panic. How long? Um. [01:06:51] Speaker ?: I panic. How long? Um. [01:06:54] Speaker 3: I panic. [01:06:55] Speaker ?: How long? Um. [01:06:57] Zarius Hildebrand: How long? Um. I panic. [01:07:00] Speaker ?: How long? [01:07:01] Speaker 3: How long? How long? [01:07:05] Speaker ?: How long? [01:07:06] Speaker 3: Do you stand by the bed? [01:07:08] Speaker ?: I. [01:07:09] Speaker 6: I don't remember. [01:07:14] Speaker 3: Did you leave the bedroom at any point? Yeah. Did you go to the living room? [01:07:23] Zarius Hildebrand: Yes ma'am. I. After I left the bedroom I ended up sitting on the living room couch. [01:07:29] Speaker 3: And. Did you have the phones with you? [01:07:32] Zarius Hildebrand: Yes ma'am. [01:07:33] Speaker ?: Are you still panicked? Uh. Yes. Afraid? [01:07:37] Speaker 3: Yes ma'am. [01:07:38] Zarius Hildebrand: What do you do with the phones? Um. [01:07:40] Speaker ?: At that point I'm not sure which happened first. [01:07:41] Speaker 3: I deleted the screenshots off both phones. [01:07:42] Zarius Hildebrand: And then I. [01:07:43] Speaker ?: Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. [01:07:47] Zarius Hildebrand: what do you do with the phones um at that point i'm not sure which happened first i deleted the screenshots off both phones and then i um texted her boss from her phone why did you delete the pictures they're just it's shameful and embarrassing and just just seemed like the appropriate thing to do [01:08:31] Speaker 3: were you afraid of what people would see if they saw them think that we saw them i'm going to approach with what's the marked as plaintiff's exhibit 18. saris do you recall what is marked plaintiff's exhibit 18. yes ma'am um what time what what do you [01:09:16] Zarius Hildebrand: recall about that um sending a essentially a call-out text did you send the last message in state's exhibit yes ma'am i sent the message time stamped at 1044. what does it say um it says hey this is sariah i can't make it into work today i went to jimmy's last night and pretty sure i got food poisoning from it so i'm sorry i would have called craig but i do not have his number saved sorry yes ma'am i was sitting on the couch what are you thinking when you said that um [01:09:56] Speaker 3: what are you guilty of when you're sending that um [01:10:10] Zarius Hildebrand: guilty of lying to her boss did you have any idea what to do in that moment besides stall no i at this point i was just trying just stalling was the only thing i could think to do [01:10:42] Speaker 3: and you said that at 10 44. yes ma'am how long have you been awake at this point um two hours and how many of those of of those two hours how long have you known that your wife was deceased [01:11:04] Speaker 4: hour and a half [01:11:12] Speaker 3: and what are you going to call the police and you didn't call the police no [01:11:27] Speaker 5: you didn't call lex no why didn't you do those things [01:11:34] Zarius Hildebrand: um it goes back to the initial fear of the fear of what was going to happen [01:11:53] Speaker 3: were you afraid of being accused yes um i intend to go a little longer i don't know if we have breaks this could be the breaking point [01:12:14] Speaker 1: all right this might be a good breaking point is that what you're saying okay we'll um i anticipate this is going to go for a while so let's take a break here please not discuss the case yet we'll have you back here about 15 minutes right [01:12:32] Speaker 3: sorry before our break you were talking about the text message that you sent um what time did you send that [01:12:40] Zarius Hildebrand: message um i sent that text message at 10 44 on sunday on sunday august 6th uh yes ma'am [01:12:50] Speaker 3: i said previously just a lot of deception and shame guilt dishonesty do you recall what you did after you sent that message [01:13:15] Zarius Hildebrand: and then up into the entrance of the park [01:13:20] Speaker 3: and we have state exhibit 46 can you mark your apartment on state exhibit 46 that's right the whole thing your side of the building z and do you recognize did you do you do you know the path that you would have lost on this is that yes ma'am can you mark that's what you like [01:14:20] Zarius Hildebrand: goes in between the the park line but [01:14:26] Speaker 3: please have you been there before yes ma'am earlier that day yes ma'am and judge i will see both different exhibit d and different exhibit e all right thank you [01:14:46] Speaker 1: any objections there [01:14:59] Speaker 3: sorry what time of day are you taking this walk [01:15:03] Zarius Hildebrand: um this is dark out beginning to get dark out [01:15:15] Speaker 3: what are you thinking while you're walking [01:15:19] Speaker ?: walking [01:15:19] Speaker 3: this path going out the back door to avoid the cameras walking a path into the park and you have your wife with your wife with you what is going through your head [01:15:34] Zarius Hildebrand: um the feelings of shame and anger are getting building up more and more really disrespect is building more and just just feeling so awful about myself what was going on [01:16:06] Speaker 3: did you think that you were in a bad dream [01:16:09] Zarius Hildebrand: yeah the yeah every yeah [01:16:13] Speaker 3: did you wish someone could help you [01:16:16] Zarius Hildebrand: i still felt like there was no one to help me [01:16:24] Speaker 3: did you wish you could make it stop [01:16:30] Zarius Hildebrand: yeah i just wish it was i don't want to say over but i think wish they could make it stop was a better way to put it [01:16:44] Speaker 3: sorry so i'm gonna approach you now with states 49 and 2 30 do you recognize this is a good 49 [01:17:32] Zarius Hildebrand: uh yes ma'am i do [01:17:34] Speaker 3: on states exhibit 49 what is that [01:17:37] Zarius Hildebrand: um that's the access road that led to the cistern and drainage pipe [01:17:50] Speaker 3: is that the road you walked on [01:17:52] Zarius Hildebrand: no ma'am [01:17:54] Speaker 3: it was different [01:17:55] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am [01:17:56] Speaker 3: okay and what is state's exhibit 230 [01:18:04] Zarius Hildebrand: let's state's exhibit 230 is the the cistern [01:18:12] Speaker 3: do you recognize that place [01:18:14] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am [01:18:17] Speaker 3: do you remember going to that place [01:18:19] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am [01:18:21] Speaker 3: do you remember how times you've been to that place [01:18:25] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am [01:18:26] Speaker 3: how many times have you been there [01:18:29] Zarius Hildebrand: two that day [01:18:31] Speaker 3: on august 6th [01:18:33] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am [01:18:35] Speaker 3: do you remember what you did there [01:18:38] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am [01:18:43] Speaker 3: what did you do that [01:18:45] Zarius Hildebrand: um i remember lifting off the cover of the storm drain and then putting my wife's body down the storm drain [01:19:06] Speaker 3: what are your thoughts when you're doing this various [01:19:14] Zarius Hildebrand: more disrespect more self-hatred um i remember i just felt so hollow and empty and just disgusted and just hating what i was doing and hating myself for doing it [01:19:53] Speaker 3: did you do anything else there various [01:19:58] Zarius Hildebrand: i i put the manhole cover back on and then i just left [01:20:04] Speaker 3: did you put pillows down [01:20:06] Zarius Hildebrand: oh yes ma'am i sorry in the trash can there was soiled bedding had blood and stuff like that on it and i put those down the cistern as well [01:20:29] Speaker 3: and when you went there and when you went there you had a plan do you know what else was in your plan [01:20:36] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am um i brought along a a gas tank to i was gonna burn the bedding but i decided not to i just decided to put everything down the cistern [01:21:05] Speaker 3: and then you what did you do next [01:21:08] Zarius Hildebrand: after i put everything down the cistern i put mantle cover back on dropped the trash can off a little further into the woods and at that point it was pretty early into the morning um i showered after returning to my apartment and went to work the next day this is the sixth leading into the seventh [01:21:40] Speaker 3: did you sleep that night [01:21:43] Zarius Hildebrand: no [01:21:47] Speaker 6: i uh [01:22:01] Speaker 3: and how did it feel going to work knowing everything that you had done [01:22:07] Zarius Hildebrand: um i was so overwhelmed that i don't remember anything from work that day i just remember feeling just so alone and like by myself [01:22:33] Speaker 3: i want to take you back a little bit to earlier in august six when you were cleaning the bedroom did you clean the mattress [01:22:50] Speaker 4: yes ma'am [01:22:53] Speaker 3: and what did you do when you were done [01:22:58] Zarius Hildebrand: cleaning the mattress at this point i started drinking started getting drunk [01:23:16] Speaker 3: i'm going to approach with the seats exhibit 166 um it's a picture of a [01:23:40] Zarius Hildebrand: it was a picture of our mattress what direction is it it's facing upside down [01:23:48] Speaker 3: did you turn the mattress over i did when did you do that [01:23:53] Zarius Hildebrand: oh i did that after i cleaned everything up [01:24:07] Speaker 3: after you went to work on august 7th what's the next thing you remember [01:24:13] Zarius Hildebrand: um i remember i remember calling marie and telling her what had happened [01:24:29] Speaker 3: did you call marie or did marie call you [01:24:32] Zarius Hildebrand: i think i asked to i think i used saraya's phone to call marie but okay why would you do that i didn't have marie's information [01:24:51] Speaker 3: and let's talk about some of the decisions and things you did on august 7th did you um did you talk to marie yes ma'am did you tell marie the truth i did not [01:25:15] Speaker 5: why [01:25:18] Zarius Hildebrand: um because at this point i wanted to at this point i wanted to follow what i was already committed to [01:25:42] Speaker 3: and were you scared at this point [01:25:53] Zarius Hildebrand: fear is something that is a constant during this whole experience so yes [01:26:05] Speaker 3: do you recall if you called a missing persons report [01:26:14] Zarius Hildebrand: i didn't [01:26:16] Speaker 3: were you with someone else when they did i was and did you participate in the phone call i did okay and then do you recall if you spoke to a police officer and you provided a missing persons report i did and you didn't ask for help at that time no ma'am [01:26:36] Zarius Hildebrand: do you remember if you called saraya's mom uh yes ma'am after we um after we made the missing persons report is when i decided to call try his mom how did that phone call feel um it once again it felt disrespectful [01:27:05] Speaker 5: why [01:27:05] Zarius Hildebrand: um because i knew that her mom was gonna fly halfway across the country to help with a missing person's case that i knew wasn't missing [01:27:23] Speaker 5: but you made the call anyway but you made the call anyway i did and you didn't tell the truth in that call i did not did you call hospitals eventually did you call jails yes ma'am did you call [01:27:53] Speaker 3: anywhere else [01:27:53] Speaker ?: anywhere else [01:27:56] Zarius Hildebrand: no ma'am [01:28:01] Speaker 3: and how did it feel making those phone calls that's a serious [01:28:24] Zarius Hildebrand: just the same feelings that more dishonesty more disrespect more shame [01:28:33] Speaker 3: felt shame [01:28:35] Zarius Hildebrand: yeah [01:28:41] Speaker 3: did you participate in a search party [01:28:45] Zarius Hildebrand: i did [01:28:50] Speaker 3: how did that feel [01:28:52] Zarius Hildebrand: um it felt incredibly dishonest and disrespectful um essentially my family away from my family and then everyone else involved in my battery showed up and it just felt just just incredibly dishonest like people i consider family were there helping a search party someone that a lot of people that normally aren't emotional were showing me support um they were just showing me a lot of love for what was going on [01:29:43] Speaker 3: did you feel like you were betraying people yeah i [01:29:47] Zarius Hildebrand: felt like i was betraying my gun section my sergeants my just everyone [01:29:57] Speaker 3: but you participated [01:29:58] Zarius Hildebrand: i did [01:30:07] Speaker 3: do you remember when you spoke with detective clark and let him in your apartment [01:30:13] Zarius Hildebrand: vaguely [01:30:20] Speaker 3: did you tell detective clark the truth when you were speaking with him at your apartment [01:30:24] Zarius Hildebrand: i did not [01:30:25] Speaker 3: why not [01:30:28] Zarius Hildebrand: um for one i felt like i still had to stick to what i was committed to and then two um he's a detective so i just didn't feel like telling him the truth [01:31:00] Speaker 3: did you feel did you feel that if you told to take apart the truth [01:31:05] Speaker 1: sustained [01:31:14] Speaker 3: were you afraid of being a suspect [01:31:17] Zarius Hildebrand: yes [01:31:21] Speaker 3: is that why you weren't honest with the tech of clark [01:31:24] Zarius Hildebrand: yes [01:31:35] Speaker 5: and you talked to multiple police [01:31:38] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am [01:31:40] Speaker 3: when you were speaking with them were you afraid that you'd be viewed as a suspect [01:31:43] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am [01:31:44] Speaker 3: and is that why you were not truthful with them [01:31:46] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am [01:32:08] Speaker 3: do you recall going on your social media during this time [01:32:20] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am [01:32:22] Speaker 3: did you post anything about saraya [01:32:24] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am i made a facebook post of a flyer that um either her family made or that i made i don't remember which one but i remember essentially just posting on my facebook and telling everyone to repost it and share it [01:32:37] Speaker 3: how did that feel [01:32:41] Zarius Hildebrand: um misleading disrespectful uh i felt like i was essentially leading the whole world on to something that wasn't the truth [01:33:06] Speaker 3: i want to talk about states exhibit 132 and 133 do you recognize states exhibit 132 and 133 [01:33:27] Speaker ?: yes ma'am [01:33:27] Speaker 3: what what are they [01:33:44] Zarius Hildebrand: um it's a suicide note [01:33:51] Speaker 3: it's a suicide note [01:33:53] Zarius Hildebrand: yeah [01:33:54] Speaker 3: did you write that [01:33:55] Zarius Hildebrand: i did [01:33:56] Speaker 3: do you recall when you wrote that [01:33:59] Zarius Hildebrand: um i want to say it was on the eighth but i i don't remember [01:34:09] Speaker 3: what thoughts were going into your head when you wrote that [01:34:16] Speaker 6: i felt alone i felt like [01:34:30] Zarius Hildebrand: i just felt really alone and i just had nowhere else to go i felt back into a corner [01:34:45] Speaker 5: did you [01:34:46] Speaker ?: did you [01:34:54] Speaker 3: is every fact and that note true zarius [01:34:59] Zarius Hildebrand: i'm not sure there's any facts in this note [01:35:11] Speaker 3: did you talk about soraya in that letter i did is there a reason why where she is is not included in that note [01:35:27] Zarius Hildebrand: yeah part of me was part of me was in denial um [01:35:39] Speaker 6: i thought that even if [01:35:45] Zarius Hildebrand: i knew where she was but i just thought that maybe i would i just felt a lot in denial [01:36:01] Speaker 3: do you remember where you were when you wrote that note [01:36:03] Zarius Hildebrand: yeah i was seen on my couch [01:36:06] Speaker 3: i'm going to say uh approach with what's been in this state's exhibit 136 do you recognize it's about 136 [01:36:29] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am [01:36:30] Speaker 3: is that the couch you were sitting on when you wrote that note [01:36:32] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am [01:36:33] Speaker 3: what's in the couch [01:36:35] Zarius Hildebrand: it's a gun [01:36:37] Speaker 3: is that was that gun next to you when you wrote that suicide note [01:36:41] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am [01:36:44] Speaker 3: but you didn't go through with that why not [01:36:55] Zarius Hildebrand: um and i didn't want to kill myself in my apartment [01:37:05] Speaker 3: did you have a plan about what you would do with your dogs yeah what was your plan [01:37:09] Speaker ?: what was your plan [01:37:09] Zarius Hildebrand: i'm gonna drop him off at a bed cleaning [01:37:18] Speaker 3: do you recall everything that you did between the time that you woke up and found your wife deceased in your bed and the time she was found where you left her i do not i want to talk to you about some of the things we heard in this trial about what you were doing on your phone i want to talk to you about some of the things we heard in this trial about what you were doing on your phone yes ma'am were you at any point in this time looking at pornography on your phone [01:38:05] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am [01:38:06] Speaker 3: why were you doing that [01:38:11] Zarius Hildebrand: i was attempting to find comfort in things that previously provided it for me [01:38:25] Speaker 3: and is pornography something that you had found comfort in in the past [01:38:29] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am [01:38:48] Speaker 3: is alcohol something you found comfort in in the past [01:38:54] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am [01:38:58] Speaker 3: were you drinking in this time period [01:39:00] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am [01:39:03] Speaker 3: why were you drinking [01:39:10] Zarius Hildebrand: i just did not want to be sober [01:39:18] Speaker 3: was the drinking in this time period to you the same as the drinking that you did on your 21st birthday [01:39:27] Zarius Hildebrand: no [01:39:28] Speaker 3: how was it different [01:39:31] Zarius Hildebrand: um the drinking i did to celebrate my 21st birthday was celebratory and this drinking was more to drown [01:39:48] Speaker 3: sorry [01:39:53] Speaker ?: sorry [01:39:53] Speaker 3: where um was saraya's wedding ring on when [01:40:04] Zarius Hildebrand: you found her in the morning it was not where was it um she took all of her rings off before she went to bed they were found they were um they were they would have been in our bathroom the main bathroom with the toilet and the sink and the bathtub in it did you move it or yes [01:40:22] Speaker ?: yes [01:40:22] Speaker 3: why'd you do that [01:40:28] Zarius Hildebrand: i didn't feel like i deserved it didn't feel like i deserved to have the ring in my possession [01:40:34] Speaker 5: so where'd you take it [01:40:36] Zarius Hildebrand: um initially i was gonna give it to her mom but i didn't have a chance um and it i just put both rings in my pocket and it's where they're at [01:41:01] Speaker ?: um [01:41:29] Speaker 3: uh sorry that's all the questions i have for you now um i believe this day i'll have some questions for you as well [01:41:35] Speaker 1: just by the council of new groups [01:41:40] Speaker 7: please rise for the jury [01:41:59] Speaker 1: i can please be seated [01:42:21] Speaker 7: thank you good afternoon mr hildebrand i want to start by talking about soraya you you referred to her as your wife regularly do you mind if i call her by her name uh yeah soraya enjoyed being in the guard i'd say she was indifferent to it okay she liked her job at bread and brew [01:42:46] Zarius Hildebrand: indifferent to it she liked some days didn't like some days [01:42:50] Speaker 7: she had close friends yeah okay murray was one of them yes ma'am she had friends that were close at work yes ma'am okay her and marie went out together regularly yes ma'am they went to the gym together yes ma'am they talked every day yes ma'am um they went paddle boarding kayaking had bonfires yes ma'am okay saraya was planning for her future starting to yeah she had enrolled in school yes ma'am she wanted to be a combat medic [01:43:25] Zarius Hildebrand: i don't think she wanted to be a combat medic but it was a stepping stone