IN COLD BLOOD: Socialite slain in rest-stop attack
by Jessica Heslam and Dave Wedge
Friday, July 19, 2002
An ex-convict who prosecutors were trying to lock up as a sexually dangerous person forced a Hub socialite into a Burger King bathroom yesterday and savagely stabbed her to death as she desperately fought for her life, authorities said.
``Alexandra Zapp was an innocent woman who found herself in close proximity to a cold-blooded killer,' prosecutor Frank Middleton said of Paul J. Leahy, a Burger King cook who confessed he had ``lost it' when a cop found him in the blood-drenched restroom.
Leahy, a 39-year-old registered sex offender who served 13 years in prison for raping a woman at knifepoint, was held without bail yesterday at his murder arraignment in Brockton District Court.
Prosecutors were in the process of trying to have Leahy put away as a habitual sexual offender under the state's sexually dangerous person law. An August hearing was pending, but Leahy likely would have been cleared due to a recent Supreme Judicial Court ruling that gives more rights to offenders, officials said.
Zapp, a prominent fund-raiser for local charities, was born in Portland, Ore., and lived in the South End before a recent move to Newport, R.I. An avid sailor, she was planning on going to New Zealand in the fall to work at the America's Cup sailing event.
As the balding and tattoo-covered sexual predator stared at the floor, the horrific details of the slaying were revealed in court.
The 30-year-old Zapp was driving home to Newport, R.I, about 4:15 a.m. when she stopped to use the bathroom at the Burger King rest stop on Route 24 near the junction of Interstate 495 in Bridgewater.
``She did what any other person has done a million times over - stop at a well-lit rest area, go into a public place and use the bathroom. It cost her her life because this man was working 50 feet away,' Middleton said.
Leahy, who worked the overnight shift, spotted Zapp walking toward the ladies room carrying her wallet and ``got the idea that he might rob her,' said Middleton, who quoted from a statement the suspect made to police.
He then went through a locked door that cuts off the restroom area from the restaurant and stood outside the ladies room, waiting with his 4-inch folding knife by his side. When Zapp opened the door, she saw him standing with the blade and screamed.
Leahy pounced, pushing her back into the bathroom, and a ``massive struggle' ensued. As she desperately fought her attacker, he repeatedly plunged the knife into her neck and chest, authorities said.
Zapp frantically headbutted and bit him and at least twice nearly made it out the door before Leahy grabbed her from behind, muffling her screams.
At one point, the blood-covered Zapp begged him to spare her life during a face-to-face conversation, Leahy told police.
Leahy asked Zapp, ``What's wrong with you. I was only trying to get some money,' Middleton said.
``Miss Zapp, in a very last-ditch, desperate effort to save herself, tried to convince this killer to let her go. She tried to convince him by saying `Why don't you go outside and say you tried to rescue me?' ' Middleton said.
But Leahy said no one would believe him.
Zapp then bolted for the door one last time before the knife-wielding Leahy ended the bloodbath by delivering the fatal wounds, Middleton said.
Authorities said Zapp suffered 4 or 5 ``vicious stab wounds' to the neck and two to the chest.
``He told police Alexandra Zapp stopped struggling, stopped screaming, stopped kicking and just stared at him,' Middleton said.
Leahy then dragged her bloodied body across the bathroom floor and dumped her on a toilet before picking up her wallet and pocketing her car keys.
Meanwhile, state police Lt. Stephen O'Reilly, who had stopped to use the men's room on his way home from a detail, heard the stifled screams and two thuds followed by running water. He drew his gun after seeing fresh blood on the floor and door.
``He opened that door and stopped this cold-blooded killer from getting away,' Middleton said.
When O'Reilly opened the door to the blood-covered bathroom and saw Zapp's two legs sticking out from under a stall, he yelled ``What's going on?'
``I lost it. I lost it,' Leahy replied.
While Massachusetts doesn't have the death penalty, a source close to the case said prosecutors will look at the federal statute to see if the slaying could fit the criteria.
``This is one of those cases that's an example of a death penalty case,' the source said. ``You've got a guy whose just a violent, vicious guy, who's stalking these women. These are the cases where prison just isn't enough.'
Leahy has a four-page criminal record and served 13 years in state prison for raping a 21-year-old woman at knifepoint in a Brockton pizza shop in 1984. The same year, he was convicted of wielding a knife while assaulting a 13-year-old girl in Brockton.
``He is a danger to any and all women within his reach. He snuffed out this young woman's life without a second thought. He showed her no mercy,' Middleton said.
A petition to have Leahy locked up for being a sexually dangerous person was filed by prosecutors last October - a month before he was released from jail for drunken-driving and soliciting sex from a 13-year-old Bridgewater girl in 2000. The petition was thrown out in January, despite the fact a doctor ruled he would likely re-offend, Plymouth District Attorney Tim Cruz said.
Prosecutors refiled the petition in March and in April, a judge ruled in their favor, setting an August hearing date. But, Cruz admitted, recent changes in the sexually dangerous person (SDP) law would have made it difficult to put Leahy back in state custody, despite his disturbing record.
Under the law, prosecutors can seek a civil commitment for sex offenders if they can prove the convict is likely to strike again and needs treatment. But a ruling earlier this month by the state Supreme Judicial Court narrowed the law's scope.
A source close to the case told the Herald that Leahy lied on his Burger King job application about being a convicted felon and that the company apparently did not do a criminal background check.
``They didn't do anything about looking into his background,' the source said. ``Here's a guy working with the public, late hours with a criminal record . . . it's a recipe for disaster.'
Miami-based Burger King issued a statement decrying the killing as ``a heinous crime' but declined further comment.
WHY DID THIS HAPPEN???????
