True Crime with Kimbyr - Lights, Camera, MURDER! Actress Found Dead in Basement - Part 1

Episode Date: July 11, 2024

In this gripping episode of True Crime with Kimbyr, we delve into the life of Alexandra Ducsay. With a flourishing career in acting and music, and a bright future ahead, Alexandra's journey was filled with promise until she reached her tragic demise. Join us on a 3-part journey as we uncover the details of her case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My name is Kimberlea. If you've never been here before, it's nice to finally meet you. I get to introduce you to the ambitious, beautiful, and warm-hearted young woman named Alexandra Marie Duchet. I know there are a few ways, or at least a couple ways, to pronounce Alexandra. You can say it the way I just did or Alexandra, but I listened to the way that Alexandra herself preferred to be pronounced. Hi, I'm Zandra. And I'm going with Alexandra. Actually, she was known as Zondra or Zan by her family and friends. She was born on December 9th of 1979 in New Haven, Connecticut, and Zondra grew up in Milford,

Connecticut, which is a city right smack tab in the middle of New Haven and Bridgeport. It's right by the sea and only an hour away from New York. Milford has a lot of sleepy residential neighborhoods and is a great area to raise your kids. I feel like I'm always saying this. The Milford in particular has a highly rated school district for teachers and students, and it's a very pretty community. It offers a charming blend of history and coastal living. It has a walkable historical district with well-preserved 18th and 19th century New England-style homes, which I think are absolutely gorgeous. Let me tell you a little about Zondra's parents,

Linda Taranova Duchet, and John Duchet. Linda grew up in Boston with her six siblings, received her master's degree and taught English at a middle school. John was from Orlando, Florida, and worked in financial services. They got married in May of 1974 in Fairfield, Connecticut, and welcomed Zondra's older brother, Eric, in 1976, and her other older brother, Matthew, in 1978. When Zondra was born, she was the only girl, and she and Linda had a very special bond. Also being the youngest, her brothers took her under their wing, but because they were also close in age, the kids grew up playing sports together, going to the beach, eating Linda's home-cooked meals, and climbing the huge tree outside their home at three Booth Bay Street in Milford.

It's a four-bedroom, two-bath home, and Linda made sure to keep it tidy and stylish. Eventually, the basement would become Zondra's own bedroom, gym, and hangout area. All the kids were super active, and Zondra did gymnastics and dance, and in middle school, she did gymnastics with her best friend Danielle. Zondra told Danielle that one day she wanted to be a famous actress and singer. And though the girls did drift apart over the years, Danielle looked up to Zondra. Many people did, and it's hard not to because she is so ambitious and determined in whatever she put her mind to. Zondra was a true overachiever and she stopped at nothing to make her dreams a reality. All throughout her childhood, Zondra participated in dance, but

But this was more than just a hobby. She was a very talented dancer. And as she got older, she entered many contests and brought home a number of trophies. She dedicated countless hours to perfecting her craft. But she had ambitions that went well beyond the dance floor. She went to Jonathan Law High School where she did choir and dance competitions. Her passion was hip-hop dance and tap. She also got a part-time job working for People's United Bank and met her first

serious boyfriend Matthew when she was a teenager. Actually, she was about 16. I know she has a brother named Matthew, and that can be confusing in these kind of stories. So I'm calling her brother, Matthew, and I'm going to refer to her boyfriend as Matt. Matt swept her off of her feet. They could make each other laugh like nobody else, and they shared a love for working out and working hard in their careers. After graduating high school, Zondra stayed close to home, and she went to out Alberta's Magnus College in New Haven. She continued to work at People's Bank, working up the chain until she graduated Magna Cum laude and received all A's in each one of her classes. She was a very hard worker, and once she had her bachelor's degree, she was able to follow in her dad's financial

footsteps, and she became a systems analyst at the bank. She reviewed bank transactions and managed the technology systems, which honestly sounds kind of complicated. I'm so bad at math. I know I would not be good at it, but I was very impressed. Zondra worked at the bank for almost 10 years. She also got licensed as a real estate agent, and I know by looking into this that it takes at least 60 hours of classes, if not more, and on top of all that, Zondra was singing, dancing, entertaining, modeling, and acting. She was busy, but it didn't end there. At 23 years old, Zondra became an assistant teacher at Gigi's Dance Academy. a school that teaches salsa, hip-hop, gymnastics, tap, lyrical, and ballet.

