Left inset: Damon Foy (Ulster County Sheriff's Office). Right inset: Alberta Dale (Facebook). Background: The apartment building where Alberta Dale was found dismembered inside Damon Foy's apartment (News 12 New York).
A New York man has admitted to killing his ex-girlfriend, dismembering her body and keeping her remains stuffed in a "carry-on" suitcase — including her "severed head" — with a flower inside.
"She's in there," Damon Foy, 50, "whispered" to police detectives as they searched his Kerhonkson residence following the disappearance of Foy's ex, Alberta Dale, 44, in April 2024.
"I killed her," Foy said, according to Ulster County prosecutors and court filings reviewed by Law&Crime.
Foy pleaded guilty last week to murder after authorities discovered Dale's remains in his apartment on April 3, 2024. Her cellphone and personal belongings were found on the side of the road on April 2, 2024, just one day after Dale's family reported her missing and asked for a welfare check at Foy's apartment.
Prosecutors believe Foy killed Dale sometime between March 31 and April 1, 2024. He admitted to cops that the two had clashed after their breakup, including a fight in which Dale kicked him out of the apartment.
Foy also had an alleged history of domestic violence toward Dale, including an incident involving a gun, which led to a stay-away order of protection that was active at the time of Dale's death.
"I loved her," Foy said during a police interview, according to court filings reviewed by Law&Crime. "The only thing she kept doing after the time throughout the whole relationship was just play me, play me like a fool, play me like a sucker, and just took advantage of the whole f—ing system. That's it. I was told to leave my own home. I was told to leave my own f—ing home, not a bill in her name, and I was told to leave my own f—ing home. Get out. Then it all started coming clearer to me."
Foy went on to ask, "You know what it was like being told once again, not this time by the judge, but by her, to get out the house? Get out. And I ain't got no choice to go back."
Police went to Foy's apartment on April 1, 2024, to check for Dale but initially found only her unoccupied vehicle on the property. The next day, cops returned to question Foy after Dale's phone was found.
The suitcase containing Dale's remains was discovered in a closet, and a warrant to open it was later executed at the scene. "It appeared it was quite heavy for the size of the bag," according to police.
When cops placed the suitcase on the floor, they illuminated it with a flashlight and "immediately noticed what appeared to be dried blood" on it, according to prosecutors.
"Officers opened the defendant's suitcase and found Alberta Dale's partial dismembered remains, including her severed head," according to prosecutors. "The remaining portions of her dismembered body were not located during the execution of the search warrant."
Police found bone and tissue fragments throughout Foy's apartment, along with pruning shears and a serrated knife. Blood evidence was also observed, as was an ax that cops saw at the residence.
Dale had been the one to end the relationship with Foy, according to prosecutors, and she had previously told a crime victims unit that "if she went missing it was because [Foy] killed her," per court filings.
Under his plea agreement, Foy is expected to be sentenced to 23 years to life in state prison, which is two years less than the maximum sentence of 25 years to life, according to prosecutors.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Liz Culmone-Mills told the Daily Freeman that Dale's family supported the deal.
"The District Attorney's Office would not be making this recommendation were it not for Alberta Dale's family," Culmone-Mills said.
Foy is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 16.