MURDERED: Sasha Samsudean

place she should have felt safe.

This is the story of Sasha Sampsidene.

It's the morning of Saturday, October 17th, and a guy named Anthony Roper is sitting at

a restaurant waiting for his friend, 27-year-old Sasha Sampsidene.

They were supposed to be meeting for breakfast, as they had done so many times before, to

dish about everything that they had gotten up to the night prior.

You see, they'd gone to an Orlando City soccer club match and then ended up at a nightclub

called The Attic.

And by all accounts, it had been a great night.

But today, she's a no-show.

Right away, he's concerned.

It's not like Sasha to bail on him.

And when his calls and texts go unanswered, he knows something is up.

According to Anthony's interview from an episode of See No Evil titled No Place Like

Home, hours tick by with no word from Sasha.

And before he knows it, too much time has passed.

Anthony reaches out to her close friends, Katie and Megan, to see if either of them

have heard from her.

But they haven't either.

And that's when the alarm bells really start going off for him.

Something is seriously wrong here.

So he, along with Katie and Megan, decide to go to Sasha's apartment to make sure

she's okay.

I'm guessing that going MIA isn't really the norm for Sasha?

which is weird and is making them concerned.

But they know that she is an avid social media user.

And they actually had went and checked her social media, and she hadn't been active

on any of her accounts all day.

So when they finally go to her apartment complex, they spot Sasha's car sitting in the parking

garage.

But they're anything but relieved when they take a look inside her car.

Because through the window, they can see this gift that she had bought for a baby shower

sitting in the back seat.

And they know that that shower happened earlier that day, and Sasha was planning on attending

after breakfast.

So the fact that the gift is still there puts this, like, pit in everyone's stomachs.

So hoping against hope that she was maybe just too hungover or feeling sick, they slip

into her building behind another resident.

Because it's the kind where you, like, have to have your, like, fob or whatever to get

in.

So they slip behind someone else, they go knock on her door, but there is no answer.

And that is really the last straw for them, because right then and there, they call the

Orlando Police Department to report her missing.

Orlando PD sends officers over to her apartment right away, and they're at her front door

that evening by 8 p.m. listening to her friends recount the last time that she was seen.

They say that she left the attic at about 12.30 a.m., and they assumed she was going

home.

The club is less than a mile from her apartment, so her friends weren't all that worried about

her making it home safely.

But the thing to note is, like, Sasha's super social.

Anthony tells the police that she had a lot of friends, so it actually wasn't uncommon

for her to meet up with other people after she left.

Like one group, she'd maybe go hang out with another.

But if she did meet up with anyone else, they have no idea who that would be or when that

happened because none of them had talked to her after she left.

So once officers are, like, all caught up, they agree that her going MIA is concerning.

And the first thing that they want to do is get into her apartment.

So with the help of the apartment complex staff, they are let in.

According to an episode of Lies, Crimes, and Video titled Horror in Apartment 345, when

police open the door, everything looks normal.

Lights are on, living room is tidy, and same goes for the bedroom and bathroom.

At first glance, there aren't any red flags.

But there are a few things that they note, though.

For instance, they see that the toilet seat is raised, which you wouldn't expect for

a young woman living by herself.

But hey, maybe she was cleaning.

You know, who knows?

And they do notice this chemical, bleachy smell in the air.

The only other weird thing is that in the bedroom, her comforter is rolled, kind of

like you would roll up a rug or something.

But that's it.

They start to think that maybe Sasha just stepped out for a second because her purse

and her cell phone aren't there either.

So maybe she'll be back any minute.

It's some dark hair and a hand peeking out of the rolled-up comforter.

And when he takes a closer look, he realizes it's Sasha.

The comforter is positioned in a way where he can just see inside.

And right away, he can see she's deceased, like her arm is bent behind her back.

And there are what looks like strangulation marks on her neck.

So the officers call for backup.

And as they're waiting, they break the news to her friends, who are shocked and

devastated because they can't imagine who would want to hurt Sasha.

She was well-liked by everyone.

She was doing great in her career, which was helping people find their dream home.

And in fact, she had just recently moved to this apartment complex, thinking that

she had found her own dream apartment.

