True Crime with Kimbyr - Lights, Camera, MURDER! Actress Found Dead in Basement - Part 2

Episode Date: July 11, 2024

In part two of True Crime with Kimbyr, we explore Alexandra Ducsay's dedication to her career and charitable work. Despite her thriving career, a dark fate awaited her. Join us as we uncover the determination and generosity that defined her, amidst the shadows of an impending tragedy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

About 15 minutes later, when Jay hadn't heard back from Zondra, he got concerned and he called her. She picked up and Jay said they talked from about 1234 to 1237. And Zondra didn't bring up the interruption or who had been at her door, nothing. Jay said they had a very uneventful conversation and he agreed to call back when he got off work. Everything was still planned for that night. But of course, their date never happened because Zondra was killed. This narrowed the timeline down even more. Zondra must have been murdered sometime between 1237 when she hung up with Jay and 4.30 when her mom got home.

But factoring in that person who saw the wide open gate, the dog in the lawn at 2.30, it was probably closer to that 230 to 430 time frame. So where was Jay? Was he really at work? When did he go in? Did he have an alibi? Well, he said he did. He told investigators that he had been working between 7 a.m.

and 3 p.m., just driving around town, checking the utility meters. Jay had a black Honda, and that's similar to what that one neighbor reported seeing around 4.30, remember? Jay said he called Zondra all day long after that initial phone call. He said he called it 1, 1.30, 2 o'clock, but Zondra wasn't picking up. Jay said that when he finally got off work, he went to Jimmy's Army and Navy store in West Haven. This is a clothing store. It's known for Camo, hands, things like that. He said he was there to pick out an outfit for their date that evening. Then he said he went back to his mom's house where he was living. And around 4.30, he called Zondra. And then he drove to her house to check on her since she had still not gotten in touch.

Jay told the investigators that when he pulled up around five and he saw the police cars and the crime scene tape, he freaked out and he just left. He didn't stop and talk to an officer. He didn't get out and find out what was going on, that his girlfriend was answering her phone. He just went back to his mom's, turned on the news to try to see if there was any information about what had happened at Zondor's house and if she was okay. Well, that sounded really odd to the authorities. He was checking on her, but then when he realized she might have been hurt, he just left, it seems kind of suspicious.

But it was also interesting to learn that Jay was in an on-again and off-again relationship with another woman before meeting Zondra. So was this woman jealous about what was going on between Jay and this new girl? Jay left the interview as a suspect. But before looking into more of him and his connections, investigators wanted to know who Zondra's ex-boyfriends were. Both Nicole and Linda confirmed Zondra only had one ex-boyfriend, the guy she dated when she was in her teens, Matt Pugh, but they hadn't been together for quite a while. Also, when Jay called back, Zondra picked up, remember? She was fine. There was no evidence connecting this ex-boyfriend at the door to her being killed.

So was Jay trying to maybe mislead the police? Well, they decided to file for background checks and a search warrant for Jay's phone and waited a few days for the request to go through. Linda explained that Zondra and Matt had been together for six years, but the breakup was less than friendly. And she was so happy that Zondra had met someone new, someone that, one, didn't have a criminal record, and two, appreciated Zondra for her positivity, her beauty, and her kindness.

Hmm, that's interesting. Was she implying that her ex Matt did have a criminal record and didn't treat her well? Linda told them that Zondra had known Matt since they were in high school, and soon they began calling each other girlfriend and boyfriend. And the couple was on and off over the years until Matt actually went to prison in 1998, for selling narcotics. While many people would have walked away from the situation, Zondra stood by him. She visited him every week, but Matt wasn't getting out anytime soon. And even though Zondra was very patient, she wanted her own life. She was independently moving into a new phase,

