Forensic Transmissions Episode 50: Stephen Duxbury Trial Testimony
This episode presents audio from Nov 14, 2017 in the trial of Stephen Duxbury, 35, who was charged with the first-degree murder, sexual battery and burglary of Sasha Samudean. The 27-year-old was found dead on Saturday, Oct. 17, inside her apartment on Orange Avenue in Orlando, Florida, where Duxbury worked as a security guard. According to the prosecution, Duxbury followed Samsudean into her apartment, raped her, strangled her, then rolled her body in her comforter and covered it in bleach. It was, according to the prosecutor, “a crime of opportunity.”
On the stand is Anthony Roper, 30, a mechanical engineer, a close friend of Sasha Samsudean. Roper recounts the evening he spend with Sasha, the bars they went to, and the amount they drank. Roper admits Sasha had been drinking a lot, but says she did not intend to see anyone after she went home. In fact, he says it was uncharacteristic of her to bring a stranger home. “She never explicitly took a guy home from the bar in front of me,” he says. “She never did that.”
Anthony explains that he tried to reach Sasha the morning after their night out in Orlando but she didn’t pick up. He testifies that he messaged and called her all day before going to her apartment. When she didn’t answer her door, Roper called Orlando police to file a missing person’s report between 7 and 8 p.m. Duxbury was found guilty of murder, and given life without parole.