And she hadn't even lived there long enough to make enemies,

not that she would have.

So by all accounts, she was one of those people who truly everyone liked.

It's not too long before crime scene technicians arrive and

start processing her apartment.

And as they're going through, one question sticks out in everyone's minds.

How did whoever killed Sasha get into her apartment in the first place?

Because remember, her apartment was locked.

It's not like the door was busted open.

And more than that, there isn't even a traditional lock on her door.

It's one of those keypad systems.

And she's on the third floor, so

it's unlikely that someone would have gotten through a window or something.

and someone followed her in, as she's opening the door, they pushed their way in.

That's the only third option.

But however this person got in, they're hoping that whoever killed her left

something behind that would identify them.

So between those two things,

they're hopeful that they're gonna have some fingerprints of some kind.

this point, right, because of the toilet seat being up?

I mean, maybe not just for that reason.

Statistically, they think they're looking for a male, but they don't know for sure.

So when they dust for prints, sure enough,

there is a fingerprint on the lid of the toilet.

There are also a few other prints, including one next to her bed, and

they have shoe prints around the apartment that they collect as well.

When investigators uncover Sasha from the comforter,

they find that her murder was even more brutal than they initially thought.

Her shirt and bra are ripped open, and she is nude from the waist down.

They also discover where that strong chemical smell had been coming from.

It was coming from the comforter and Sasha herself,

because whoever killed her poured chemicals directly on Sasha's genitals.

And an autopsy would later reveal just how brutal her murder was.

According to an article by Emily Speck for Click Orlando,

her cause of death is confirmed to be strangulation.

But the ME notes in his report that he had never seen a neck fracture

as severe as this one.

She had defensive wounds.

And even though the ME can't officially say that she was sexually assaulted

because of all of the bleach,

it's obvious that this was a sexually motivated attack.

While police continue to process the scene,

they also start putting together Sasha's last movements

in the hours before her death.

And fortunately, the apartment complex that she lived in

has a security guard at night.

And there are cameras covering all of the entrances and exits,

so they're hoping they can see when she got home,

and more importantly, if anyone was with her or following her or whatever.

But the problem is...

But the problem is the footage is stored off-site.

So getting it is going to take some time.

It's not something they can just, like, go view right in this moment.

So while they wait,

the police interview the security guard that was on duty that night.

The security guard is 33-year-old Stephen Duxbury,

and he tells police that he actually remembers seeing Sasha that night.

According to an article for Spectrum News 13,

Stephen says that when Sasha arrived at the complex,

she didn't have her key fob to get into the building,

and she couldn't use the call box

because the call box would ring to her cell phone,

which she also didn't have with her,

which tracks with police not finding her cell phone

during the search of her apartment.

Now, she seemed, he said, really intoxicated,

and she couldn't verify who she was or even that she lived there.

So he told her, like, I can't just let you in.

But apparently, while he was distracted,

Sasha had slipped into the building behind another tenant.

And at some point, he, like, saw her do this.

So he says he went after her, and when he found her,

he says that she was walking around the building,

just, like, stumbling and bumping into the walls.

And he says that he told her, like,

look, you either need to get into your apartment

if you really live here or you need to go.

You can't just, like, wander the halls.

And that's when she's like, oh, OK, I have an idea.

I'm going to go to the parking garage

because maybe my keys are in my car.

But again, just a side note,

her keys couldn't actually open her front door.

Remember, it just has that keypad.

But when she tries to do the keypad,

the problem is she can't remember the code.

So I think her going to get her keys

was probably just, like, drunk logic

in her mind at this point.

But anyways, she asked Steven to, like,

walk her to her car, and he agrees.

But just as they got to the parking garage,

she said, oh, I remember my code now.

So the two of them go back to the building,

and they head over to Sasha's apartment.

But by the time they get there, she can't punch in her code.

She was just kind of clumsily struggling to punch it in.

And by that point, Steven says he needed

to go make his rounds around the building.

But before he left, he's like, listen,

I'm going to let you keep trying,

but if you're not in your apartment by the time I get back,

we got to figure something else out.