and though she loved Matt, she realized she had to move on. So through all those years, she stayed committed to Matt and her friends could not understand why. It was like she thought that she could change him. And she truly did like to work. help people, she saw the good in people, and she saw the good in him. She would send him letters on a regular basis, but by January of 2004, Zondra and Matt broke up. This was because Matt could tell there was a distance growing between them, and he began to write pretty mean things to Zondra, things that she was no longer comfortable with. But that was two years ago. Still, it was a lead, so they went with it. This was still on the first day of the investigation, the day Zondra was found

dead. Detective Weidra assigned Dr. Huggins and Detective Ron to track down Matt Pugh. They found out he was living with his wife, Cherise Trotman, at 98 North Street in Hamden, Connecticut. It was about a 30-minute drive northeast of Milford. That evening, Matt was working a part-time job in New Haven at Papa John's on Whaley Avenue. When detectives finally found him, they had a 15-minute conversation out in the back of the restaurant. Matt said he worked two jobs. His other job was at an airplanes part manufacturing company in Windsor, which is about an hour north of Milford. It was called Chrome Alloy Aviation. They repair, design, engineer, and manufacture gas turbine engine parts for aircrafts, and that was part of their manufacturing team.

He said he worked from 6.30 in the morning to 3 p.m. that day. And then he went home, filled up on gas, went to the bank to deposit check, and then he'd been at Papa John's ever since. Huggins and Ron asked Matt the last time he had talked to or seen Alexandra. And to their surprise, Matt admitted that they had spoken on the phone just a couple days ago. But the last time Matt saw her in person

was about four weeks before this. But his wife wouldn't be so thrilled to know he was still in contact with his ex. So that's when Huggins and Ron told Matt that Zondra was dead. And Matt didn't give that much of a reaction. The police didn't trust Matt and Matt having been in prison didn't trust the police. So what was an expected reaction to this news? After this initial

conversation Matt went back to the station and he spoke with Sergeant Douglas Eude and he made a statement. Sergeant Eude asked Matt about his alibi and this time he admitted that he had not been at work all day like he initially said. Remember he said he got there at 6.30 in the morning, left at 3. No. He said, He said at 9.15 that morning, he got a really bad feeling about his 17-year-old stepdaughter Shamira Trotman Adams. He thought that maybe she was inviting a boy over because she had been suspended from high school two days before this and she was home alone while both parents were at work. So Matt had this really uneasy feeling and he wanted to stop and check in on a stepdaughter.

So he lied to his boss. He told him his daughter had been suspended and he needed to go take care of things at the school. So his supervisor allowed Matt to leave. Matt said at this point he drove to Hamden and got there about 9.50. Shamara was still asleep. So Matt did a little workout. He lifted weights in his at-home gym from about 10.05 to 1115. And at around noon, he said he purchased $15 of gas at the Hamden Hest station. Then Matt drove in the direction of Stratford to explore used car dealerships. He explained that his stepdaughter had just learned to drive and he wanted to get her a car. Matt told the investigators he went to at least five different dealerships. He stopped at one around 1215, another one at 1240, at 1 15, until he got hungry.

At around 240 that afternoon, he was still in Stratford and he called his wife to see if maybe she wanted to get a late lunch. Cherise worked as a teacher, and teachers don't usually get lunch hours, so this struck Detective Ud as a little strange. But Matt said, Shurice never even picked up the phone anyway, so Matt just drove through the McDonald's drive-thru alone. But to be fair, it was already almost 3 p.m. when Matt reached out to Cherise, and remember, he said it was a late lunch. Most schools get at around 2.45, so I really didn't think it was that strange. After that, Matt said he went to Papa Johns. He picked up a paycheck. He dropped it off at the bank and was home between the hours of 4 and 425. Then he drove to Papa Johns for his evening shift. From the sound of it, it seems like all of his hours of the day are accounted for.

