How did she die? Who killed her?

Both NBC’s “Dateline: Secrets Uncovered: At the Bottom of the Pool” and Investigation Discovery’s “American Monster: Once a Princess” cover the 2014 murder case of former supermodel Samira Frasch in depth. After giving birth to her first daughter, she aspired to be an entrepreneur, but that dream remained unfulfilled when she was brutally murdered in her Florida home. The episodes feature the victims’ relatives and officers involved in the investigation, giving viewers insightful insight into the crime and its aftermath.

Samira Frasch was found dead in the pool of her house

On December 12, 1975, in Antsohihy, Madagascar, Madiolaza Mbotizafy and Razafisoa Zafy welcomed a little bundle of joy: Samira Mariette Mbotizafy Frasch. From a young age, she was fascinated by the glitz and glamour that comes with being a pop star and worked towards it, which she achieved with her determination and ambition. The established pop star from Madagascar then wanted to get into the modeling industry. So, in her twenties, she moved from her hometown to France with dreams of becoming a supermodel. In 2008, Samira had a stable modeling career in France, when her paths crossed with Adam Frasch in a Paris nightclub. He was a podiatrist at the time and ran a multimillion-dollar practice near his hometown of Tallahassee, Florida.

Almost instantly, they fell head over heels in love. To be with Adam, Samira put her modeling career on hold and moved to Florida, where they lived in a gated community called Golden Eagle. About a year into their relationship, they tied the knot in 2009 in a grand celebration in Las Vegas. A few years after their wedding, the couple welcomed their first daughter into the world and named her Hyrah Michouri Frasch. Right after her birth, Samira wanted to create hype around Hyrah and even wanted to launch a luxury baby clothing line and sell it through Hyrah’s website. Along the way, she started songwriting again and directed music videos, which were funded by Adam. On April 13, 2013, she gave birth to her second daughter, Skynnah Mandy Frasch.

According to reports, in addition to her two daughters with Adam, she also had a son named Dylan Diego Ruffin. Samira’s life that she had been looking forward to ended abruptly on the morning of February 22, 2014. The 38-year-old former model was found dead in the swimming pool by the handyman of the Frasch couple’s Golden Eagle estate. Without wasting any time, he called 911 and informed the police about the situation. When the authorities arrived at the scene, they examined the body and the crime scene. The autopsy report proved that she had suffered blunt force trauma to the head before drowning in the pool. After her death was officially classified as homicide, the police launched a murder investigation. Since her children were not seen on the property, the police also issued an Amber Alert for her two daughters.

A heated argument is said to have led to the death of Samira Frasch

Since Samira Frasch’s body was discovered by handyman Gerald Gardner, the police suspected him of involvement in the crime but later removed his name from the list of suspects. As they dug deeper into the Frasch couple’s lives, they learned that their marriage had been going through a rough patch for several years. Tensions between them escalated in August 2013 when Samira found explicit text messages from other women on Adam’s phone. According to the show, she attacked him as soon as she found out about it and he reportedly filed assault charges against her. In addition, he even obtained temporary custody of her daughters. In revenge, she hired a lawyer to help her regain temporary custody of the children.

At the time, he was said to have been involved with at least three other women. She filed for divorce, and he moved to his beach house in Panama City. Soon, he tried to reconcile with her, claiming he was getting better. When investigators went to question Adam, they learned that he was in Panama City with the children. So they drove to Panama City and took him to the local police station, where they questioned him about the evening of her death. He claimed that they were in the process of settling their marriage. On the evening of February 21, 2014, she had been drinking champagne, according to her statement. He then told investigators that he left with the children around 8 a.m. the next morning, as Samira had asked him to look after her for a day or two.

The murderer was brought to trial about three years after the murder

What struck them as odd was the fact that the toxicology reports showed that Samira had no alcohol in her system, meaning Adam was lying. Although investigators were sure that Adam was involved in his wife’s murder, they didn’t have enough evidence to prove it. Fortunately, they learned that he was being investigated for Medicare fraud, so when they raided his Georgia office and found firearms, they arrested him and focused on connecting him to the murder investigation. During his time in prison, Adam spoke to one of the inmates about Samira’s death. He reportedly told him that when she confronted him about the other women he was having an affair with at the time, the argument became heated and physical, which resulted in Samira lying unconscious on the floor.

Although he knew she was not dead, he put her in the pool to remove his DNA from her body and make her death look like an accident. Eventually, authorities managed to gather enough incriminating evidence against him and on November 7, 2014, they charged him with the premeditated murder of his wife. More than two years later, in January 2017, Adam Frasch’s trial began. Although he pleaded not guilty, the jury found him guilty and convicted him of the premeditated murder of Samira Frasch on January 26, 2017. He received a life sentence for his gruesome crime.

Read more: Adam Frasch: Where is the murderer now?