50 year old DNA evidence was the key to unlocking the mystery of who killed 18 year old Karen Bentz, and 20 year old Loretta Jean Davis, and now the 78 year old man who did it will spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole.
But how, exactly, did police catch him after all these years? Listen to Jeanne Destro's interview with the head of the Summit County Prosecutor's Office Criminal Division, Brian Lo Prinzi. (below)
But first, the backstory.
Gustave Sapharas of Jackson Township, was found guilty by a jury in Summit County Common Pleas court last month of murdering the two young women, back in the 1970's.
Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge, Alison Breaux, sentenced him this week, ordering that a 15 year to life sentence for the First Degree murder of Karen Bentz, and a sentence of life in prison without parole for the aggravated murder of Loretta Jean Davis, should be served consecutively, noting “You are not to be released from prison at any time, Mr. Sapharas,”
Bentz, of Akron, was last seen alive at about 11pm on Tuesday, April 28th, 1970 in Akron. Her body was discovered on the morning of April 29th on the side of Indian Hills Drive in Tallmadge. She had been stabbed multiple times and was strangled.
20-year-old Loretta Jean Davis of Brimfield was last seen alive about 2am on Sunday, September 28, 1975 in Tallmadge. Her body was discovered later that day on the side of Congress Lake Road in Portage County. She had also been been stabbed.
Sapharas was arrested and indicted in the cold case murders back in 2019, but because of delays related to legal appeals and COVID; only faced trial last month for killing the women, decades ago.
Gustave Sapharas
So how did this long unsolved mystery finally end in justice for the two young women who met their fate at the hands of a brutal, knife-weilding murderer? How did he even find them? What did it take to crack the case?
Listen now, as Jeanne Destro interviews the head of Summit County Prosecutor's Office Criminal Division, Brian LoPrinzi.