So he assumed that she finally was able

to punch in her code, she remembered it or whatever,

and she got in.

But he also says that may have not been

the last time he saw Sasha, because he tells police

that a little after three in the morning,

he saw a woman that he thought looked a lot like her

kind of canoodling with this guy in the hallway.

Now, he didn't get a great look at this girl.

He says he wasn't staring at this couple.

And the woman he saw may have been wearing different clothes

than what he remembers Sasha wearing,

but he assumed that both of these people lived there,

so he didn't even bother approaching them.

And that was pretty much all the security guard

had to offer.

So after his interview, they shift their focus

to tracking down who that guy in the hallway

or who this couple could have been if it wasn't Sasha,

because maybe even if it's not her,

maybe they saw something, or if it was her,

they definitely need to talk to this guy.

Now, since they're still waiting on the security footage,

they turn to the public to help find this man

and help fill in some gaps.

Again, they want to know who this guy was,

if anyone else saw her that night.

And according to an article published for WFTV9,

police pass out flyers on Tuesday

and ask people to come forward with information.

And that works.

Two women contact police and say that on Friday night,

as they were walking,

they saw Sasha stumbling down the road by herself

with some car, like, full of guys

trying to get her attention.

And they say that they could tell

that she seemed super intoxicated,

which made them super nervous.

So they decided to get an Uber

and make sure that she got home safe.

I love it too.

And they were right to be concerned

because they say that Sasha couldn't remember

even the name of her complex.

Now, granted, I said she had moved there recently,

but, like, she was intoxicated.

But she was able to tell them

that she knew she lived close by.

And sure enough, when their Uber stopped

at this random red light,

it happened to be, like, the corner by her complex.

So she's like, oh, okay, this is it.

This is where I live.

And the girls even get out with her.

They walk her to the door,

and that's where they left her to go inside by herself.

weren't more concerned about her.

I mean, we have a strict crime junkie,

you come together, you leave together rule,

which I think is especially important

if she's so intoxicated,

she doesn't remember where she lives.

I mean, at the top, you said they were like,

oh, yeah, she left, like, 1230.

She's only a mile from her apartment.

No biggie.

I'm sorry, no, that's a huge biggie

when your friend is this wasted.

I had the same kind of thought.

As far as I can tell,

at least from all of the source material I have,

like, her friends haven't addressed this.

But to be fair,

they could have been just as intoxicated as she was.

Though I agree, she shouldn't have been left

to fend for herself.

And I think that's a crime junkie rule we stand by.

You come together, you leave together.

You gotta watch out for one another.

So to go back to these people she's with now,

so they leave her at the door.

And even though these girls were able to give police

some more context for the evening,

they don't have any other useful information.

So they end up kind of being a dead end, right?

Because they already know she made it to her apartment

and there was nothing significant

from the time they got her in the Uber

to when they dropped her off.

But police don't have to wait long for a new lead

because it's around this time

that they're finally able to view the security footage.

And first things first,

they want to confirm Stephen's account of the night

since as of now, he's the last person to see her alive.

I was like, well, he did it.

Yeah, everyone's favorite true crime trope

is the husband did it,

but personally, mine's the security guard did it.

And like, listen, don't get me wrong.

Security guards are doing great work out there.

They're preventing people from being on our show.

So we don't get to highlight those.

We just get to highlight the worst case scenarios,

but listen, I had the same thought and I feel you.

Though seemingly this might be the exception

to our little rule

because it seems like the footage backs up his account.

The first time Sasha is caught on tape

is at 1.46 in the morning

and you can see her walk into the complex.

And then about 20 minutes later,

another camera captures her running up a flight of stairs

in the stairwell.

Like when you watch the footage,

it doesn't look like she's running from anyone.

She's just kind of like,

just like casually jogging up the stairs.

Also in my youth,

when I got more drunk than I safely should have,

for some reason, I was like always trying to run.

I don't know what was wrong with me, but like-

I don't even think she was running.

Running is probably the wrong word.

She's like jogging up the stairs.

Okay, got it.

Anyways, running, jogging, whatever.

That's not the interesting part.

She's being followed.

