Stalked To Death: The Alissa Blanton Story

(Photo credit: annecarolinedrake.com

Alissa Goedecke seemed to have the world at her feet back in 2008, she was beautiful, popular and in love with her long term boyfriend Brent who she met in high school. She was a graduate of Jefferson College and a member of The Journey Of Christian Church. Born Alissa Deana Goedecke on the 9th of September 1986 in Festus, Missouri, she was very close to her parents and her brother and sister.

She was described as a sweet and friendly girl by those that knew her and she had a lovely, warm smile and a big heart. In September 2008, Alissa was working as a waitress in Hooters (Merritt Island, Florida) to make some extra money whilst she was studying to become a teacher which was her dream job. She was only 21 at the time and really enjoyed working there, she made a a lot of friends and got on well with the customers. 

It was in this job that Alissa first noticed an older man who would come into the restaurant everyday and make a point of sitting in the section that she served. He seemed really polite and would say hello when she passed. He would leave her very generous tips and give her compliments. Alissa wasn't alarmed at this at first because she was used to some of the customers who would often chat with her or have little crushes on her and it was harmless. She didn't see no harm in having a little conversation with this man named Roger Troy as she did with the other customers. 

As time went on, 59 year old Roger would keep coming into the restaurant everyday, it was becoming clear that he thought that the relationship between him and Alissa was something more than it was. He began to ask her repeatedly for her phone number, she refused to give it to him but didn't want to hurt him as he seemed like a nice guy and he'd always given her tips. She decided to give him an email address that she hardly ever used as way to keep him quiet. He said that he just wanted to know what her working schedule was going to be as he preferred to be served by her. When he emailed her about the schedule she sent it to him and didn't think anything else of it.

Roger seemed to see this as some sort of signal that Alissa was interested in him and so he began emailing her several times a day. The emails were not malicious, he would ask her questions and compliment her on how she looked etc. As Alissa didn't check this email account that much, she didn't notice the constant emails at first. At work, Roger was still coming in everyday, only this time he began trying to touch Alissa, give her cuddles and he would wait for her outside work when she had finished her shift and walk her to her car. Alissa started to get annoyed and fed up with Roger always trying to hang around her, she had a word with her manager at Hooters who then confronted Roger.

The manager told Roger that customers were not allowed to touch members of staff and told him that his behaviour towards Alissa was inappropriate. Roger was angry about this and told the manager that he spent a lot of money in the restaurant and on tipping Alissa. He felt that as a loyal customer he should not be treated this way.

Alissa went into work the next day and noticed that Roger was sat in another area of the restaurant. He didn't look happy but Alissa was a bit relieved to not have to deal with the constant questions and him trying to grab her all of the time. 

She decided to check her old email account and there she found hundreds of emails from Roger Troy calling her a ''Whore'', a ''Tramp'', as well as many other horrible names. The emails went on and on about what a horrible person she was. He told her ''You are the poster girl for 'beauty is only skin deep.'' 

Alissa reported the emails to the police and her manager but nothing seemed to have been done about it. It got to the point where she was so fed up with the constant emails and seeing Roger at Hooters everyday (which made her feel really uncomfortable), that she decided to leave the job.

Thinking that would be the end of her problems, she eventually started a new job at a school. Things were going great in her new job until Roger had somehow discovered where she was working and proceeded to harass her there.

Alissa and her boyfriend Brent, who were now engaged, thought it would be best if they moved house and had a fresh start away from Roger. They also started new jobs at the same place (AT&T Wireless call centre in Orlando). 

Some time went by and things seemed to be going well. Alissa and Brent got married on the 15th of August 2009 and were enjoying their married life together. One day they were out in the garden and Brent found a 4 paged letter which had been written by Roger Troy, there was no postmark so the letter had been hand delivered so he knew where they were now living.

The emails were continuing and getting worse. Roger would make comments about Alissa's weight, he wasn't happy that she cut and dyed her hair. He was furious that she had gotten married and he followed her to work one day and blocked her in her car. She said that he walked up to her car and rested his elbows on the pane of her car window. 

Alissa was scared and getting fed up with never getting any peace from Roger. No matter how many times she had complained to the police, nothing had been done so she and Brent decided to put together all of the evidence they had on Roger, the malicious emails, the letters etc and detailed all of the incidents where Roger had followed Alissa to work and sat in his car outside of the house.


On the 1st of February 2010 at an emergency court hearing, Alissa handed over a document containing over 70 pages of evidence of Roger Troy's harassment from when it started at Hooters to the present time. All of the emails were included one of which was sent to her on the 7th of November 2009 which said ''I know you hate me pressing you to be honest, but I have a question. What the hell is wrong with you? That's all I'm going to say and I know as always I will not get an answer. My payment for caring about a young woman and how she screwed up her life.''

