A Kerhonkson, New York, man admitted to killing and dismembering his former girlfriend after she ended their relationship, then placing her severed head inside a suitcase alongside a flower. During questioning, he allegedly said she had “played me like a sucker,” authorities said.
Damon Foy, 50, pleaded guilty last week to second-degree murder in the 2024 death of Alberta Dale, 44, of Pennsylvania, the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office said.
Prosecutors said Foy killed Dale and dismembered her body between March 31 and April 1, 2024. He was reportedly attempting to dispose of her remains when law enforcement stepped in.
The Ulster County Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation on April 1 after Dale’s relatives in Pennsylvania contacted police, worried that they had not heard from her. Deputies initially carried out a welfare check before treating the case as a missing-person investigation.
Damon Foy, 50, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 2024 death of Alberta Dale, 44. (Ulster County Sheriff’s Office)
Deputies visited Foy’s apartment that day and found Dale’s vehicle there, according to the New York Post. Investigators returned the following day after someone discovered Dale’s phone along a roadside and handed it over to authorities, raising concerns that she may have been the victim of a crime.
When investigators arrived at Foy’s home, he allegedly whispered, “She’s in there.” He then reportedly told them, “I killed her,” according to court records cited by the New York Post.
Authorities secured a search warrant for the residence. Inside a closet, they found a suitcase containing Dale’s remains, after which Foy was arrested and charged in her death.
Court documents said investigators shone a flashlight at the suitcase and “immediately noticed what appeared to be dried blood.”
“Officers opened the defendant’s suitcase and found Alberta Dale’s partial dismembered remains, including her severed head,” the records stated, according to the New York Post.
Investigators did not find the rest of Dale’s dismembered remains while carrying out the search warrant, the documents said.
During a later interview, Foy told investigators that he “loved her,” according to the court records.
Alberta Dale had recently ended her relationship with Damon Foy before she was killed. (Alberta Dale/Facebook)
Foy also accused Dale of repeatedly manipulating him throughout their relationship. “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–king system,” he said.
He continued by saying he had been ordered to leave the home he considered his own. “I was told to leave my own f–king home, not a bill in her name, and I was told to leave my own f–king home. Get out. Then it all started coming clearer to me,” he said.
Asked why a flower had been placed inside the suitcase, Foy offered only that he was thinking about “what still happened last night to take s— over the top.”
Court documents cited by the New York Post indicate that Foy had a history of domestic violence involving Dale.
One earlier domestic-violence incident involved a firearm. Investigators also saw an axe on Foy’s property while searching for Dale.
Dale had previously told authorities that “if she went missing it was because [Foy] killed her,” according to the court records.
As part of his plea agreement, Foy is expected to receive a sentence of 23 years to life in prison. The minimum term is two years below the maximum possible sentence of 25 years to life, the Daily Freeman reported.
Deputies had first conducted a welfare check before launching a missing person investigation. (Ulster County Sheriff’s Office)
Chief Assistant District Attorney Liz Culmone-Mills told the outlet that the agreement was backed by Dale’s family.
“The District Attorney’s Office would not be making this recommendation were it not for Alberta Dale’s family,” Culmone-Mills told the outlet.
Foy is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 16.
“The total selfish disregard for the life and dignity of another person is at the heart of domestic violence; Damon Foy has shown that to us,” District Attorney Emmanuel C. Nneji said in a statement. “We must recognize in our laws the rights of victims of domestic violence to be physically, psychologically, and emotionally safe from their tormentors and the dangers specifically targeted for them, and demand procedures that actually protect victims for real, not just on paper.”