But when it came to his friendship with his ex-Zondra, who is now deceased, Matt said that they were on good terms. They had both moved on from their relationship. He loved his wife and his daughters, Shemara, and his new baby girl, Chastity. And he would not do anything to sacrifice his current situation with his wife and his new life. Matt said he wasn't in Milford that day. There would have been no reason for him to be anywhere near Zondra's house. He gave investigators his T-shirt. He consented to DNA.

samples. So why had Matt lied the first time he talked to them when he said he was at work all day? Detective Yude wasn't sure. But Matt's alibi seemed solid. I mean, maybe he didn't want to explain everything to his boss that maybe he thought his stepdaughter was letting boys in the house and he just made it simple. But a lie is a lie, especially when it comes to detectives looking into your alibi. But they did let him go at this point and they requested search warrants for Matt's house and car. Meanwhile, chief medical examines, Ira Canfer was in charge of conducting Zondra's autopsy. I'm going to try to be as sensitive as I possibly can.

Zondra's manner of death was homicide and her cause of death was determined to be multiple sharp and blunt force injuries to her head. And this caused cranio-cerebral trauma. She also sustained a number of sharp and blunt wounds to her neck and torso. The sharp wounds were inflicted by the blade of a knife. She had stabbed wounds to her face, torso, neck, the back of the back of the body of the knife. neck, the back of her head, and she was attacked with a blunt object that was much larger than a knife handle, something like a trophy, as the investigator said initially thought, or even something

like a baseball bat. This is so horrific, but to truly convey how angry and violent the killer was, I told you that Dondra had been hit with such force. She was missing one of her eyes, and she was hit so hard that there were also several of her teeth that had gone down her throat and were found in her stomach. And I don't think I've ever heard of that in any of the cases that I've done. It's just heartbreaking and it's terrible to think about. On one of Zondra's hands was a very fine, thin hair stuck to dried blood and it did not appear to have come from someone African American and said it looked like it belonged to someone that was white. Zondra was blonde at this point because she had gotten her hair highlighted and she had naturally coarse hair that kind of had

some waviness to it. So they weren't sure if this hair came from her own head. So it was a possibility that this belonged to the perpetrator. So it was sent to the crime lab for DNA processing. Both Germain and Matt were black males. So if this was the killer's hair, maybe her attacker was somebody else. Found on Zondra's left cheek was a 1.5 inch wide piece of black electrical tape. And when it was removed from her face, there was no blood underneath, which means that it had been taped there before she was injured. At first, this was kind of strange. It was kind of a small piece of tape, But Dr. Canford determined that the tape had actually ripped off of a larger piece. So it was though the killer had wound this electrical tape around her mouth and gagged her to stop her from screaming.

And then when they removed the tape after her death, they hadn't gotten all of it. So that part was left behind. Police sent the tape in for testing and Sir Linda's home for similar tape. But they did not find a matching role. So it stands to reason, the attacker brought it with them. As for Zondra's mother, Linda, her brother Eric, and Matthew, and her father, John, they suffered knowing that the killer was still out there and what Zondra went through. After they were told everything that the investigators knew, Zondra's family actually suspected Matt could have done this. But they wanted the case to be proven through the justice system.

John believed his daughter was probably beaten with a bat. He made several statements saying he wished Connecticut had the death penalty so that this murderer could get a taste of their own medicine. They were in the dark for such a long time. And that's part of the investigative process for cases like this. It does make me sad, but it's the reality. You're not going to find out much because it's an open investigation. Even family members are in the dark. Sondra's funeral visitation was on Wednesday, May 24th in Milford with a mass held at Christ the Redeemer Church.

It was a very moving ceremony, and all of her extended family came to celebrate her life. Zondra's brother, Matt, was moved to see just how many people's lives Zondra had touched. through her passion for dance, for auditioning, and her involvement in various charitable causes. It was quite a testament to her vibrant spirit and the impact that she had on those around her. People from all corners of her life came together, traveling far and wide to say their goodbyes

and share their memories. This outpouring of love and support provided a sense of solace for Zondra's family. They were navigating the rough waters of grief. They were witnessing how deeply Zondra was cherished and our presence had left. a mark on so many hearts. It was bittersweet comfort, though.

