Mary Petry and William Sproat:1970, Columbus, Ohio
Mary Petry was born on October 12th, 1949 to Marcella Louise Petry and Paul William Petry. She had an identical twin sister named Martha.
In 1970, Mary was an honor student at Cincinnati’s Mt. St. Joseph College. She was studying French. (Her twin sister, Martha was away at college in Minnesota.)
William Sproat was born in 1947. He was from a suburb of Philadelphia: Havertown, Pennsylvania. His parents were Mary and William J. Sproat. On the 1950 census William’s father worked at a Distillery. On that same Census, William has a younger sister named Patricia Ann.
In 1970, William Sproat was a graduate student, also studying French, at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He lived with a roommate at 178 West 8th Avenue in Apartment C.
On Friday evening February 27th, 1970, Mary traveled to Columbus to see William. She took a cab. Today an Uber would cost you $117 dollars or more to make the hour and forty minute drive. I wonder how much it cost in 1970? But, Mary wasn’t worried about the cost. She was in love and wanted to spend the weekend with William. The two had met when they were both studying French on a Xavier scholarship program. They had both traveled to France with the program as well. It must have been a wonderful time for them. They were young and in love.
Mary got out of the cab. The driver likely helped her retrieve a suitcase from the trunk. She walked on into 178 West 8th Ave and made her way to Apartment C.
I believe someone spotted her getting out of that cab. I believe this man could see her happiness and could tell that she was in town visiting someone. In those few seconds he made up his mind.
Mary Petry and William Sproat were stabbed to death at 178 West 8th Avenue Apartment C in Columbus, Ohio. Both suffered torturous deaths. William was found tied with his hand behind his back. His hands and feet were secured together with coat hanger wire. It was tied so tightly that police wondered if the killer had used a pair of pliers to twist the wire. He had been strangled and also stabbed repeatedly.
Mary was found on the bed. She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed. She had also been violently beaten with a bowling ball found near the bed.
William’s roommate, who was also from Havertown, Pennsylvania and also a graduate student, came home the next day around noon and found the two murder victims.
Both he and the cab driver were questioned and cleared.
What Mary Petry and William Sproat probably did not know was that six young women had been raped in that same neighborhood in the past two months. The victims all described the same man. There was a man coming to that neighborhood over and over and lying in wait. He was acting like a predator in the wild. He kept coming back to this neighborhood.
Police developed a sketch but I could not find it published in the newspapers from 1970. That might have been incredibly helpful in the investigation but for some reason they did not put the sketch out there.
This case has gone unsolved since 1970. But, I believe Gustave Sapharas is the killer. This is why:
This double murder was vicious. Nothing was stolen from the apartment. This killer had no intention of robbing anyone. He just wanted to rape and kill. He liked hunting victims this way. He liked this. He was addicted to it actually. He’d done it since he was still a teen. He got in trouble for a vicious rape and, I believe, was given the choice of jail or Vietnam. He chose Vietnam. He would have gained even more experience there in doing these terrible things to other human beings. He survived two tours and came back to Akron. He picked up right where he left off.
He had a reputation for sexual violence in Akron and I believe in Columbus as well. He still committed rapes there but he also traveled to other towns in order to avoid getting caught.
Columbus is a college town. There are lots of young people. They also are polite young people who grew up in nice neighborhoods for the most part. They would have very little experience with violence and crime. He could always take them by surprise. He could always control them with a weapon and threats.
It was late February. In just a few weeks Gustave Sapharas would abduct, torture, sexually assault and murder a teenager named Karen Bentz in Akron. We know this now because he was recently convicted and sentenced for that cold case.
But, on February 27th, 1970, I believe he was in Columbus.
Gustave Sapharas is a known serial rapist and serial killer. He definitely had victims over the years in Columbus and Akron.
In 1969 he raped a young woman or girl and was given two years probation in Akron. He abducted and killed Karen Bentz in 1970. He abducted and killed Loretta Jean Davis in 1975. (He’s recently been convicted of both of those murders.)
He moved to West Virginia for a short time and viciously raped a woman there. He rammed her car. When she got out to discuss the accident and exchange insurance information he abducted her and raped her. A West Virginia jury acquitted him because they believed his story over hers. He moved back home to Akron.
In 1976 he raped a victim and was sent to prison until 1991. Ohio released him early on probation.
In 1991, He then killed Bonita Parker in Columbus. (In 2018, a jury acquitted him of Bonita’s murder even though his DNA was found on her body.) He also nearly killed another woman that summer. She survived even though she lost almost all her blood. He went back to prison for violating his parole.
Ohio released him again in 2002. Of course he had no murder convictions then. He worked a restaurant job.
In 2018, investigators would link his DNA to the murder of Bonita Parker. He was tried but acquitted.
In 2019, investigators in Akron would find that his DNA was on Karen Bentz when she was found murdered in 1970. They also found his DNA on Loretta Jean Davis. (Rape kits and other evidence had been preserved in both cases. Once tested it revealed Gus Sapharas as the murderer.)
I do geographic profiling. I look at where killers lived and where they killed. I also look deeply at the timelines of known killers. Gus Sapharas was THE rapist and killer in the neighborhood then. He was very practiced and experienced by February of 1970 in my opinion.
It could be someone else. It might be. This is the 1970’s in the Midwest and violence was reaching ever higher levels. But, in my opinion, if there is anything to test, they should compare what they have to Gus Sapharas. He’s currently incarcerated. He won’t be hard to find. His DNA profile has already been developed.
Mary Petry and William Sproat were planning a lifetime together I imagine. Photos of them in the years before 1970 are especially poignant as they look so happy and optimistic about life.
Mary Petry is buried at Greenlawn Cemetery in her hometown of Portsmouth, Ohio. Rest In Peace, Mary.
William Sproat's final resting place was not something I could find online. But, I hope that he rests in peace as well.
If you have a tip about this double homicide please submit it using the link below:https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Files/Law-Enforcement/Investigator/Cold-Case/Homicides/Petry
Share the YouTube video: https://youtu.be/bVyHhYd_dhI?si=n0ERgAt-eYotbUWh
Comments
Post a Comment