The owner was one of her cousins, and she said that Zondra was the best hip-hop dancer she had ever seen. The name Zondra is a Spanish word for warrior, and that is the spirit this woman embodied. She was a natural at working with children as well. After years of participating in dance competitions, she was always thinking of new and exciting ways to choreographed dance routines. She was like a big sister to all the girls at the studio. Her coworker Stacy said that she admired Zondra so much. She said, quote, she's the most ambitious, passionate, and confident person I've ever been blessed to know.

She was a genuinely loving, caring, and beautiful person, end quote. Zondra was extroverted and loved to network. When she was invited to a party, she was the first person there and the last person to leave. No matter how well she knew the host or not by the end of the night, She would know everyone and everyone would notice her. She was an entertainer.

She performed in music videos and did line dancing at New York events. At 26, she was working with a producer in Atlanta, Georgia to create demos for a music album. She had a talent for songwriting and a memorable, beautiful voice. Every Sunday, she sang in the Good News gospel choir and attributed all of her success to her faith. Zondra's music career was just starting to take off, and so was. her acting. She was part of the Screen Actors Guild and had an agent in New York City who helped her land audition after audition. She took a train, an hour, to New York to audition for minor TV roles, and she finally ended up landing a gig on Law & Order. She was one of those single episode

characters that just stole the show. The Duchets were so excited that Zondra had gotten the part. And knowing how dedicated she was, it was only a matter of time before she became famous. Everyone around her had no doubt about it. She was moving up in the world. She also had speaking roles in a couple short films. One was called The Answering Machine and another was called introducing Zoe Harris. With all of this going on, Zondra really didn't have much time for romantic relationships. She dated Matt for six years, but after they parted ways in January of 2004, Zondra was back focusing on her work, but they remain on good terms and they would talk every now and again. Zondra didn't want the breakup to get in the way of her life or their friendship.

Besides, a lot was going on in Zondra's household around the same time. Her parents, Linda and John, had separated, and John moved back to Orlando to be closer to his elderly mother. And Zondra's brothers, Eric and Matthew had moved out years ago. Eric was married to a woman named Stephanie and they had two children together. And Matthew had moved nearby in Wallingford. Zondra was still living at home with Linda. and as I had mentioned, she had the entire finished basement level to herself. Zondra could focus on all of her artistic endeavors without having to worry about rent.

It was a very spacious area for Zondra to enjoy with friends. Right when you come down the stairs, there's a round table and chairs in a shelving unit where Zondra kept all of her trophies. They were lined up in a row proudly on display. Then further into this basement, there was a little workout area with a treadmill, as well as the sitting area that included a couch and then it had a basement bedroom. It was the perfect place for Zondra and her big, lovable dog Zina. She'd recently taken up piano and she was also busy with her charities.

She was such a giver. She devoted her life to helping other people. When she graduated college, she began an organization called Zondra's Kids, where she collected toys, clothing, and presents at Christmastime. And she would wrap these gifts for her. children whose parents could not afford a Christmas. On Christmas Eve, she would load everything into a huge truck and then drive around dropping off the presents to these families in person. But more recently, Zondra was organizing a soup kitchen where she hoped to turn it into an annual

event. There were home videos of Zondra wrapping, packing, and happily distributing all of these gifts to underprivileged families in need. Things were going great in Zondra's life, but if it had kept going that way, we wouldn't be. here discussing her death. And sadly, everything changed on May 19th of 2006. It was a Friday, and Zondra met up with her best friend Nicole Williamson at the gym in Stratford called Bailey's Health and Fitness, about a 10-minute drive from her home. She and Nicole did a fitness class from 1015 to about 1115, and then they caught up on their plans for the rest of the day. Zondra told Nicole she was going to stay a little longer at the gym, and then she'd go home for lunch, get a facial, and then

