In Ohio, Gustave “Gus” Sapharas is spending his time at the Richland Correctional Institution. Many people are scared of the name “Gus.” He was born in 1944 and grew up in Goodyear Heights as the older of two kids. His parents ran Sapharas’ Restaurant, a busy steak-and-eggs spot that was busy 24 hours a day and was liked by both neighbors and workers.
When Sapharas got back to Akron after being in the Army during the Vietnam War, things went badly for him. In May 1969, he was arrested for assaulting and trying to rape a 20-year-old woman who turned him down on a date. This was the first crime on his record. He was given two years of probation even though he pleaded guilty to lesser crimes.
Karen Bentz, an 18-year-old girl who was smart and happy, was brutally killed in April 1970. Her body was found in Tallmadge, Ohio. It was a terrible tragedy. Bentz, a happy and smart young woman, had been cruelly killed and had multiple stab wounds. She was living on her own, working different jobs, and trying to make a safe life for herself and her young daughter. Karen’s life was sadly cut short, and the murder of her has not been solved for decades.
In 1975, five years later, a 20-year-old woman named Loretta Jean Davis had the same thing happen to her. Her body was found along Congress Lake Road in Suffield the next morning. She had been last seen in a car with a guy in Tallmadge, Ohio. She had been stabbed in the chest and dumped, just like Karen. Her life ended in a violent act that made no sense.
Sapharas met a 28-year-old Cuyahoga Falls woman in a restaurant in September 1976 in Fairlawn. He then broke into her apartment and raped her while holding a knife to her throat. Because of this event, he was found guilty of rape and having a concealed weapon in February 1977. The police couldn’t move forward with their investigations into these murders because they didn’t have enough proof or leads.
In August 1991, Bonita Parker’s body was found on the side of the road in Licking County, Ohio. She was 21 years old. One stab wound to the heart killed her. Parker’s murder case was unsolved for years until DNA proof linked Sapharas to it.
Sapharas continued to do bad things after that. In the end, he was caught at his home in Jackson Township. In January 1972, he was charged with raping and stealing a woman aged 22 in Huntington, West Virginia. Even though there was a mistrial, Sapharas’ violent behavior continued, which is why he was eventually found guilty of raping a 28-year-old woman in Cuyahoga Falls in February 1977.
Sapharas was given a prison term of 15 to 60 years, but he was released on parole in November 1990. He went back to prison soon after for violating his parole in October 1991. His criminal past kept getting longer and longer, with accusations of rape and attempted murder.
In 2018, Sapharas was found not guilty of killing Bonita Parker, a 21-year-old woman from Columbus, in 1991. But in September 2019, he was arrested for the murders of Karen Bentz and Loretta Jean Davis, which have still not been solved. He was found guilty and given a life term without the chance of parole plus an extra 15 years to be served at the same time.
Since he did such horrible things, Gustave “Gus” Sapharas, who is now 75 years old, is still in jail spending his time. His case is a scary lesson of how important it is to work hard and not give up when trying to get justice for violent crime victims. Come back to tvacute.com soon for more news, sneak peeks, and reviews.
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