The story of Abby Hill, a 31-year-old White female from Alpena, Michigan, is a tragic narrative woven into a darker web of violence that shook the quiet northern community in the late summer and early autumn of 2021. Her life came to a brutal end on September 25, 2021, when she became the second victim in a chain of events that began with the disappearance of a local teenager. Hill, who was known to be in a relationship with Brad Srebnik, found herself entangled in a grim secret that would ultimately cost her life.
In August 2021, weeks before her own death, Hill was implicated in the disappearance of 17-year-old Brynn Bills. Authorities later revealed that Hill had picked up the teenager in the early morning hours, delivering her to Srebnik. Bills was subsequently strangled to death by Srebnik, and her body was buried in the backyard of Joshua Wirgau, a friend and associate of Srebnik. Hill, along with Wirgau and Srebnik, participated in burying the teen’s body, a secret that weighed heavily on the group as investigators began to close in. By September, the pressure was mounting. Hill had been arrested on an unrelated warrant and questioned by police, and although she was released, her knowledge of the murder made her a liability to her accomplices.
Fearing that she would cooperate with authorities and reveal the location of the teenager's remains, Srebnik and Wirgau devised a plan to silence her permanently. On September 25, the three drove to a remote, wooded area in Alpena Township under the guise of camping or spending time together. It was there, amidst the isolation of the forest, that Srebnik executed Hill with a single gunshot to the back of the head. They left her body at the scene, where it would remain undiscovered for weeks while police continued their desperate search for both women.
Her remains were finally located on October 15, 2021, bringing a grim sense of closure to the search but igniting a complex homicide investigation. The discoveries of both bodies led to the arrest of Brad Srebnik and Joshua Wirgau, who were initially held on weapons charges and an unrelated hijacking case while prosecutors built their murder case. The investigation relied heavily on digital forensics and the eventual cooperation of Wirgau, who decided to testify against his former friend.
In the legal proceedings that followed, Joshua Wirgau struck a plea deal with the prosecution. In November 2023, he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, disinterment and mutilation of a dead body, and accessory after the fact. As part of his agreement to testify truthfully about the events of that summer, he was sentenced to serve between 15 and 30 years in prison. His testimony provided crucial details about the timeline of the murders and the specific actions of Srebnik in both killings.
Brad Srebnik faced a jury trial in early 2024, charged with two counts of first-degree premeditated murder for the deaths of both Abby Hill and Brynn Bills, along with additional charges for weapon possession and disinterment of a body. The prosecution painted a picture of a cold-blooded killer who murdered a teenager and then killed his own girlfriend to cover his tracks. In February 2024, the jury returned a guilty verdict on all counts. The following month, Srebnik was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, ensuring he would never return to the community he had scarred with violence.
