In some investigations, conclusions are often made prematurely, and tunnel vision can occur. It often takes years, if not decades, for names to be cleared through the use of DNA testing, and new forensic investigative technology.
Angie Samota was born on September 19th, 1964. She was born into a fairly wealthy family who loved and cherished her dearly. She was raised in Amarillo, Texas, where they enjoyed a very comfortable lifestyle. Angie was described as the kind of person who’s smile would light up a whole room.
After graduating high school, Angie set her sights on college. She was an extremely intelligent young woman, and she had very high aspirations for herself. She enrolled at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and double majored in computer science and electrical engineering.
It was during her first year of university that Angie would meet her best friend, Sheila Wysocki. At the beginning of their freshman year, in 1982, the two were paired as roommates in their dorm. They became very close very quickly, and their friendship blossomed.
The summer after her freshman year, Angie’s parents bought her an off-campus condo. Angie loved being independent, and took very good care of her space. It wasn’t long before she asked Sheila to move in with her, and the two took pride in being responsible, and independent students.
Angie had a very active social life, and was a very gregarious and outgoing person. Soon after moving into her condo, she met construction crew manager Ben McCall, and the two started dating.
The relationship was hard on both of them due to their often busy and conflicting schedules. Ben worked early mornings and long hours, while Angie was incredibly studious, and also had a very active social life. Despite the time constraints and a lot of time spent apart, the two wanted to make the relationship work, and made sure to spend as much time together as they could, when they could.
Through a networking event at her college, Angie made the acquaintance of Russell Buchanan and Anita Kadala. Though they weren’t particularly close, the three enjoyed spending time together, and were often seen running in the same social circles.
On October 12th, 1984, Angie, Anita, and Russell got together and spend the evening at the State Fair of Texas. Angie had invited Ben to join them, but he declined. He had to be on a job site early the following morning, and opted to stay home in order to rest.
After leaving the State Fair, Angie, Anita, and Russell went to the Rio Room to dance and have a good time. Angie was her usual outgoing self, going from table to table to talk to people she knew. It seemed almost everyone in the room knew Angie Samota.
The trio were there until just after midnight, when they were seen leaving the club. While Angie had a drink or two, she was the designated driver for the night, and ensured that her friends made it home safely.
At around 1:00 AM, she dropped Russell off, and then dropped off Anita. Before heading home herself, Angie stopped off at Ben’s apartment in order to wish him a goodnight.
At around 1:45 AM, Ben received a call from Angie who had just gotten home. She told him that there was a man in her condo who wanted to use her phone, and the bathroom. She asked Ben if he knew if there was a payphone nearby she could direct the man to. Ben replied that there should be.
Ben stated that Angie sounded agitated during the call, and rambled at him to talk to her. Ben gathered that Angie seemed nervous, but wasn’t sure what to do. Suddenly, Angie told Ben that she’d call him right back, and hung up. When Angie didn’t call back within a few moments, Ben called her instead. No one answered the phone.
Alarmed, Ben got up and drove to her condo to see what was going on. He knocked on the door, but received no response. He tried the door, but realized it was locked. Ben was extremely reluctantly to break the door down himself, but grew increasingly concerned over Angie’s wellbeing.
Ben had a very early-generation mobile phone in his truck, which had been installed for work purposes. He used the phone to call the police, and told them that he was worried about Angie, and about the strange phone call he’d received from her.
At 2:17 AM, police arrived at Angie’s condo, and found Ben outside. He identified himself as having made the call, but indicated that he hadn’t wanted to break down the door. The police did that for him, and found a horrifying scene inside the condo.
Inside, they found Angie Samota lying naked on her bed. She was covered in her own blood. She had been raped, assaulted, and stabbed multiple times. First responders on the scene have stated the the scene of Angie’s murder has stuck with them ever since.
The scene showed signs that the perpetrator had tried to clean up after themselves, as the shower appeared to be wet.
When the discovery of Angie’s body was made, Ben remained calm. He had a very collected demeanour, which investigators found highly suspicious. However, no immediate action was taken, though he gave his full statement as to the events of that night.
Sheila, who had been away from the condo, heard the news from a friend the following day. She was absolutely devastated.
She gave investigators her statement, and also informed them of Angie’s regular routine and habits. At one point, Sheila mentioned to investigators that she had never been keen on Angie’s friend, Russell. She told them that he made her uncomfortable, though she couldn’t explain exactly why, or give examples of concerning behaviour. She told them that Russell gave her a bad feeling.