towards what she wanted to do which was what an anesthesiologist okay big dreams essentially okay [01:43:37] Speaker 7: um she was generally a happy person okay she had she was close with her mom yes ma'am talked to her daily or every other day yes ma'am um her family had a trip that was planned to come up and visit in just a couple of weeks yes ma'am she was excited about that she was she was planning for things to do with them yes okay and on the night of your birthday and her death your relationship was okay [01:44:09] Zarius Hildebrand: it's good good she [01:44:13] Speaker 7: got decorations for your birthday party she made you a cake out of beer yeah okay um you were angry with her about that no i wasn't angry i was upset okay so she did something nice for you and you were [01:44:28] Zarius Hildebrand: upset about it i think you're taking it out of context i think i already told her that i didn't want a big deal and she made a bigger deal than i wanted it to be okay so you were upset that she got [01:44:39] Speaker 7: you some decorations yes okay but you all worked through that yes ma'am and you went out and you were happy that night okay to put the relationship in context you were newlyweds we married for eight months so okay less than a year yes ma'am okay and you didn't live together before you were married no ma'am okay and you met at basic training yes ma'am and you lived separately after basic training yes ma'am long distance relationship yes ma'am and the only the first time you lived together was when she moved up in february yes ma'am okay and you were already engaged in this online relationship with charlotte by february i don't know well you talked about it starting when you went to the field in february or march yes ma'am or i'm sorry cheyenne cheyenne you would all you were already engaged in this relationship when you went to the field in february yes ma'am after your brand new bride had just moved with you yes ma'am okay um and you continued that through march and april yes ma'am and soraya found out about it she did and she forgave you yes you gave each other your passwords to your phone [01:46:01] Zarius Hildebrand: i already had those she already had those before this but yeah okay um but you didn't stop talking [01:46:05] Speaker 7: to cheyenne i did not okay but she didn't bring it up again until the evening of your birthday i don't know did she bring it up prior to the evening of your birthday no ma'am okay so as far as you're concerned everything and your relationship with soraya was good yes ma'am okay i want to talk about the guns in question um the cig sawyer belonged to you yes okay the and had you gotten that gun recently i had three or four months previously okay you were searching the features of that gun before you went out that day right yes ma'am okay you spent some time online about 350 in the afternoon looking at that gun yes ma'am okay you were looking at other guns that day too i was springfield xd's yes ma'am you were looking at different armories i was okay um and then the glock was a gun you were holding for who just someone i was in the army with you don't know their name um not anymore okay um neither of those guns belonged to soraya no okay um you both went through basic training yes ma'am so you have some familiarity with guns with rifles with primarily in basic you deal [01:47:25] Zarius Hildebrand: with rifles right but you said soraya had shot the um sig sawyer shot a similar sig sour in the national [01:47:34] Speaker 7: guard okay so she had familiarity with handguns yes ma'am okay as did you yes and did you have [01:47:45] Zarius Hildebrand: specialized training with handguns i did not did she i don't know what you consider specialized training but i never qualified with a handgun and she did she did yes okay so i want to talk to you a little bit [01:48:03] Speaker 7: about some of your testimony you were asked probably no fewer than 15 times the emotions you were feeling after you found your wife dead and dumped her body you described deception right yes ma'am you described guilt yes ma'am you described disgust yes ma'am you described shame yes ma'am you described anger at yourself yes ma'am you described betrayal yes ma'am you described fear yes ma'am substantial fear yes ma'am you described stress yes ma'am you described exhaustion yes ma'am in all of the times you were asked you never [01:48:42] Zarius Hildebrand: once said grief did you i did not but i did say loss okay you never said sadness did you said emptiness [01:48:51] Speaker 7: okay um you testified that you went through this elaborate lie of your wife being missing and telling everybody that that she was missing because otherwise people would assume the worst yes ma'am what's the worst [01:49:11] Zarius Hildebrand: the situation i'm in now what is the worst going to jail [01:49:27] Speaker 7: they would assume that you murdered your wife yes okay and you have testified that after you are at willow law essentially you have no memory of the evening yes okay that gun's allowed gun to shoot say again that gun is allowed gun to shoot i mean relatively to a normal person yes okay um [01:49:59] Zarius Hildebrand: what do you mean what do you mean to a normal person um to someone who didn't shoot artillery [01:50:06] Speaker 7: say the sound of the nine mil is loud but and you went to bed next to your wife [01:50:18] Zarius Hildebrand: i can't tell you for sure because i don't remember okay um [01:50:23] Speaker 7: and you have no idea what happened until the next morning yes ma'am despite the neighbor more than you know 80 feet away hearing that weapon okay how do you know sir that she didn't confront you with those instagram and snapchat messages and you didn't put the gun to her head and tell her you were going to kill her how do you know that you didn't pull the trigger i don't okay you don't know no ma'am you want the jury to believe that she did this to herself objection it's not up to me what the jury believes okay despite the fact that she was otherwise happy in your marriage yes yes and planning for her future yes and your future yeah and tried to have a good evening with you on your birthday and had forgiven you for text message infidelity in the past right yeah okay so you don't know that you didn't kill her so can you restate that question you don't know that you didn't kill her [01:51:44] Zarius Hildebrand: i'm not sure i answer that there's a lot of do's and don'ts [01:51:47] Speaker 7: it's just a complicated do you know if you pulled the trigger sir i do not okay that night soraya wasn't drunk i don't remember much from that night okay would you agree that up until the part you can remember she was the least drunk of your group for her or someone else i was with us yeah who's someone else let's be specific uh one of my friends zach okay so her zach were the