They still wanted to find out who did this. The detectives working on Zondra's murder case actually went to these funeral services because they were hoping to see somebody that was acting suspicious and maybe that would lead them to the killer. Jay attended, but her ex, Matt, he didn't come. And investigators still didn't know

if either one of them were responsible. As all of this was unfolding, investigators were looking in to both of these men. First, they found out that just like Matt, J did have a criminal record. He had been arrested for becoming physically violent with his on and off again, X. So was this cycle repeating itself? And recall, he had a black condo cord with gold rims.

Could that be confused with an Acura? Sure. This match of the description of the black man entering a black Accura at 4 p.m. Matt had been in prison for over five years after selling drugs, and he had a dark green Acura with Chrome D.C.C. detailing. That could also match the description given by the neighbor. It was actually inaccurate. And then another neighbor came forward with the tip. His name was Michael Choucarot. He was a high school student who lived right near Linda's house and he said he saw a dark green Honda cord with gold rims outside the house all day. He couldn't remember the race of the driver, but this description

put Jay in the spotlight. So again, we have a similar description of a car, or maybe both men were involved. But this was also a very popular model and color of a vehicle. They had to continue narrowing things down. Investigators went to Jay's boss. His name was John Durdaller and they wanted to confirm his alibi. John said that Jay punched in at 6.30 a.m. and punched out at 2.45. This is the new boyfriend. He had driven all over Bridgeport and Fairfield all day checking utility meters on houses and he said he hadn't gone anywhere near Milford. Then they went to Jimmy's Army and Navy store, remember that? And they asked for the security footage. They started looking at the tape after Jay said he got a fork at 245, but there was no footage

showing he was there. However, when they rewinded the tape to 1 p.m., there he was. He was checking out wearing a pink button-down shirt at 115. I've got this footage, so I'm going to put it up on the screen. So wait, this was a different story. He was actually shopping on the job. So did that mean he was doing anything else on the job? Finally, investigators were granted access to Jay's phone, and that is where the trail went cold. Jay had called people all day, including Zondra, but none of the calls pinged off a Milford cell tower until well after 4 p.m., and we know at that point he was on his way over there, so he was ruled out as a suspect at that time. Detective Weidra spent a few days trying to confirm Matt's alibi on the day of the 19th. So Weidra went to Chrome Aloy himself to talk to Matt's boss,

Robert Jones. He said that Matt hadn't clocked out at 9.15. He clocked out at 8.39 a.m. That's interesting. And when they went to the Hess gas station, it turns out Matt was there, but not at 12 p.m. like he claimed. He was seen on surveillance footage at 2.10 p.m. So where was he between those hours? Wydra sent a team to various car dealerships that Matt said he visited, and not a single person remembered seeing Matt at the dealerships. When they checked footage, at the bank. Sure enough, they see Matt on camera. He had been there just before 4 p.m., so he was being honest about that. However, his alibi was quite a mess, and they were poking holes left and right. At this point, Wydra did not have search warrants yet, so he met Matt outside of his house. Wydra asked Matt to

come with him and give him a full tour of all of those car dealerships he said he went that day. But Matt said, I don't have to do that. Yeah, that's right. You don't have to. But this was Zandra's friend, her ex, someone that cared about her. So the detective just thought that was weird and he was convinced that Matt was the killer. He just had to prove it. Luckily, the search warrant went through on May 26th, a week after the murder. And when Wydra showed up, Matt wasn't home. But Sherey and Shemara were there, along with Matt's cousin Anthony Pugh.

Anthony said that he and Matt worked together at Kroamo Aloi and commuted in the same car every day. So they spent a lot of time together. So police decided to ask Anthony if he knew anything about Zondra's death. But Anthony said that he didn't, and then Matt was innocent. And Matt's wife, Sherey's Trotman's home, was squeaky clean. All the clothes were folded. All the surfaces were spotless. There was no sign of blood anywhere.