Investigators made note of Sheila’s concerns.
When they spoke to Anita, she told them that she believed Angie’s ex-boyfriend may have been involved. He had not been happy when Angie had broken up with him, and had taken to calling her and harassing her, trying to get her to take him back.
When investigators found him, he was extremely cooperative. He offered up his fingerprints, as well as blood and saliva samples for comparison against evidence collected at Angie’s crime scene.
At the time, the only form of DNA evidence that investigators were able to provide was the blood type of Angie’s murderer. They were able to determine that Ben’s blood type did not match the perpetrator’s, not did the ex-boyfriend’s.
However, Russell Buchanan’s blood type did match.
Russell told investigators that he didn’t know Angie very well, but that they were friendly, and had socialized in the same social circles and at networking events.
Russell, a 23-year-old architect at the time of Angie’s murder, told investigators that the morning following his outing with Angie and Anita, he had gotten up early to attend a wedding. Following the wedding, he caught a flight to Houston to visit family.
Russell cooperated with investigators, and reassured them time and again that he had not been involved in Angie’s murder at all. When he was asked if investigators could search his apartment, he let them in. There, they found a wide array of knives and other sharp objects. It was Russell’s bad luck that his roommate had just returned from a safari in Africa, and had brought home souvenirs.
Russell was asked to go to the station again for further questioning, and he cooperated with investigators once again. Upon entering the station, Russell was met with extreme hostility in the form of the officers pulling their guns on him upon entry. They were convinced that Russell was Angie’s murderer, and they were determined to get their man.
Investigators developed tunnel vision, and harassed Russell relentlessly. They would find him anywhere and everywhere, and demand he follow them to the station where he would undergo ridiculous questioning. He even agreed to take a polygraph test.
Sheila kept in touch with investigators, as she was keen on ensuring her best friend’s murderer was caught and brought to justice. She agreed to work with investigators, and wore a wire while having dinner with Russell in a group setting. Through the course of the meal, he was asked pointed questions about Angie, but never said anything suspicious or incriminating that would implicate him.
When he realized that they weren’t letting this go, Russell hired a lawyer. He was not about to get railroaded. All they had was a blood type match, which was hardly enough for them for an arrest, let alone to press charges.
Sheila never gave up on trying to find her best friend’s killer. She stayed in touch with investigators over the years, but knew that the cold case was low on their priority list. But that changed in 2004.
In 2004, Sheila apparently had a vision of Angie. This vision affected Sheila greatly, and she felt certain that the case needed to be addressed again. Over the course of 2 years, Sheila made 785 calls to the Dallas police department, begging for them to re-open Angie’s case.
The more Sheila’s calls to action went unanswered, the more frustrated she became. She decided to take matters into her own hands. She started her own investigation, and set up a space in her home that would latter become known as The War Room. The more she looked into Angie’s case, the more Sheila felt like this was her calling. Soon, she shifted careers entirely, and became a private investigator.
But Sheila was not one to let things go. She continued to call the Dallas police department. They were so annoyed with her, that they decided to re-open the case, just to appease her.
In 2006, detective Linda Crum was put in charge of the Angie Samota cold case. She went through the evidence, and realized that there was a fair amount of DNA evidence that could be tested.
In 2008, Linda put in a request to have the evidence tested. At the time, this process could be extremely lengthy. In 2009, they received results of the testing.
The DNA matched that of Donald Andrew Bess Jr. Bess was was already in prison, serving a life sentence. He was soon also charged for the rape and capital murder of Angie Samota.
Finally, Russell Buchanan’s name was cleared.
Bess had been convicted in 1978 for aggravated assault, and aggravated kidnapping. He was convicted, and sentenced to 25 years in prison. However, in 1984, just a few months before Angie’s murder, he was paroled.
In 1985, Bess was tried and convicted for aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, and sexual assault. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.
When his trial began in 2010, multiple women came forward, including his ex-wife, to testify as to the kind of man Bess was. They testified that he was an abuser, a rapist, and a sadistic man.
Donald Andrew Bess Jr. was found guilty of the murder of Angie Somata. He was sentenced to death.
He died in prison of a heart attach on October 8th, 2022, while still on death row.
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Sources:
DNA Tech Leads Dallas Investigators To College Student’s Killer 24 Years After Savage Stabbing – Joe Dziemianowicz – Oxygen True Crime
The Case of Angela Samota – Marlena Smith-Burris – Medium
True Crime All the Time podcast – The Murder of Angie Samota
Murder of Angela Samota Wikipedia page