Dateline: Who is Sam Moon, and what do we know about his crimes? Details of the 2013 incident explored

Dateline episode features another chilling true crime case involving Stefan "Sam" Moon as the primary suspect and the final convict. Amber Smith was out with a friend, drinking and having fun in Rossborough Park. Eventually, she fell asleep after drinking in the Park itself. When she woke up, she was tied with duct tape. Her vision was foggy, but she sensed the danger and tried to scream for help, but realized that her mouth was also taped. Suddenly, she is then hit on her jaw and is strangled will she passes out.

Moon was arrested in 2017, four years after the crime, as his DNA became part of the police database in relation to another crime. His trial took place in 2019, and he was charged with Kidnapping, s*xual assault, among other felonies.

Read on to know the full details about Stefan Moon and his crimes.

Dateline: Who is Sam Moon, and what do we know about his crimes?

Sam Moon, aka Stefan Alexander Moon, was born on February 11, 1981, and according to public records, Amber's assault isn't his only crime. He had prior criminal history in Colorado in crimes like theft, weapons and harassment and has also been convicted earlier, before getting linked with the 2013 assault.

The case becomes terrifying as Moon used to live in plain sight and also became Amber's roommate after the case went cold in 2015. She was trying to rebuild her life and did now know that she was actually confiding in her attacker.

On the night of August 30, 2013, in Fort Collins, Colorado, Amber was enjoying herself with her friend at Rossborough Park. Amber was around 20 and a single mother. She used to work at 7-11 and, after drinking, fell asleep in the Park itself. The next morning, she vaguely woke up, finding herself tied in red duct tape, with her mouse also taped so that she was unable to call for help. She was hit on the jaw and was unable to see her attacker. Soon, she was getting strangled until she lost consciousness.

Amber again gained consciousness after some time, and she was in a different location, naked and bleeding, bound at Cottonwood Glen Park about 4 a.m. She is severely injured with a broken jaw and bleeding brain. She had visible marks of strangulation, and when the investigators collected DNA evidence from the duct tape and her body. However, the officials got matches or suspects with the same information in their database, as explored in Dateline.

It was in 2017 when Sam Moon was arrested and sentenced to 128 years in prison, as shown on Dateline

Finally in 2017, with the latest forensic update, the DNA was matched with the 2013 assault case, and it was Sam Moon. On August 15, the same year, he was arrested while his trial took place in 2019, in which he was found guilty of kidnapping and s*xual assault but not guilty of murder or attempt to murder. He was sentenced to 128 years of life in prison in Colorado as a s*xually violent predator.

This is when Amber's family was brought to justice after years of suffering. Moon is currently incarcerated in a Colorado state prison, serving his time. In her Dateline: Unforgettable interview Amber said:

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“I feel more at peace now. I feel like I can finally move on with my life. It doesn’t define me anymore — I’m not a victim.”

After years of recovery, therapy and courage, Amber has become a survivor and advocate against s*xual violence, as shown on Dateline.

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