most sober yes ma'am okay and was soraya taking care of you from what i've been told yeah okay do you recall her helping you to the gas light i do not do you recall her helping you into the uber i do not and into the house i do not okay you kept that gun loaded yes ma'am with a bullet in the chamber i did okay what do you have to do to [01:52:55] Zarius Hildebrand: fire it take the safety off and pull the trigger how do you take the safety off the thumb switch [01:53:05] Speaker 7: and pull the trigger yes ma'am once um so i want to get to because you don't remember anything about her death i want to get to the morning when you wake up okay you were soaked in blood i was not okay you've seen the photographs of the mattress and you were laying in bed with her yes ma'am okay you didn't call 9-1-1 correct you didn't take life-saving measures no i did not okay you didn't run outside and ask for help no you didn't call her mom not you didn't call her best friend no you didn't call her command no you started planning how to protect yourself i wouldn't phrase it that way but okay you started planning how to dispose of her body [01:54:09] Zarius Hildebrand: i started planning on what i was going to do next okay the first thing you did is you went to the [01:54:14] Speaker 7: alaska bush company homepage right i don't remember doing that but were you looking for a potential other alibi or excuse some other thing you could blame her death on i can't tell you what i was what was going through my mind because i don't really remember looking that up you mapped to the castle mega store before you texted her into work yes ma'am why'd you do that i can't really tell you because i don't remember okay um again were you planning some other potential excuse for what had happened for her at that point i hadn't had a plan together okay but you started getting the plan together when you texted her work yes ma'am and you texted nadia jones her immediate manager yes ma'am and you told her that she had food poisoning you texted her as soraya yes ma'am and you told her that she had food poisoning i did and that she wouldn't be into work today yes ma'am and she told you to call craig or message craig believe so okay and you didn't know that soraya had craig's number saved in her phone under a different name did not okay so you didn't call her text craig right okay um what was the first thing you did to clean up her body [01:55:52] Zarius Hildebrand: clean the surrounding areas does that mean the floor clean the surrounding areas in the bedroom [01:55:57] Speaker 7: the floor when did you discover the gun [01:56:03] Zarius Hildebrand: that would have been after i saw that she was my wife was dead with a gunshot wound [01:56:10] Speaker 7: um you didn't say on direct examination where was it do you remember i do not okay so you can't even tell the jury that it was near her cannot was it in the bathroom i don't know was it on the floor i don't know was it on the dining room table i don't know you remember finding her deceased but don't remember where you found the gun yes okay did you clean the gun i don't know well would you have done it right away that morning you just said i don't know so i um so the first thing you did was clean the surrounding areas that means the floor [01:56:52] Zarius Hildebrand: it wasn't the first thing i did but when i started cleaning up around the sound areas was the first [01:56:57] Speaker 7: place i cleaned you moved her body at least twice on the bed right twice yes ma'am okay and but you did the floors first what did you use to do the floors a carpet cleaner okay and was this before or after you went to fred meyers during because i took multiple trips okay after the first time in between the second and third time i believe okay so after you've been to brown jug um yes okay so after you've been to brown jug you don't start cleaning until then yes okay but you deleted the photos on her phone before you went to fred meyers at all yes ma'am okay you deleted the photos on her phone at 11 30. yes ma'am okay and why did you delete those um they're embarrassing is it because they show motive because they're embarrassing okay could they also be a reason that somebody would suspect you of her murder [01:58:13] Zarius Hildebrand: i don't know that's not what you were thinking i was thinking these are embarrassing pictures i wasn't [01:58:20] Speaker 7: thinking that and that's the thought you had before you even started cleaning up the body [01:58:27] Zarius Hildebrand: that's the thought i had after [01:58:39] Speaker 7: so i found her body you thought these photos are embarrassing and they're also something somebody could look at and would say was a motive to kill her right [01:58:57] Zarius Hildebrand: i don't i'm sorry i don't see it as a motive [01:59:09] Speaker 7: well you testified that you know you had to get rid of the body and you couldn't tell anybody because people would assume the worst and the worst is what you said this that you might be in trouble for this yes okay um so you delete the photos at 11 30. you go to fred meyers at 12 26 right right you go to brown jug okay you text your dad and we didn't talk you know miss brewster talked about you know the photo of the alcohol but you told your dad that maybe you had a little too much fun yeah we asked a lot about what's going through your mind what's going through your mind when you tell your dad that maybe you had a little too much fun last night i just drank way too much okay your parents have always been loving and supportive yeah you're proud of being adopted yes proud of how they raised you yes you were connected to them yes your mother has supported you throughout this she has okay you didn't ask your dad for help of course not you told him you had a little too much fun last night yes okay so then after brown jug it sounds like that's when you started cleaning up the surrounding area yes ma'am okay and you did the carpet what else did you clean then the carpet and then after i retrieved the trash can i [02:00:47] Zarius Hildebrand: moved my wife's body into the trash can and started cleaning the bed okay i'm not to the trash can [02:00:51] Speaker 7: quite yet i want to know after brown jug did you pour yourself a drink immediately i don't remember did you did you drink you said you wanted to numb things did you drink while you were cleaning up yes okay because we saw the picture with your dad you sent your dad already had ice in the cup right yes ma'am okay you presume you start drinking then can't say okay so um if you pour yourself a drink where is soraya's body while you're having a sip of that four roses either in the bedroom or in the trash can is it fair to believe that you began drinking when you texted your dad that picture with the ice in the cup [02:01:47] Zarius Hildebrand: i don't know or was that just for show