she had plans that evening. Nicole left Zondra at the gym where she worked out for another 30 minutes or so and then headed home. When Nicole didn't know was that was the last time she would ever see her best friend alive. At 4 p.m., Nicole called Zondra with a question, but the phone went straight to voicemail. She wasn't concerned because Zondra always had her phone on her, but she didn't always pick up on the first try. She figured she would just call her back later. That day, Zondra's mother left work, pulled into the driveway of their booth-based street home at at 430 and as soon as she saw the house, she knew that something wasn't right. Zondra's white Mitsubishi 3,000 GT was in the driveway, but the front gate of the house was wide open and her dog,

Zena was sitting in the yard, just wagging her tail. For some reason, Zena had stayed in the yard, but she was unleashed and Zondra being a responsible pet owner would not have just left her dog out there. So this was very out of character for Zondra. Linda went inside. and began calling out Zondra's name, heading towards her basement level bedroom. Linda walked down the narrow carpeted basement stairs into that dark room, and that is when she got the first sight

that something was definitely not okay. To Linda's right was the stairs wooden banister, and close to the ground were several red stains and droplets that looked like blood running right down the wood paneling. Where the staircase ended, there was a right turn, where the table and chairs that I showed you earlier were located. But before she even made it that far, Linda saw a bright red smear on the baseboards of the radiator that was at the bottom part of the wall in front of her. There was no

question. That was blood. Her heart sank when she turned the sharp corner and saw Zondra's feet wearing her white socks and then her legs wearing blue jeans and a white shirt. She was lying on her back right underneath the table in a very odd position with her arms outstretched. Her top was pulled up a bit showing her bra. Linda's first thought was that Zondra must have somehow fallen and then hit her head on the radiator, which appeared to be broken. Linda called to her daughter again, but she didn't respond. And that's when Linda took a closer look and realized that Zondra was lying in the middle of a very bloody scene. The room was covered in blood and Zondra was lying on top of a large pool of it. This wasn't a fall. It was far worse. There was with a

I hate too much blood for this to have been an accident. At first, Linda couldn't figure out what happened. She said that her mind was split in two. That one part of her saw her daughter, as stiff as a board. Her long hair caked in blood, and she knew she was dead. But then there was this other part of Linda that was in denial. She thought that maybe Zondra was just unconscious. She had hit her head and she was going to be okay.

But again, as Linda got closer, that is when the next image she gets of her daughter burned into her brain forever. Zandra was unrecognizable. Linda knew it was her daughter, but what she was staring at did not appear to be a human being from the looks of the damage. Linda frantically called 911,

and I do have a portion of this call, and I have to warn you, it is very hard to listen to. Linda was just screaming into the phone. She's trying to describe what she's seeing in that moment. Let's listen now. I know that's hard to understand.

It's hard to know exactly what Linda is saying, But at first, it's just her screaming in horror and in shock and disbelief that her daughter is dead. She explains there's so much blood and she tells the operator that her daughter's whole face is gone. Her head is caved in and she says, my daughter is dead. The call itself is gut-wrenching. It's absolutely terrifying and I cannot imagine the pure fear and realization of what Linda was looking at. There are so many emotions going through a person. when they witnessed such a horrific scene, especially someone they love.

Someone had bludgeoned her daughter's face with so much force. Her head was caved in, and she was no longer recognizable. The man on the other end of the phone asked Linda to hang on, and he gets as much information as possible, including the address where they're located. As a mother myself, I cannot even begin to imagine how much pain this woman was in. That call affected me and every time I listen to it, I'm sitting there imagining and I can just feel that horror and disbelief. The dispatcher contacted the fire department and several members of the Milford Police Department, including officers Cable, Chacon, Frith, and Broderick came to the scene. When they arrived, Linda was outside. She was hysterical, but she directed them to the basement.