But the police did find three things. In the kitchen, at the computer workstation, they found a roll of 1.5-inch-wide black electrical tape. And in the inner label, the brand wasn't the usual ones that were used to seeing. It wasn't 3M or U-line. It wasn't even duct tape. It was called Permacel. It's a heavy-duty double-sided tape that's used for a variety of purposes, including holding pieces of metal in place during machining.

It was black, so it stood out, since the tape found on Zondra's face was also black, and none was found at her house. Also in the kitchen at Matt and Cherise's place, they found a lint roller, Just like the ones you would use to remove pet hair. I've got a lot of that on me all the time, especially wearing black. It was wound with black tape.

So that was strange. And then in the basement, inside a garbage can right next to the washing machine was what? Tape. It was in an overlapping spiral and been folded in half and thrown in the garbage. So they collected all of these wads of tape for DNA processing. Police also searched Matt's car, but they didn't find anything. no fingerprints, no DNA, nothing of significance. I don't have black electrical tape in my house that I can remember,

but it isn't uncommon either, and that was basically all they found. But after examining this tape, an expert said it was a special kind of tape. It wasn't distributed in any Connecticut retail stores. Permicell Model P-34 was created by New London tape distributors, and it had a unique adhesive backing that they made only in the Northeast in 2006. The tape was used by only three companies, ADCAM, incorporated in Manchester, Connecticut, Grandstone incorporated in Westerly Rhode Island, and chrome alloy aviation in Windsor where Matt works. So I guess it wouldn't be that odd

for Matt to have this tape in his possession, but was it the same tape on Zondra's face? Well, unfortunately, it wasn't that easy to match two pieces of tape perfectly. However, they did share the same color with texture type backing and appeared to have the same type of adhesive and nobody could get tape like this from Home Depot unfortunately there were knockoff tapes that were out there on the market and they were used in manufacturing companies so it wasn't a perfect match they couldn't tell but they were a similar tape but that was that so ultimately no concrete conclusion detective wide redr did wonder was not responsible for this incriminating evidence or did Matt's cousin Anthony have access to the tape and maybe trying to pin this murder

on his cousin? Because it didn't make that much sense. Why would Matt keep tape in garbage cans and around his kitchen if he had used it in a murder? You'd think that he would get rid of it. So on June 1st of 2006, they decided to interview Matt's cousin Anthony. And that's when Anthony realized that he might become a suspect in this crime. He told them that Matt had a really short fuse. He could get Matt really easily and fly off the handle. And then he even had a motive against Zondra. So of course, detectives' ears are perking up. They want to hear more. He tells the investigators that apparently Matt had gifted his car and Nissan to Alexandra in 2002. And he also loaned her $20,000 in 2003. And then when January 2004 comes around, she breaks up with him and she keeps

the car and the money. So Matt had tried to buy her love, and when he didn't get what he wanted back, he wanted to get revenge. This is all according to Anthony, but this was news to the cops, and on June 14th, they re-interviewed Matt. They hoped to clarify the inconsistencies in his story, because remember, he said his relationship was fine with Dandra. But first, they wanted to question him about stopping at those car dealerships. Matt said that when he did, he never talked to any of the salespeople. It was kind of damp outside that day from the rain, so none of the salespeople were actually outside. And Matt explained he wasn't serious enough about buying a car that day, so he didn't go inside and try to talk to anyone and he didn't want anyone trying to sell him on

anything. So still, nobody could confirm that Matt was at any of these dealerships. So the detective asked him about the money that he supposedly gave Zondra. Matt said he might have given her maybe $4,000 that she didn't pay back, but it was never $20,000. He said that was outrageous. He also explained that she had his Nissan for a while and she bought it from his dad. dad while he was in jail, but he never knew what happened to it. But at this point, Matt did not cooperate any further. He didn't feel like he had the need to do so, because he insisted he wasn't involved.