just for show i believe but okay i don't know just making like the [02:01:54] Speaker 7: lie more elaborate i wouldn't consider it that more believable no no it's fair to assume if you put the ice in the cup you mean to pour a drunken drink and you hadn't bought the trash can yet right right so where is soraya's body when you're sitting and sipping on your four roses [02:02:18] Zarius Hildebrand: if i would have sat down and drank it would have been in the bedroom still but i don't remember sitting [02:02:23] Speaker 7: down and drinking the four early okay well you testified on direct that you drank to numb yes when did you drink throughout this whole process okay um so while her body's still on the bed yes ma'am okay and so you clean the floors then describe for the jury with as much detail as you can how you moved her body [02:02:50] Zarius Hildebrand: um i remember i twisted it twisted her body around and then started to manage to get her into the trash can feet first [02:03:13] Speaker 7: how do you get her in feet first did you wheel the trash can all the way into the bedroom or did you carry her out it was wheeled into the bedroom okay how do you get her in feet first where do you grab her i dragged her into the trash can well the trash can's this high right yeah and the beds yeah two or three feet lower so you pull her by the legs yes ma'am okay and put her into the trash can yes ma'am do you have to lift the weight of her body [02:03:44] Zarius Hildebrand: not directly just dragging [02:03:49] Speaker 7: be specific do you lay the trash can was at the end of the bed okay and i dragged her from once i flipped her around i dragged her into the trash can okay did you partially lay the trash can down to do that yes okay and then you threw the bloody sheets and pillows on top of her yes ma'am okay um and then you go to buy a mattress topper yes ma'am okay so you put her body in the trash can immediately after you bought the trash can or do you buy the mattress topper first um i wouldn't say it was immediately [02:04:26] Zarius Hildebrand: after i bought the trash can but in between the purchase of the trash can and the purchase of the [02:04:29] Speaker 7: mattress topper okay so then do you leave her in the trash can in the bedroom while you go to buy the mattress topper yes ma'am okay um so at 10 o'clock you go and you buy the mattress topper you've got no second thoughts about telling anybody at this point second thoughts but i couldn't react to them and you purchase the mattress topper um do you go immediately home after purchasing the mattress topper i believe so okay so it's 10 p.m and the jury can see the steps that you took that night um fair to say you are up moving from 11 p.m all the way till 5 a.m yes ma'am okay um do you put the new sheets do you flip the mattress first or do you take her body to the storm drain first flip the mattress first okay so you flip the mattress and then you take her body to the storm drain um a storm drain that you picked out earlier in the day yes ma'am that you physically went to and saw yes ma'am you knew it would be a good place to dump her i wouldn't say good but yes ma'am what time did you pick that place out um it would have been when i visited bencroft park about one between one and two in the afternoon i don't remember the time exactly but after your first trip to fred meyers yes ma'am before you went to brown jug yes ma'am you looked at waldron park right yes ma'am you looked at bancroft park yes ma'am you also went went to a barber shop or map to a barber shop yes ma'am why'd you do that [02:06:11] Zarius Hildebrand: um i was just my mind was frantic and everywhere and i just came back from the field and needed a [02:06:17] Speaker 7: haircut okay so kind of like you were thinking about like q-tips you were just thinking about your personal hygiene in the middle of taking care of this this problem okay um did you get a haircut that day i did not okay but you went to the barber shop did i go to the barber shop yeah when it when you were looking at the store or around the time you looked at the storm drain i don't think i did okay you just did a map search there yes ma'am okay and then you described how you wheeled her out yes ma'am um is there a ramp leading outside of your apartment right yes ma'am okay um was that difficult it wasn't easy okay well on the access road it's gravel right right um how long did it take you a long time um what time in the night what was it you said it got was getting dark [02:07:27] Zarius Hildebrand: it was dark at the time and it was took all pretty much all night okay and when you got her to the [02:07:35] Speaker 7: storm drain you said you put her in there but you dumped her in there right [02:07:44] Zarius Hildebrand: i think it was a similar similar verbiage okay well it's 15 feet down right you didn't place her [02:07:50] Speaker 7: gently no ma'am okay did you have to pick her up yes ma'am okay so you picked her up out of the trash can and put her in the storm drain no ma'am how did you do it from what i remember i [02:08:06] Zarius Hildebrand: wheeled this the trash can as close to the storm drain as i possibly could and then lifted from the bottom of the trash can to lever it into to lever her into the storm drain okay and she [02:08:23] Speaker 7: fell down there yes ma'am okay 15 feet at least however far it was okay and you was anything left in [02:08:32] Zarius Hildebrand: the trash can i took in the bed sheets out and the pillows out before i dumped my wife into the storm [02:08:43] Speaker 7: drain okay showed and when you dumped soraya in the storm drain you put the pillows and the bed sheets on top of her yes ma'am was that to hide her or just to get rid of this bedding or both [02:09:01] Zarius Hildebrand: initially i was going to burn the bedding which is where the smell from gasoline came from [02:09:06] Speaker 7: but i decided to just put everything down the storm drain okay and you decided not to burn it because fire means smoke right yes ma'am and smoke attracts attention yes ma'am okay so you're conscious enough to be thinking about those kind of things um and you dump them down into the storm drain um there was a pair of gloves did you wear those i did okay those were your gloves one of the pairs i had yeah when did you make the conscious decision to put those on warm throughout the whole process okay and you said you picked the exit that you did because there was no cameras yes ma'am okay you also talked about being like in a state of emotional numbness during that time right yes ma'am okay but you weren't numb enough to not notice the placement [02:10:04] Zarius Hildebrand: of cameras i lived in the apartment complex long enough to know where cameras were okay and you [02:10:11] Speaker 7: actively chose a place that didn't have cameras yes ma'am okay that was conscious