Ohio man arrested in cold-case murders of two women found dead in 1970s
09/10/2019 12:07 pm PDT
By Talia Naquin, WJW
TALLMADGE, Ohio (WJW) -- Tallmadge police have arrested Gustave Sapharas, 75, in the deaths of two women who were killed in the 1970s.
Sapharas is suspected in the murder of 18-year-old Karen Bentz, whose body was dumped along the side of Indian Hills Drive in Tallmadge on April 28, 1970.
According to the indictment, Bentz's body was badly disfigured. The indictment details suggest she was tortured before she died.
Sapharas is also suspected in the murder of 20-year-old Loretta Jean Davis, whose body was found in Portage County along Congress Lake Road on September 28, 1975.
Tallmadge police tell FOX 8 they developed new evidence in 2013 that led them to Sapharas.
Sapharas is being held in the Summit County Jail.
His indictment includes charges of murder, maiming or disfiguring, aggravated murder, kidnapping and attempted rape.
MORE: Jackson Township man arrested in deaths of two women whose bodies were dumped in the 1970s - WJW
