TW: murder, rape, sexual assault, kidnap
Angela Samota
Background
Angela Marie Samota was born on September 19th, 1964 in Almeda, California to parents, Frank and Betty Ruth Samota. Angela attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and studied computer science and electrical engineering. In addition to her studies, she was also a sister of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority.
Angela was described by many as friendly as smart; she focused heavily on academics and would often study until very late at night.
Night of the Murder
Angela and two of her friends, Russell Buchanan and Anita Kadala, decided to go to the State Fair of Texas on October 12th, 1984. They spent most of their evening at the Rio Room dance club. At the end of the night, Angela was reported dropping off Russell and Anita at their homes around 1 in the morning.
Angela’s boyfriend, Ben McCall reported getting a call from Angela at around 1:45am saying that there was a man in her house that had asked to use the bathroom and the phone. She stated that she would call Ben back in a little bit and abruptly hung up the phone.
After receiving no phone call, Ben got worried and drove to Angela’s apartment. When he arrived, there was no response to his knocking and the door was locked. Ben decided to call the police–they arrived at 2:17 am on October 13th. After getting Angela’s apartment keys from the manager, police found Angela’s body naked, raped, and stabbed.
The Suspects
After finding Angela’s body, the police came up with a few suspects:
- Russell Buchanan, who had gone out with Anita and Angela the night of the murder
- Ben McCall, who had been the first and only person to report the crime
- Angela’s ex-boyfriend, who had previously cut up Angela’s clothes and threatened her with a knife.
Russell Buchanan
Angela’s roommate at the time, Sheila Wysocki, has been at her mother’s during her friend’s murder. Instead of returning to school, she worked relentlessly at finding Angela’s killer. She cooperated with the police and was asked to befriend Russell, who was the prime suspect since he had been the last person to see Angela the night of her murder. He claimed that he had fallen asleep quickly after being dropped off at home. To fact check this, Wysocki was asked to have dinner with him and confirm his alibi. Wysocki claimed that she believed Russell was telling the truth. In addition to her beliefs, Russell also took a lie detector test and passed. Although Russell remained a suspect, there was not enough evidence to convict him of the murder.
The case was left untouched for over 20 years.
The Book of Daniel
20 years later, in 2004, Wysocki claimed that while she was reading passages from the Book of Daniel, Angela appeared to her in a vision and Wysocki knew it was time to figure out what had happened to her friend. After numerous attempts to get police to reopen the case, she finally took action and got a P.I. license (private investigator license).
Now that Wysocki could conduct her own DNA tests, she gathered blood, semen, and fingernail samples to be DNA tested. The DNA results came back in 2008 and they were traced to a man named Donald Bess.
Donald Bess
Donald Bess was first charged in 1978 with aggravated rape and aggravated kidnapping and was let out on parole in 1984. It was at this time that he committed Angela’s rape and murder. One year later, Bess was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of one count of aggravated rape, one count of aggravated kidnapping, and one count of sexual assault (all unrelated to Angela’s case).
In 2010, Bess was tried for Angela Samota’s rape and murder. During his trial, other women came forward stating that they had also been assaulted by Bess. His ex-wife came forward claiming that he had been abusive to her and their child over their three-year marriage. Bess was found guilty of Angela’s murder on the basis of DNA match and was given the death penalty. Bess is currently incarcerated at the Hospital Galveston Unit in Texas where he remains on death row, with no execution date.
Angela Samota
March 24, 2022 at 6:16 pm
Hey Elliot,
I am also a huge true crime/ horror gal. I have never heard of this case before, but it was interesting to read about to say the least. The thing that I hate about cases where the victim is a college student is because I relate it to my experience. What I mean is that after nights out I always have my friends come back to my room so we can all make sure everyone is okay. It makes you wonder what would have happened if her two friends stayed over her house that night. Also, I think we can both agree that if a significant other randomly calls you at 2 in the morning saying a guy is using their bathroom and phone, then abruptly hangs up something is wrong. At the end of the day, it is a tragedy, but I can’t help but wonder what else would have happened if she had gotten the help she needed.
March 30, 2022 at 10:31 pm
Hi. While I am not too into true crime, I still thought this blog post was interesting, but also frightening, nevertheless. As a college student as well, it is weird to now be on my own, so this kind of thing happening at a college is very nerve wracking. The fact that this kind of thing can happen is wrong, as college is a place for growth and education, not a place where you should be fearful. This post reminds me of my group’s deliberation project, as we aimed to limit, hinder, and eventually stop sexual assault on college campuses, so we have the tools to stop these crimes from happening. All we need to do is act on our ideas.