thought that's going through your head when you did this yes ma'am okay and you wore the gloves yes ma'am to conceal your identity no because you didn't want to touch it because it was disgusting yes do you get a better grip with gloves not necessarily and then after you dumped soraya down the storm drain um you did some online shopping right i don't remember but that's what my phone record say okay you looked at patagonia yes ma'am looked at some other outdoor gear brands yes ma'am okay you said you showered yes ma'am okay and then you went to work the next day yes ma'am okay do you remember having kind of a lively group chat discussion about whether there would be pt that morning i do not okay did you have pt that morning i don't remember okay but you went to work yes ma'am and you acted like everything was normal i did okay and there was some discussion about whether you called marie or whether she called you but she'd been trying to get a hold of soraya all day right yes ma'am and you had soraya's phone i did and you lied to marie yes ma'am you gave her a thumbs up that everything was good yes ma'am okay um and you told marie a very calculated lie yes ma'am you told marie that soraya left for work yes ma'am she left for work at 10 a.m yes ma'am she was wearing all black she took her purse with her yes ma'am she did she left her phone yes ma'am and you hadn't seen her since yes ma'am and marie was upset right yes ma'am she was upset that you hadn't told her told her that soraya was missing yes ma'am okay and she encouraged you to call the police yes ma'am okay and when you called the police um marie called the police first right yes ma'am and the 911 dispatcher said why are you calling why isn't her husband talking to me yes ma'am okay and then you told them the same calculated lie i did okay that she left for work at 10 a.m right yes ma'am she was wearing all black yes ma'am that she left her phone yes ma'am she had her purse in her wallet with her yes ma'am okay and you said you did that because you wanted to follow what you had already committed to yes ma'am okay and that you were having constant fear at this point yes ma'am fear that you're going to get caught yes ma'am and you participated in a search party yes ma'am um well first you called meredith yes ma'am you told meredith the same calculated lie i did you coordinated her making a flyer yes ma'am you posted that on your social media yes ma'am you participated in a search party yes ma'am you got your command involved yes ma'am you're getting indignant with people on social media when they accuse you of being disingenuous yes ma'am okay and you said during that time you felt dishonest and disrespectful yes ma'am okay that search party went right past the drain right yes ma'am um were you with meredith and britney when they went by the drain i don't know okay do you recall diverting them from that area i don't know do you recall lying to detective clark about trying to put sarai on the other side of the park essentially yes ma'am okay um again because you had to stick to that commitment that you've made to this lie yes ma'am okay um big on commitments right sure okay um you were afraid of being a suspect yes ma'am and you lied to protect yourself and then you talked about writing that suicide note yes ma'am okay and you're calling it a suicide note now i am yes ma'am okay have you told other people that it's not yes ma'am in fact you told your mom that it wasn't i did okay and that call was recorded it was and you know that your jail calls are recorded i do okay i'm going to move at this point to play your discussion with your mom about that note we're going to play from 328 we marking this um what is the states no we'll just play it into the record as long as we put it near the audio while she's setting that up what day did you write that note um somewhere between the seventh and the ninth okay um when you've been asked to move on to the barracks or onto base right yes ma'am okay and you knew that detective clark didn't believe you because of the cell phone didn't believe me for what didn't believe you that soraya had gone missing [02:16:07] Zarius Hildebrand: or did you think he believed you i don't know i can't tell you what i thought he thought but you [02:16:11] Speaker 7: knew the police were investigating i did and you knew they were asking you hard questions i did and those hard questions are things like how did she text into work if you had her phone yes ma'am in fact you even googled on the eighth how to make the shortcut text from an iphone right yes ma'am so that you could again perpetuate that lie with detective lee and detective lb okay um so sometime between the seventh and eighth you wrote that note yes ma'am okay and you were holding the sig sawyer while you did it it it was on my thigh okay and then you tucked it into the couch cushions okay go ahead [02:16:54] Speaker 4: in my apartment they found a note that like if i i didn't understand the best um i just said i end up here um so i'm going to take care of the dogs um and when i put it here i mean i meant um you know not that oh so it looked like a suicide note yeah yeah i put all the clinicians that and um they have to ask me every day for a while they're asking every day if i really don't want to harm [02:17:23] Speaker 7: myself anything i don't know because i didn't um so you told the clinicians in custody that it wasn't a suicide note yes ma'am right because suicide protocols in jail are tough they suck yeah they keep you separate yeah so out of self-interest you said it's not a suicide note that's right but here you're telling the jury that it was a suicide note um i wanted to protect the feelings [02:17:53] Zarius Hildebrand: of my mother i don't think any mother wants to hear that her son's suicidal okay well you also [02:17:57] Speaker 7: want to manipulate the emotions of the jury right do you want the jury to feel sorry for you [02:18:12] Zarius Hildebrand: i want the jury to use no i don't want the jury to feel sorry for me [02:18:24] Speaker 7: it's not their job have you ever told your mom you were going to work your magic on the jury [02:18:30] Zarius Hildebrand: um briefly yes yeah what did you mean by that it's just that i was going to testify [02:18:35] Speaker 7: that you were going to testify and they would feel sorry for you i didn't say that [02:18:41] Zarius Hildebrand: what did you say um based off the conversation it said work my magic which implies that i was just [02:18:47] Speaker 7: going to testify okay i moved to go ahead and play and that conversation with your mom was january 15th [02:18:55] Zarius Hildebrand: do you recall i don't remember the conversation but i've seen the the text okay i'd move to play [02:19:00] Speaker 7: that conversation judge starting at 404. [02:19:07] Speaker 8: lars think you have a good chance if