A fireman pronounced Sandra dead upon arrival. The damage that was inflicted on this woman was not compatible with human life. The officers immediately knew that Zandra had been murdered, that she was a homicide victim and they called for backup. Detective Frank Gall came to the scene and photographed and videotaped everything. Sergeant Stephen Weidra was put in charge of the homicide investigation. And the Connecticut State Police were also involved in processing all the evidence. This crime scene was intense.

I have some of the footage from the video and I have some of the crime scene photos. Sergeant Weidra said that this was the worst crime scene he'd witnessed in all 27 years he had been doing this. The officers found a young woman lying face up on the carpeted floor of the finished basement. The carpet had soaked up a large amount of blood. There was blood sputter all over the floor and overturned chair on the left and the wooden dresser to the right. On this dressers where Zondra kept more than two dozen trophies and ribbons that she had won, lined up in a perfect row. They were now covered with blood spatter. This is probably one of the worst, and I know I said this before, but one of the worst scenes I've had to research. On just a glance of Zondra's face, it was evident that she was hit with such tremendous force because one of her eyeballs had become dislodged from its socket, and I don't think I've ever done a case where this has ever occurred.

It's unreal. And the violence didn't stop there, and I have to proceed, because I want you to know what this monster has done. The officers were in shock. Officer Dennis Broderick actually said, quote, her face was completely bashed in and was unrecognizable as a human face." End quote. Zondra was taken to Farmington, Connecticut for an autopsy, and when she was being moved,

the detective realized there was something beneath her head. They found their murder weapon. at least one of them. It was a blade of a small kitchen knife, and it was missing its handle. She had been struck with such force that the blade broke off of the knife. Investigators also found a weird chunk of plastic, and they weren't really sure of the significance at first. They were looking around just doing a preliminary check of the surroundings before they did a more thorough investigation, and as they looked around, they noticed that many of the heavy trophies on that shelf had marble bases, but at the top, they were made of plastic.

When they examined the shelf, they made a realization, which was later confirmed by Zondra's mother. One of the trophies was missing. They surmised that blunt force trauma to Zondra's face had been caused by one of her own trophies. And in the struggle, a piece of that trophy had broken off, but the rest of the trophy and the knife handle were missing. They figured the killer must have taken these items with them.

Detective Weider and Gahl took the lead from here. They noticed that next to the pool of blood was a footprint. It wasn't very pronounced. It kind of looked like an oval and it was foot shaped, but unlike a shoe print, there wasn't patterns indicating what kind of shoe it belonged to. It was larger in size, but they couldn't be sure of the exact measurements. These footprints were more like marks in a pattern that appeared to be someone walking through the scene in blood, but wearing shoes that didn't have souls that had a design.

So they weren't really too sure what they were. were going to do here because usually they would take some kind of impression and then compare that to different shoes that maybe some suspects were wearing but in this case they really didn't have much to go on investigators found blood not only in the stairwell and the basement bedroom but also in the first floor bathroom the bloodstains were on the toilet seat and the sink but they were very faint they look like they had been mixed with water so they figured that the perpetrator had gone upstairs and cleaned up as much evidence as they could this blood as well as the blood as the blood at the crime scene was swabbed and sent to the state lab for DNA testing.

They also dusted the bathroom for fingerprints, and they found one. Only one, but they did find one. Because of the lack of prints, it was believed that the perpetrator was probably wearing gloves, which meant that this murder was premeditated. It was looking like this murder was also very personal. The fact that Sondra's face was destroyed the way that it was, it was as though her attacker had tried to erase her beauty, to take away what was unique and special about her, to essentially erase her identity. Our faces make us who we are. They're where our expressions are made, and for someone to do this much damage, it pointed to a lot of rage and a personal motive. It's clear this person wanted Zondra gone, but this was overkill. And from the knocked over chair in the area, there had been a

struggle, but it didn't start in the basement. The trail of blood was up the stairs as well, But the main part of the home didn't seem to have anything in disarray at all. The upstairs portion looked tidy. The kitchen, the dining room, and the living room looked in order. And no blood appeared to be in these areas of the house. A purse was sitting on a chair near near one of the doors. There were items nearly positioned on the living room coffee table. Even Zondra's basement bedroom seemed to be in order. However, her closet was another story. There seemed to be a laundry basket overturned, or maybe, rummaged through because there was clothing scattered on the floor in front of it and

