The body of a young woman named Amanda Plasse was found in her apartment in August 2011 and shocked the people of Chicopee, Massachusetts. The brutal act was referred to as a “crime of passion,” and it took them two long years to nabbed the murderer. The investigation process is meticulously followed in Investigation Discovery’s “On the Case With Paula Zahn: A Hidden Clue,” which also depicts Amanda’s mother’s battle to prevent the case from being classified as another “cold case.” We can tell you everything there is to know about this tragic incident, including the perpetrator’s identity and whereabouts right now. Let’s get started, shall we?

How Did Amanda Plasse Pass Away?

On December 11, 1990, Amanda Lynn Plasse was born. She was raised in Chicopee, Massachusetts, with two siblings, Amieelee and Nicholas. Her curly brown hair and arsenal of body tattoos emphasized her carefree and kind-hearted personality. The 20-year-old enjoyed journaling, poetry, music, jewelry making, and all things artistic. Amanda was also an accomplished painter who taught herself to play the guitar. She worked as a waitress and hostess in various cafes and restaurants. She was working at Friendly’s on Memorial Drive in Chicopee at the time of the incident.

Amanda was ambitious and had been dating Seth Green, a 27-year-old carpenter, for about a week. Everything in her life appeared to be fine. On August 26, 2011, Seth discovered Amanda lying in a pool of blood inside the kitchen of her third-floor apartment at 73 School Street in Chicopee. He called 911, and police arrived at the scene around 6:50 p.m. to retrieve Amanda’s body. The 20-year-old woman was stabbed repeatedly in the chest, throat, and abdomen.

There were bloodstains all over the kitchen, indicating the violent struggle between Amanda and her assailant. The dry bloody shoe prints on the kitchen floor assisted investigators in determining the time of the murder, which was between 4:10 and 5 p.m. “The bloody footprint was from a women’s Nike Air Max shoe with a non-marking sole, US size 9.5,” according to the Chicopee police report. However, because it was possible to “convert a men’s shoe size to a women’s size by adding 2,” it could also be a men’s size 7 ½ sneaker.

The police also discovered a broken window pane from inside the apartment. The palm print on the window, however, was the most important evidence because it is individual and unique, just like fingerprints. During an autopsy, the medical examiner discovered “a large amount of DNA under her fingernails,” indicating that the young woman fought for her life in her final moments. Amanda died as a result of injuries to her liver, heart, and soft tissues caused by the multiple stab wounds to her abdomen and chest.

Who was killer of Amanda Plasse?

The boyfriend, Seth Green, was initially suspected by the police. He passed a polygraph test, and his palm prints, shoe size, and DNA samples all came back negative when compared to evidence recovered from the crime scene. As a result, he was removed from the list of suspects. Because there was no forced entry, the police assumed Amanda knew her killer and began investigating her close friends and acquaintances.

The police focused on the DNA evidence from under her fingernails and ran it through a national database but found no matches. They also pursued an investigation into one of Amanda’s ex-boyfriends and best friend, Marcedes. However, all investigation paths led to dead ends, and the case was quickly becoming cold. However, Amanda’s family was tenacious in their pursuit of justice. They distributed flyers and sponsored road races in the hopes that someone would come forward with evidence that would persuade the investigators to continue the investigation.

Chicopee police decided to check the photos of Amanda’s apartment again in 2013, about two years after the violent crime, as well as go through all the evidence with a fresh perspective. They discovered a new piece of evidence — a message on Amanda’s bedroom’s dry-erase whiteboard. The message stated, “Dennis was here 8/11/11,” which made the evidence significant because the date was only 15 days before Amanda was discovered dead in her apartment.

Amanda’s ex-boyfriend mentioned an individual with whom she had a confrontation about him breaking into her apartment in a recorded interview in September 2011. He remembered the alleged burglar’s name beginning with a “D,” and he had seen him in the area. The officers searched their database and discovered two people named Dennis who lived near Amanda’s apartment at 73 School Street in Chicopee in 2011.

The police discovered Dennis Rosa-Roman, who lived just three blocks away, by cross-referencing the number with Amanda’s phone records. Dennis was called in for an interview in November 2013 and was discovered to be wearing the same sneakers as the killer inside Amanda’s apartment. He provided a DNA sample that matched the evidence found under Amanda’s nails, and he also had a history of breaking and entering. Dennis was arrested and charged with Amanda’s murder on November 5, 2013.

Where is Dennis Rosa-Roman Now?

During questioning, Dennis Rosa-Roman claimed that he used to sell drugs to Amanda and was a witness to her murder, despite initially denying ever entering her apartment. He claimed that his drug supplier murdered Amanda and was afraid to reveal his identity for fear of endangering his family. His statements, however, changed so frequently that the police refused to believe him. Dennis denied all of the allegations and pleaded not guilty after being charged with murder.

Dennis went to trial on July 7, 2016, and was convicted of first-degree murder after an eight-day trial. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Dennis is most likely currently incarcerated in a Massachusetts prison cell. According to reports, some of the officers on the first response team were also guilty of photographing the crime scene and sharing them with their peers and strangers at college football games.

In Amanda’s honor, a bill was introduced in 2014 that prohibited first responders from taking and distributing unauthorized images of the victim and carries a fine and jail term if found guilty. On August 1, 2022, the House and Senate passed the bill. The law went into effect on August 8, much to the delight of Amanda’s family and friends, after receiving Governor Charlie Baker’s signature.