you go to trial nope not really oh so oh okay uh that's if i can get on the fucking stand and tell a testimony until and you know if i can get on the stand and i don't want to say work my magic but yeah i know what you mean make the jury yeah you know they'll feel for you i know i can do what i've been doing my whole life essentially but i don't know if i can do that with this so yeah i know um that's the biggest problem [02:19:39] Speaker 7: sure but how's the video okay so when you said do what i've been doing my whole life talking yeah talking yes talking about your experience in foster care that's something i talk about a lot okay well you said you're really proud of it just because i'm proud of it doesn't not talk it has nothing to do with sariah's murder right what has nothing to do with her murder your experience in foster care or your experience being adopted that experience when you talk about talking to the jury and working your magic you don't know as you sit here today what happened or you want them to believe that you don't know what happened [02:20:33] Zarius Hildebrand: uh as of then i didn't even know if i was testifying or going to trial or not [02:20:38] Speaker 7: but if you were gonna you were gonna work your magic i was going to tell the jury i was gonna i was gonna testify i just want to clear up just a handful of things you don't remember where you found the gun no ma'am you don't recall if you cleaned it or not yes ma'am or did you clean it i don't recall if i cleaned it or not okay you have no memory after you were at willowa no ma'am none sariah was not suicidal she was not she was preparing for her future yes ma'am she was happy in general yes ma'am your relationship was good it was she had overcome you texting cheyenne in the past yes ma'am and you lied to every single person about this up and until this trial yes ma'am and you told your mom that you were going to testify and work your magic yes ma'am okay i think that that's all i have thank you thank you [02:22:04] Speaker 1: return [02:22:14] Speaker ?: so so so so [02:22:36] Speaker 3: zarius have you ever testified before i have not no and when you said work your magic to your mom what did you mean by that [02:22:52] Zarius Hildebrand: just means i was going to testify [02:22:57] Speaker 3: and what does it mean to you to testify [02:23:04] Zarius Hildebrand: to tell the truth on what happened [02:23:21] Speaker 3: are you justifying today for the jury [02:23:25] Zarius Hildebrand: no ma'am who are you justifying for um testifying for myself and tell me about that um regardless of the outcome of the trial i needed to to tell the truth i needed to get the weight off of three years of a lie [02:23:56] Speaker ?: out [02:24:05] Speaker 3: you talked with miss um about um sorry being qualified with a handgun [02:24:10] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am what does being qualified mean um when you go through a range in the army or in the national guard you have to shoot above a certain amount of number to be considered qualified and there's different levels of qualifications okay [02:24:26] Speaker 3: and you were not qualified no ma'am i was not do you know what level of qualifications are i at [02:24:34] Zarius Hildebrand: usually they push for the second level of qualification i don't know what it was i know there's expert marksman and i forget what the other one is but usually when you qualify they want you [02:24:42] Speaker 3: to be somewhere in the middle and is that your ability to um [02:24:50] Zarius Hildebrand: is it like a targeted distance type um i don't know what the pistol qualification looks like but for the rifle qualification you go through different stances reloads and different distances okay [02:25:05] Speaker 3: you talked a little bit about the six hour that was in your apartment did you buy that then did sarai ever use it yes ma'am where did you normally keep it uh right next to the bed was it next to it under it above it slightly under do you as a matter of habit keep the safety on if i was in the house the safety was off but if [02:25:35] Zarius Hildebrand: i thought we were out hiking the safety would have been on why did you keep the safety out in the house um just because i've heard stories of people getting their doors kicked in or getting robbed and they go to shoot the person that's robbing them and they forget to take their safety off and the fear it goes the wrong way [02:26:08] Speaker 3: you talked about not being soaked in the morning i want to talk with with this demo i want to um follow up on that when you woke up what were you wearing just a pair of boxes [02:26:20] Zarius Hildebrand: where were your pants they were in the little entry hallway that goes from our bedroom to the bathroom [02:26:27] Speaker 3: was there anything on your pants yes ma'am what was on your pants urine [02:26:33] Zarius Hildebrand: and was there anything on your boxers they were dark colored but they felt wet [02:26:42] Speaker 3: and do you recall you ever had any blood on you not directly on me no did it when you were cleaning did you get blood on you no ma'am you talked about you talked about you talked about not asking for help why didn't you ask for help [02:27:09] Zarius Hildebrand: i felt like there was no one that could help me [02:27:22] Speaker 3: not even your parents no ma'am and you were close to your parents [02:27:32] Zarius Hildebrand: yeah [02:27:39] Speaker 3: sorry have you ever not asked your parents for help before yes tell me about that [02:27:48] Zarius Hildebrand: um just with like normal stuff you know like i don't want my mom knowing i'm in financial trouble or knowing that i'm getting speeding tickets getting pulled over stuff like that [02:28:02] Speaker 3: is there you say you've ever been in a car accident yes i object to be on the scope [02:28:09] Speaker 1: yes [02:28:19] Speaker ?: yes yes yes yes yes [02:29:19] Speaker 3: i want to talk to you about when you clean the bed do you you've seen the pictures in this case of the bed yes ma'am do you recall if there was anything different before or after [02:29:45] Zarius Hildebrand: um there wasn't the the wooden slap imprints on there [02:29:54] Speaker 3: did the blood stains look the same after you tried to clean them up as they did when they when you first saw them no tell us about that um they smeared and actually in the process got [02:30:07] Zarius Hildebrand: bigger [02:30:32] Speaker 3: we heard you tell your mom the note that you wrote was on suicide note [02:30:35] Zarius Hildebrand: yes ma'am [02:30:40] Speaker 3: is that true what you told your mom [02:30:43] Zarius Hildebrand: is not [02:30:45] Speaker 3: why would you lie to your mom [02:30:47] Zarius Hildebrand: um protect her feelings [02:31:01] Speaker ?: One second. [02:31:31] Speaker 1: Thank you sir, I have no further questions.