something on her bed had appeared to have been placed there after it was neatly made. Some of the laundry was beside the neatly made bed as well. But most of the blood and the items out of place were from the stairs leading into the basement and the dining area with the table where Zondra was found underneath. There was blood on the lamp that was hanging over this table. There was a significant amount of blood on the radiator and it was broken, which appeared to have been the first place that Dondra went down after she was initially struck on the stairs. And it probably happened where those streaks of blood were. She was probably hit from behind as she walked down the stairs. Although there were clear signs of a violent

struggle in the basement, Zondra's body did not appear to have been sexually violated since she had all of her clothing on. But of course, this was going to have to be confirmed at autopsy. Investigators did not find any damage to Zondra's front or back door. They wondered if the door had been unlocked. But that was actually unlikely. Sondra's mom explained she was responsible and always locked the door behind her. So this led the investigators to believe she might have known her attacker and let them inside her home. But why? None of the upstairs furniture was overturned, meaning Sondra had either willingly gone to her bedroom with the perpetrator or been physically overpowered at some point between the front door and the door

that led down to the basement. There was also no sign of a robbery. Sondra's purse and wallet we're still in the house. The only thing missing was her cell phone. So investigators assumed her her phone may have been taken by the killer because it had key information that could lead detectives to who did this. While looking for Zondra's phone, the Milford investigators found a couple more clues. First, Zondra kept a printout of over 100 phone numbers in her bedroom desk. It kind of was like an address book. It appeared to have been downloaded from her phone account online. So even if they didn't have her phone, they did have the number and name of everyone she knew. Second, none of the knives in the house matched the knife blade found at the scene.

So the murderer brought a knife with them. Third, garbage bags were missing from the house. So the perpetrator could have used these bags to clean up as much as they could. The fact that there was not a trail of blood leading back upstairs and out one of the doors made the investigators think, this attacker could have changed into new clothing inside the house, maybe putting all the blood-soaked clothing and items into one big garbage bag or a few before putting on fresh clothing. Again, another clue about just how much planning could have gone into this. While investigators were on

the scene, Zondra's best friend Nicole actually showed up. It was around 5 p.m., and Zondra's brother, Eric, also showed up around the same time and everyone was a mess. Nicole was a mess. Nicole was hysterical. She had realized her best friend had been killed. And that was unbelievable. She had just saw her a few hours earlier that same day. Of course, investigators want to talk to everyone close to Zondra, including Linda and Nicole, the people that knew her best. By now, this quiet neighborhood was buzzing with police vehicles and a perimeter was made with the oh so distinctive yellow crime scene tape. Everyone knew something terrible had happened, but the details were still unknown to the public. Law enforcement sat Linda down, and as much as she was overcome with sadness

and disbelief, she wanted to help in any way that she could. They asked her if she knew anyone who would want to harm her daughter, someone that may have a vendetta against her. But Linda didn't know who could do something so horrible. All of us has been in drama or situations in life that cause us to be around others who become angry. But to lead to such a brutal murder, it was unclear. She was overwhelmed with sorrow, and Linda had to reach out to her son Matt to deliver the devastating news of his sister's murder.

And Matt was struck with disbelief. He could not believe she was dead. Nicole told the investigators that she'd been with Zondra that morning at their fitness class at 10.15, and had left around 1115, but Zondra stayed behind. That was the last time she saw her.

But Zondra had discussed her plans, and she had told Nicole she was going home to shower, then getting a facial before she went out with her boyfriend Jay for dinner. They had reserved a hotel room for that night so they could spend the night together. Nicole said she didn't know Jay's full name. She had no idea what Jay stood for and didn't know his last name either. And as a matter of fact, she told detectives that Zondra had only been dating Jay for two weeks.

Nicole didn't even know Jay, but she figured he must be pretty handsome and personable if he caught Zandra's attention. She was pretty picky. Of course, this raised suspicions right away. A new man in Zondra's life. Who was this guy? And could he be the one that attacked her? That was the first thing they were trying to figure out.

