Rape suspect accused of kidnapping female UCLA student found dead a day before court date

A Santa Monica man accused of kidnapping a UCLA student and raping another woman died a day before his scheduled court appearance.

First responders found 26-year-old Alexander Schecter unresponsive in the 800 block of San Vicente Boulevard around 6 p.m. Monday.

Police and paramedics were dispatched to the scene after a family member reported that Schecter was not breathing, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Alexander Schecter, who was accused of trapping two female UCLA students in his car while on campus. UCLA Police Department
FILE – Visitors take pictures in front of Royce Hall at the University of California’s Los Angeles campus on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes
Alexander Schecter, who is accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting two female UCLA students and suspected in other assaults, is seen outside his parents’ home in Santa Monica, California, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. London Entertainment

Authorities are investigating his death as a suspected suicide, according to NBC LA. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner will determine the exact cause of death.

Schecter had been due in Airport Courthouse on Oct. 6 for a preliminary hearing on a slate of severe felony counts, including kidnapping to commit another crime, first-degree residential robbery, forcible rape, and two counts of forcible oral copulation.

Students walk on a sunlit pedestrian walkway on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. Getty Images

Court documents reveal prosecutors alleged the offenses involved extreme violence, threats of great bodily harm, and acts demonstrating a high degree of cruelty.

According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Schecter prevented a female UCLA student from exiting his car at around 3 a.m. on March 6, 2026, while dropping her off on the 500 block of Landfair Avenue.

He threatened violence before the victim managed to escape half a mile away on Gayley Avenue.

Following the kidnapping incident, the UCLA Police arrested Schecter on March 12, 2026, and a subsequent investigation tied him to an unsolved sexual assault from late 2025.

Detectives alleged that Schecter sexually assaulted and raped a woman in Culver City at around 3:15 a.m. on Oct. 12, 2025.


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