Gustave Sapharas:Ohio Serial Killer
Gustave Sapharas is a serial killer who, before he was caught, was active in the Akron and Columbus, Ohio area.
What was he like?
He smiles like all the other teenagers in his high school yearbook. He was in the school band and even a member of the Thespian club.
We know, from his convictions through DNA evidence, that he abducted, assaulted, tortured, mutilated and stabbed Karen Bentz in 1970.
We know that, five years later, he abducted, assaulted, tortured, mutilated and stabbed to death Loretta Davis in 1975.
We know he abducted, assaulted and stabbed Bonita Parker to death in 1991.
Do you think that these three murders are his only murders? I don’t. I think there are many more.
What do we know about him?
Gustave Sapharas was born in 1944 or 1945 to Frances and George Alexander Sapharas. He is listed as five years old on the 1950 census.
(We know he was in Massillon, Ohio on Sunday September 4th,1960 serving as an usher at a wedding at St. Haralambos Church. I don’t know if any crimes were committed there but…I looked for every mention of his name in newspaper archives.)
He attended East High School in Akron. He got in a bit of trouble for speeding when he was 16 and his license was suspended for 60 days. (Date of news article:May 11, 1961) He also had to go to a court mandated driving course. (So, we know he was driving then and had access to a car. His crimes could have started then.)
He graduated from East High in June of 1962.
(Looking at the maps and knowing he is in Akron…I believe he killed Marion Brubaker in Aug. 1962. I think he killed Thomas Sumerix and Ruth Guthrie in June 1963. I think these children were his first and, sort of, experimental killings. I can see a progression. He’s learning as he goes.)
By November of 1965 he was in the Army at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. I don’t know if he volunteered or was drafted. An article in the papers provided his address with many others so that the public could write to a soldier and send them home baked cookies and such for the Holidays.
I didn’t see anything from November 1965 until May 15th 1969. So, I believe he was in Vietnam then. He was with the 82nd Airborne. Did he rape and murder women and girls there in Vietnam too?
In mid May 1969, he was back in Akron and violently assaulted his date. He received only probation for this assault. So, he was free. (By the way, his address 1950 Adelaide puts him at the epicenter of many cold cases.)
In 1970 he was working at the Parker Career Center. Ads for the career center mention him by name. It seems he was a persuasive speaker. He might have been a good salesman. He had been in the Thespian club in high school, after all.
He married a lady named Marilyn in 1972. They moved to West Virginia but I don’t know the year. They divorced on October 8th, 1974. The reason listed was adultery. She had filed for divorce against him. Serial killers go out at night and drive around quite a lot looking for victims. What victims did he leave behind in West Virginia? What city did he live in then? (Huntington)
Turns out he had raped a woman there and faced charges but the mostly male or all male Grand Jury felt that there wasn’t enough proof of a crime. So he went free.
(In a modern article after his 2023 convictions, they mention numerous accusations of abduction and rape by victims in Akron who got away. It seems he was a constant menace who WAS reported to police over and over.)
He was a car salesman at Jim Leach Ford in 1975. Several ads for cars mention him by name. That dealership was located at 370 W. Market. Would he have had access to multiple cars there to drive around stalking victims?
He was also a co-owner of his family’s restaurant in Akron.
In the Sunday December 15th, 1974 Akron Beacon Journal he placed this ad:
At that point we know he had murdered Karen Bentz four years before. He would murder Loretta Davis the following year in 1975. Can you imagine going to Rome with him?
He seems to love seeing his work in the paper. He has a thing about getting his name in the paper. I wonder if he kept newspaper clippings of his murders.
In January of 1976 he is running a furniture sales warehouse in Akron.
In June of 1976, Sapharas Restaurant was remodeling the kitchen. Business must have been good. It was the Bicentennial year 1776-1976 and people were somewhat optimistic. Gus placed an ad to sell the old broiler. He was managing the restaurant by that time. It’s interesting that he could always fall back on the family business. His family members were hardworking and friendly by all accounts. It’s sad that he brought such shame on the family name.
Sapharas Restaurant was located at the corner of South Arlington and Waterloo Roads.
Gus Sapharas raped a woman in 1976. He was tried and convicted. In 1977 was sentenced to prison for 15-60 years for that rape. Rape very seldom got a long sentence then because it wasn’t considered a serious or violent crime. This must have been a particularly vicious attack for the minimum sentence to be 15 years. Ohio paroled him early, though, in November of 1990.
In 1991 he was out on parole and living in Westerville, Delaware County, Ohio. That’s north of Columbus. He lived at 4872 St. Andrews Circle. He raped and stabbed a 28 year old woman there. It doesn’t seem like he faced serious consequences for that at first. He told police that “She was a prostitute”. (Victim Blaming.) Check out his van:
The woman that he stabbed in that incident lost a tremendous amount of blood and nearly died. This attack landed Gus back in prison for parole violations in 1991. Ohio astonishingly freed him again in 1999 or 2002. (I found conflicting information.) Only ten years when that poor woman nearly bled to death. (Of course they did not know about Bentz, Davis and Parker yet.)
Meanwhile Bonita Parker had been raped and stabbed and dumped nearby in 1991. But her case would go cold.
In 1999, when his father died, Gus lived in Columbus, Ohio. Gus was freed from prison that year and lived also later lived near the University of Cincinnati. He later moved to Stark County and worked at a Ponderosa Restaurant. He had to carry the label of sex offender then. His coworkers were very wary of him. Some even insisted on having someone else walk them to their cars at night. (Just as an aside:Police Departments really need to hire more women. We pick up different vibes from the people we meet.)
In 2018, DNA connected him to the 1991 murder of Bonita Parker. His DNA was under her nails and on her underwear and hosiery.
In 2019, DNA connected him to the Akron murders of Karen Bentz in 1970 and Loretta Davis in 1975.
What are the odds that these three women are the only murder victims of Sapharas?
Gustave Sapharas is in prison now and will never get out. (Unless there’s an all male parole board in Ohio who hates women.)
I have no doubt that there are many other victims out there in the Cold Case files, possibly of several states. I also think they should look at victims of all races. Some serial killers choose victims of their own race. But, that doesn’t mean that they all do.
Those ads for jobs, cars and career opportunities bother me. Did he ever stop by someone’s house or arrange to meet someone somewhere about the job opportunities or for a test drive?
Shareable YouTube Video here:
https://youtu.be/JF5XEY17RQs?si=TlF56b1qwTvZ3iB1
Comments
Post a Comment