Sounak Sengupta
What happens if you discover that your former husband, with whom you shared an 18-year marriage, is a psychopathic killer? Investigation Discovery’s ‘Evil Lives Here: Our House of Horrors’ covers a case that delves into the question. It features a first-person account of Alice Swafford, survivor and ex-wife of convicted rapist and killer William Choyce. Coupled with their daughter, Crystal, the mother-daughter duo recounted the abuses they faced and the deviant behavior they witnessed over the years that was indicative of the heinous crimes William committed. So who is Alice, and where is she now? Let’s find out.
Who is Alice Swafford?
Alice Swafford started dating William Jennings Choyce in their teens in the early 70s. On the show, Alice said William was a tall, dark, and handsome man from a prosperous family. The Choyces had two cars, and all their children attended private schools, and Alice stated she had a crush on him from the beginning. Looking back, she said her love for him made her overlook many warning signs and red flags since the commencement of their relationship.
Alice alleged William once took her to a strip club early in their courtship in 1973, and judging from his behavior, could attest that he was a regular at such shady places. It was the first of many red flags, and she recounted how he used to gift her clothes akin to sex workers and make her wear red lipstick and red nail polish first thing in the morning, even before she had washed or combed her hair. After dating for four years, the couple tied the knot and were delighted when their daughter, Crystal Choyce, was born.
However, Alice was suspicious when she saw him maintaining relationships with sex workers and defending them by stating they were his friends. However, she allegedly caught him with a prostitute in bed once after returning home early from the office. Despite his infidelity and so many red flags, she continued her wedlock with him. When questioned, Alice explained, “I wanted more than anything for Crystal to be raised with her father.” Her father left the family when she was a child, and she did not want her daughter to grow up in a broken family.
Months into their marriage, William allegedly forced her once into watching porn featuring rape videos, and she started feeling disgusted. Alice also claimed he returned one night and declared he was burglarized, arguing he required a gun for security. Since then, he used to go out every night, armed, and did not return home most nights. A suspicious Alice went looking for him with their 7-year-old daughter but could not find him. However, the mystery was solved in 1985 when he called Alice from the police station after being arrested for soliciting a prostitute.
Alice claimed that their marriage began to crumble since then as she started to feel repulsed toward him. As she grew distant from her husband, Crystal began to bear the brunt. He started beating her at the drop of a hat, and she alleged, “I felt like he didn’t love me. And I just remember feeling like I’m really dealing with a person who is crazy and things were gonna get worse.”
Where is Alice Swafford Today?
When she was 11, a scared Crystal saw William rushing down the stairs, wearing a chilling ski mark, and called her mother away on an office tour. As the mother-daughter duo spoke, Oakland police arrived looking for an alleged perpetrator donning a ski mask. The officers claimed the unidentified individual had tied a neighboring woman to a chair, and she had thrown herself off the second floor, fearful the masked stranger might return.
Alice also alleged William had stopped taking baths and watched disturbing porn all day. Crystal further contended he even hanged one of her dolls with his belt, claiming it was dead. Oakland police found Victoria Bell’s body on April 3, 1988. By then, Alice claimed William’s behavior had become so erratic and rage episodes so furious that the mother-daughter duo fled and started a new life. She divorced William in 1990. They later learned that William had abducted, raped, and murdered three women and was involved in the rape of many others.
In December 2008, William was sentenced to death. He is incarcerated at the San Quentin State Prison and remains on death row. Crystal Choyce-Lige got married since then and is a mother, now in her late 40s, living in Atlanta. Alice, now in her late 60s, was an English teacher in the Oakland Unified School District and now lives in Covington, Georgia, as per her Facebook profile.
Read More: Who Were William Choyce’s Victims? Where is He Now?
