Murder of Alexandra Zapp

Alexandra Nicole Zapp (August 24, 1971 – July 18, 2002) was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, the daughter of Raymond and Andrea (née Casanova) Zapp. She attended Miss Porter's boarding school in Connecticut before returning to Oregon to attend the University of Oregon for two years. She later took an editing position in Boston, Massachusetts, where she volunteered for organizations including The French Library, The Boston Ballet, and the Courageous Sailing Center, where she taught children to sail. In November 2001, Zapp moved to Newport, Rhode Island to work for US Sailing. At the time of her death she was planning to relocate to New Zealand to pursue a goal of sailing on an America's Cup boat.

On July 18, 2002, Zapp was driving home to Newport from a charity event in Boston when she stopped around midnight at a rest area on Massachusetts Route 24 in Bridgewater. A Burger King employee at the rest stop, a repeat sex offender, watched her enter the women's restroom and waited. According to police reports and a later confession, when Zapp opened the door to leave, he blocked the doorway with a knife and pushed her back inside. Zapp pleaded with him and fought back as he stabbed her in the chest six times; she also sustained defensive wounds to her arm, wrist, hand, and chin. An off-duty Massachusetts State Police lieutenant in the nearby men's room heard her muffled screams, approached the women's room, saw blood, and entered with his weapon drawn to find the assailant standing by the sink covered in blood.

The assailant, then 40, was charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, and armed assault with intent to rob. The prosecutor characterized the evidence as overwhelming, citing the testimony of the state trooper who discovered him at the scene as well as a police statement in which he confessed to intentionally stabbing Zapp — initially claiming he had stabbed her only twice in the arm before admitting to the chest wounds when confronted with autopsy findings. His criminal history dated to 1981, including sexual offenses beginning in 1984, with some victims as young as 13. His defense attorney did not contest guilt on all counts but argued the killing was not premeditated, describing it as a spontaneous escalation of an encounter that began as a possible robbery rather than a planned attack. On September 24, 2003, he was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole.

Zapp's case had lasting policy impact: Section 121 of the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act is named the "Megan Nicole Kanka and Alexandra Nicole Zapp Community Notification Program" in her memory and that of another victim, and Massachusetts' Sexually Dangerous Persons Law is informally known as the "Ally Zapp" Law. After her death, Zapp's mother and stepfather, Andrea Casanova and Steven Stiles, founded The ALLY Foundation in Boston in November 2002, a charitable organization focused on preventing violent sex offenses and advocating for policy reform, which continues to run fundraising events such as the Sail for a Change Flip Flop Regatta and Run for a Change.