The Sasha Samsudean Case: Can’t Trust Anyone

[Orlando, Florida]

Sasha Samsudean (27) was a social media manager for an Orlando Realtor company. She moved into a high end downtown apartment in Orlando and she was excited about independently living her life.

On October 16th 2015, Sasha watched a soccer game with her friends and then celebrated at a club once her favorite team won. After a few hours of dancing, Sasha headed for the exit around 12:30am. Her friend Anthony said he was unsure if she was going home or going to another bar, but he didn’t think anything of her leaving the club because they often would split up and then meet back up. However, she never came back.

The next morning, Sasha had plans to eat breakfast with Anthony, but never showed up. He assumed she was hungover and sleeping, but after multiple hours passed by and she still never replied….Anthony called some of her closest friends to help him check on Sasha. When the trio got to Sasha’s apartment, they discovered her car perfectly parked in the parking deck. Sasha had plans to attend a baby shower that day, but the baby shower gift was still sitting in the car untouched which worried her friends. They went to her apartment door and knocked, but there was no response. Finally, they decided to call the police.

Officers were dispatched to her apartment. The police were accompanied by the apartment’s main security guard, Stephen Duxbury, as they entered her apartment.

When an officer walked into her bedroom, he noticed hair and a hand sticking outside the comforter. The comforter was wrapped around the body, but lifted up just enough to expose strangulation marks on Sasha’s neck. Her bra and shirt were ripped open.

The medical examiner’s report found unknown male DNA on her. Her cause of death was confirmed of strangulation.

CSI and detectives analyzed the crime scene. They discovered Sasha’s purse, phone and key fob were missing. There was also an unusual smell of cleaning supplies and a cabinet of hers containing cleaning supplies that was left open. In the bathroom, investigators found 2 fingerprints under the toilet seat. Seeing as Sasha was a female, it was odd that there were fingerprints under the toilet seat. There was no sign of forced entry or any struggle.

Police asked the security guard for the security cameras that were monitoring the apartment. There were around 15 different cameras, but the camera footage was stored off site and would take time to recover.

The guard said that the night of her disappearance around 3am, he saw her try to enter the apartment. The guard said that he was sweeping the hallways and noticed she was extremely intoxicated and struggling to get to her destination. Her feet were loud as she walk and she stumbled from each side of the hallway. He decided to escort her to her apartment.

She struggled getting into her room because she was drunk so Stephen said that he told her he was going to sweep the hallways and return to help her further. Duxbury explained to police that his shift ended at 6am, so he knew nothing that took place after that time period.

Investigators turned to the video footage inside Sasha’s apartment building for more clues. At 2:06am Sasha appeared on camera running around a corner and quickly climbing up stairs. As the footage continues to play, it showed the security guard, Stephen Duxbury, following behind her.

They reviewed more camera footage and noticed the security guard carrying 2 white trash bags out of the door toward the second floor parking garage at around 6:36am. This contradicts his statement that his shift ended at 6am. The trash bags matched the same style of trash bags inside Sasha’s apartment, white with a red trim. When reviewing Duxbury’s documented security reports, police noticed that he usually never did trash patrol.

Steven Duxbury was taken to police headquarters and agreed to a polygraph test. When he was asked if he ever entered Sasha’s apartment, the needle jumped. He was asked if Sasha was stabbed and he said no. He passed that question. When he was asked if she was choked, the needle jumped again. At one point, Duxbury turned to the lie detector administrator and asks “is my heart rate still high?” His DNA and fingerprints matched.

It was also revealed that after 5am, he searched the internet for how to defeat the digital lock in order to get into Sasha’s apartment. Mr. Duxbury took it upon himself to break into her apartment due to sexual desires while Sasha was passed out drunk.

In November 2017, a jury found Stephen Duxbury guilty of first-degree murder, attempted sexual battery, and burglary. Judge Lisa Munyon sentenced Duxbury to life in prison.