Meanwhile, the detective spread out and they were going door to door throughout the entire neighborhood, asking if anyone had seen anything strange on the quiet street earlier that day. When people found out that Zondra had been killed, they were shocked and scared. Milford had a low crime rate, and nobody thought this would happen in their neighborhood, or that this would happen to someone like Zondra. Many people knew her as kind of a local celebrity, and it was very eerie to them, that she had been on law and order,

and now the irony of finding herself in the midst of a homicide investigation, that was frightening. Right off the bat, this also made her case get recognized on a national level. It didn't take long for the media to jump on the story. A young and beautiful, talented woman, who was an actress and a dancer, and appeared on a show about crime, had been murdered. The media were like vultures. They were everywhere. But going back to the neighbors,

one of them said at 1230, they had seen a red pickup truck driving down the street. Another neighbor said that around 4 o'clock p.m., they saw a blackmail walking down the street. He got into a dark colored, acura, and both of these people were just making observations of things that just stood out as maybe not the normal people or vehicles in the area. But no, Nobody thought to actually take down a license plate or get a really good look at these people so that they could describe them. These were just things they recalled when they were asked if anything was out of the ordinary. A worker with the company called True Green Kemlon said that he walked by Zondra's house around

2.30 that afternoon. And he noticed a white car in the driveway, that was Zondras, and a dog sitting on the lawn, which was Zena. And he also mentioned the wide open gate, which is exactly what Linda saw when she arrived at home as well. But if all of that had been the same, since 2.30, it was likely that Zondra was already attacked or killed by that time. And this was very important for their timeline. Zondra was most likely home by noon, so it was really crucial to pin down the approximate time of her murder,

so they could find out who did this. Well, they had their first lead. It only took investigators about an hour to figure out who Jay was. He was Jermaine Morton. They were not able to get in touch with him at first, but they contacted his sister, and she was able to provide additional information. She called Jay and she said he was wanted by authorities for questioning

for Zondra's murder. When Jay arrived at the Milford Police Department, police noticed he was taken aback, he was nervous, but Jay told the police he had nothing to do with Zondra's murder, but he was indeed her boyfriend. Back in May, he met her while she was at work at People's Bank. Him and one of his guy friends came in together, and when Jay saw Zondra,

he told his friend he thought she was really beautiful. So his friend approached Zandra and relayed this message to her that his friend thought she was beautiful and wanted him to give his number to her. And at that point, he gave Zondra J's number. Zondra was flattered. She actually thought J was pretty cute and she called the number that night. They got to talking and they decided to set up their first date, which turned into several. Germain Morton, who went by Jay, was a couple years older and he worked at a company called Eitron. He went around town checking the electric and gas meter at people's homes. And he was currently living with his mother because he had just moved his things

out of his ex-girlfriend's house. He was in an on and off again relationship with his ex. But when he met Zondra, they were in an off phase and Jay was ready to dive into a new romance. Things moved very quickly between the new couple and Zondra had recently told her mom that she had a new boyfriend. So she put that label on their relationship. But she did say they were still trying to figure out their feelings and they were kind of riding high in the honeymoon phase. Linda was of course happy for her daughter. After that six-year relationship with Matt, she knew that she deserved someone who she was really truly connected with. So as Jay explained what he did that day, he told the detectives he called Zondra around noon to figure out their plans for that night. They were having a normal

conversation, but then at around 1220, Zondra told Jay to hold on. It seemed as though she had maybe heard or seen something. Then she told Jay that her ex-boyfriend was outside. There was a pause as Jay could hear what sounded like Zondra opening the front door. And then Jay heard Zondra say, what are you doing here? You were supposed to call first. Jay hadn't heard a knock. He didn't hear an answer from whoever this ex-boyfriend was. But Zondra then came back on the phone and told Jay she'd have to call him right back. Wow. So someone did come over and it seemed like Zondra let them inside, or at the very least, she opened the door. So, was this the last time Jay heard from Zondra?