Despite copies of the endless emails, the fact that he seemed to be following her and tracking her down to her new jobs, constantly harassing her and her anxiety about his ownership of guns, the Judge (Dean Moxley) decided that there was not enough evidence to suggest that Alissa's life was in danger. He refused to grant an order of protection. Judge Dean Moxley ordered another hearing to take place on the 16th of February 2010 to gather more information on the request for a protection order. 


On the 8th of February 2010, Alissa and Brent had just had some lunch together and drove into their place of work at the AT&T Wireless call centre. They sat in the car talking for a little while then Alissa kissed Brent and said that she would see him later. She got out of the car and Brent stayed behind. 

As Alissa got nearer to the building she was suddenly approached by Roger Troy. Nothing is known of the conversation which had taken place between the pair but it's safe to say that Alissa was anxious and wanted to be away from him, she managed to call Brent and told him that Roger was there. Brent got out of the car as fast as he could but by the time he could reach her, Roger had pulled out a gun and shot Alissa 10 times before turning the gun on himself.

Brent frantically tried to tend to Alissa's wounds and stop the bleeding whilst calling for an ambulance. Witnesses who'd been coming back to the building from their lunch breaks or had heard the gun shots were on the phone to 911 operators telling them what they had seen.

Alissa held on for as long as she could and as Brent and the paramedics tried to help her, Brent kept telling her how much he loved her. She was rushed to the hospital but sadly died later that day. Roger Troy's body was still lying in the parking lot for over an hour covered by a yellow tarp after the paramedics rushed Alissa to the hospital. Roger had died at the scene from a self inflicted gun shot wound to the head. Roger Troy was 61 years old and Alissa was just 23. 

Brent and Alissa only got the chance to enjoy 6 months of marriage together and they had spent a long time together before that as childhood sweethearts, they grew up together. Brent was heartbroken as you can imagine as was everyone who had known Alissa. 

Alissa's parents did not know of her troubles with Roger Troy, maybe Alissa didn't want to worry them or thought that she could deal with the problem herself. When Roger's neighbours heard the news about what he had done, they were said to be shocked as they had always thought of him as a nice, polite man with a great sense of humour. 

Women's rights activists were outraged at Judge Dean Moxley's refusal to grant a protection order in the week before Alissa's murder. Some people said that the protection order is only as helpful in these situations as the person who honours it. Once a stalker has made up their mind to commit suicide, things can become even worse with the victim being placed in even more serious danger. 

After learning of Alissa's death, Judge Dean Moxley said ''As a judge, you follow the law. You're not omniscient. God bless her soul.''

Alissa was cremated and her ashes were scattered in the Atlantic Ocean.

I was so sad and angry when reading about this case and one of the saddest things about it, is that this seems to happen, time and time again with victims of stalking not getting the proper protection that they need. I've read stories of people who have been to hell and back at the hands of an abusive ex or an obsessed stranger and they've tried to get help but not been taken seriously. When I went through my own horrific experience at the hands of a stalker who I knew through work (I wrote about it in a series of posts, starting with this one). I remember when the police came to my house after one of many times that he'd been sat outside in his car, sending me messages threatening me. They didn't take me seriously and then told me that I would have to pay £1000 for a restraining order. All they did was have a chat with him. The only way I could get out of the situation was to move house and cut off contact with people that I previously worked with. I had to completely change my life because I was scared that he would track me down. 

Alissa had enough evidence, anyone who has looked into her story can see that. I don't know what that judge was thinking. I tried to find out more about Roger Troy but there's nothing much online about him at all. There's no mention of him being married or having kids anywhere. From what we do know about him and his behaviour it seems that he was a loner. A 61 year old man being obsessed with a 23 year old girl (59 when this started and Alissa was only 21) is not normal and spending everyday in Hooters ogling young girls who are old enough to be your daughter/grand-daughter is just plain creepy.


Stalking Helplines, UK & USA:

National Stalking Helpline: 0808 802 0300

Woman's Aid Federation Of England: 0808 2000 247 (24 hrs)

Safe Horizon: 1-866-689-HELP (4357)

24-Hour Hotline (24 hours a day, seven days a week) 1-800-621-HOPE(4673)


Further Reading And Sources:





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6 comments:

  1. OMG! This was such a good read, thank you for sharing! I love these sort of blogs and am so happy I came across this. Will defo be reading more of your posts.

    - Nyxie

    www.nyxiesnook.com

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    1. Thank you Nyxie, that means a lot : ) Have a great week! x

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  2. As someone who was stalked twice, this is my my fear, and it seems like the law never takes it seriously at all. I have worked retail a similar industry and it scary how men can take women doing their job way too far!

    http://loveiszero.net

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  3. Totally agree! Thank you for reading : ) x

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  4. I remember when this story came out in the news it was heart 💔 this beautiful girl and this awful judge. Now am going the same situation of a stalker and for some reason this beautiful girl came to my mind. God bless her and may she rest in peace in heaven.

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    1. Thank you so much for reading and commenting. I myself have had an experience with a stalker, if you need to chat any time feel free to drop me a line: caledoniankblog@yahoo.co.uk Hope everything is well with you x x

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