But soon enough, they would have more evidence. DNA processing always takes forever, but the results came back before the end of the year. All of the blood droplets in Linda's basement actually belonged to Zondra. However, when they swabbed the first floor bathroom, remember that blood they found at the toilet and the sink that was watered down?

That was a major. mixture of Zondra's DNA and DNA from a male contributor. Two types of blood analysis kits were used. One was called the identifier kit and the other was called a PowerPlex Y kit. And they were both used to determine that both blood spots had the YSTR chromosome, which only men have. In one of the samples, 25% of black men could be a contributor. And for the other, the odds were one in 2,800 that it was a black male. with Matt's blood type. So basically, Jay and Matt could both potentially have been the killer

according to these blood results. But it was leaning more toward Matt. However, these results were inconclusive. I'm sure you can tell. It wasn't very specific about whose DNA was. There was no DNA belonging to Zondra on the roll of tape or the wadded tape that was found at Matt's home.

The blonde hair in her hand remained unidentified. And the fingerprint, The only one found on the scene, it didn't match up with anyone in the system or anyone the police had tested. Nobody would talk and the trail went cold. Years went by. And that's what no one ever likes to hear about these cases. And over the next few years, Wydra had Zondra's photograph pinned to his desk.

He thought about her every single day. Her father, John and brother Eric wrote to the governor at the time and other elected officials to ask the state to post a tip reward. After two years, the cold case unit got involved, and a man named Kevin Lawler, a state prosecutor, helped out with this case. He sent a petition to the governor, and she agreed to offer a $50,000 reward to anyone with information that could lead to an arrest. For three whole years, barely anyone answered the call for tips. Eric was so confused and upset. Zondra's case had received a decent amount of press in the media in the first few months, but now it just looked like everyone had moved on.

He did not want Zondra to be forgotten, so her family took matters into their own hands. They decided to use their own resources, to raise awareness about her case and encourage someone to come forward with information. They used their hard-earned money and put up billboards. They put them in strategic locations where Zondra was known to frequent.

And these billboards served as a constant reminder of the tragedy that happened to her. But the hope was that someone that was passing by would see a billboard, they would recognize Zondra's face, and remember something, just some critical clue that could aid in this investigation. Month after month, her family just yearned for just one phone call,

just one tip that could break open this case. But nothing came in. In 2010, the duchess in the bank where Zondra had worked, they did a holiday drive in Zondra's memory, and the family came together to grieve. They made 200 dinners that were distributed at Cornerstone Christian Church and the Bridgeport School District, At the event, everyone talked about genre's charity,

Zondra's kids, and her love for children, and her hard work and dedication to making deep connections with people in need. Meanwhile, Kevin Lawler was set on solving this case. So he decided to reach out to a part of the population that would not have heard about the reward. Inmates, people in prison, they play a lot of card games, and there's these things called cold case cards.

They're card decks, and they print pictures of missing people on them. them or murdered people and a brief bio and the reward money on each card. Zandra's photo appeared on the two of clubs. I'm going to put it up on the screen and these cards were passed out throughout the Connecticut Department of Corrections. And in September of 2011, the Milford Police Department received a call from an inmate named Paul O'Connell. And this was a big break. Paul said that his fellow inmate, Christopher Richards, had actually dated Zondra two years before she was murdered.

And the two of them, Chris and Zondra, had actually met at the prison while she was visiting Matt. He said that when Zondra broke up with Matt, she got with Chris. And then she broke up with Chris. He told Paul he would kill her. And Paul said he was hanging out with Christopher and his sister Shannon when Shannon confirmed that Chris had murdered Zondra. He had just gotten out of prison at the time.

He returned home covered in blood. Police were shocked. How could this guy have slipped through the cracks.