Unsurprisingly though,

Steven is seen following her shortly after.

He is following her to the parking garage,

just like chatting and even laughing with her,

like as they walk.

So this is the stairwell to the garage,

which he said like, I went with her.

So, so far everything is checking out,

but what they're really looking for on this footage

is who is this mystery man

that Steven says he saw her with later,

like sometime after three?

in an episode of Murdered by Morning

titled Under a Watchful Eye, she was single,

but I mean, this girl was beautiful.

She was friendly.

She had a large social circle.

She had some exes.

I know that they found out.

Police did end up tracking them down.

They even brought two of them in.

I think they brought in her most recent ex

and then like a former boyfriend

that she had actually started talking to again lately,

but they both were like, wasn't ever there.

Like, that's definitely not me.

If she's with someone on footage or whatever,

and they were even both able to give a DNA sample

with no problems.

They're like, take it.

I have nothing to do with this.

I assume because of the bleach at the scene,

there wouldn't be any DNA to be able to match against.

You see, it took a few days

to process all the evidence from her apartment,

but during her autopsy,

the medical examiner did find foreign DNA

on one of Sasha's breasts.

So they have some pretty rock solid evidence to use

to rule people in or out.

And they did, they run the DNA on these two like exes

and they had nothing to do with it.

So remember how Sasha didn't have her phone with her

when she got home that night?

and what they find on that reveals

the last person to have contact with her

actually wasn't the security guard at 146.

Text messages show that it was someone named Ben

who was talking to her around 5 a.m.

So Britt, I have the interaction.

I'm gonna have you read Ben's lines and I'll read Sasha's.

I'm at a party, come over.

I'll pay for your Uber, let me know.

Ben.

That last text, the one that she sent saying his name

was at 5.12 a.m.

So police are thinking that she was probably still alive then

and they should look for her or Ben on that security footage.

Maybe he's that 3 a.m. guy.

I mean, those texts are so weird.

To me, anyone could have sent them.

Like nothing in the material explains

why they assume it was her.

Maybe because Sasha and Ben have a history.

I'm also like assuming she's still pretty intoxicated

at this time.

Maybe there could have been a,

like they don't have her phone,

so I don't know how they would know this,

but maybe there's like a code on her phone or whatever.

But for whatever reason, all I know is that

they felt confident that she sent those texts at that time.

So anyways, they go back to the apartment security footage

to see if there's any sign of Ben

before or after the 5 a.m. hour.

And officers are watching the footage closely,

but there's no sign of Sasha or Ben.

But just when they're sure they've got nothing once again,

they see something that they didn't notice before.

On the security footage, at 6.36 a.m.,

security guard Steven is seen exiting the building

into the second floor of the parking garage

with two trash bags in hand.

And then just a couple of minutes later,

he comes back, sands trash bags,

and then he's seen ending his shift

and leaving the property at 6.39 a.m.

Now listen, this wouldn't be a big deal on its own,

but according to a segment of Primetime Justice

with Ashley Banfield for CNN,

Steven was MIA on the camera footage

for over an hour before that.

And then he just like mysteriously appears with trash bags.

And by the way, taking out the trash is not part of his gig,

not to mention that his shift ended at 6 a.m.

And so weird, he didn't report any overtime

that day to his supervisor.

but when they take a closer look

at the type of trash bags that he's seen carrying,

police can't help but notice

that they match the same white bag with red handle

that Sasha kept in her apartment.

Now, naturally, the first thing they do

is they confront Steven about this,

but he says he has an explanation.

He's like, I was just being a good person

and taking out some trash left in the hallway.

The only problem with that is

when police look at Steven's security logs,

they can see that he has this pattern.

Like, he logs anytime there is trash in the hallway,

but what he doesn't have a habit of

is picking up that trash.

Basically, if trash is left out,

Steven notes it in the log,

and then he writes up the tenant.

So tonight, of all nights,

he decides that it's time to take it out for them,

not to mention he doesn't make any note

of this trash even existing

in his security log of the night.

So they ask him to come to the station for another interview

and the pressure is on this time.

They question him about the logs

and his reasoning for not logging the trash

or his overtime,