Who is murderer Joseph Kapper and where is he now?
JOSEPH Kapper became notorious in a small Welsh town after causing the death of three young women.
His identity was not known until 30 years after the last murder, thanks to advancements in DNA testing technology.
Who is Joseph Kapper?
Over a period of time in 1973 three women had gone missing after leaving nightclubs in small towns in South Wales.
They had hitched a lift, a common practice at the time, but never made it home.
Their disappearances occurred on different Saturdays earning Joseph the moniker Saturday Night Strangler.
The three girls were raped and killed by Joseph Kapper in nearby woodlands.
As a result of these girls’ murders, a huge police task force was deployed to find the culprit.
It was reported there were initially 150 officers dedicated to finding their killer.
However, due to the limitations of resources at that time, Kapper went undetected for 30 years.
It emerged that the girls had hitched a ride with someone they didn’t know, prompting police to put up posters dissuading people from doing so to try and prevent more murders.
The warning posters urged people not to do it stating “thumb lifts have led to murder”.
The girls’ personal belongings were kept intact for 30 years until advancements in DNA testing led to the discovery of their killer.
Who were Joseph Kapper’s victims?
There were three known victims of Joseph Kapper. Two of the victims were 16, one was only 15.
Geraldine Hughes and Pauline Floyd were 16 years old and Sandra Newton was 15.
The girls were killed on two separate nights, but they had all hitched a ride from Kapper on their way home.
It was reported by the Daily Mail that Geraldine and Pauline were together on the night they died.
Sandra had left her boyfriend to walk home when she was picked up by Kapper.
Where is Joseph Kapper now?
Joseph Kapper passed away in 1990.
The case went cold in the 70s and in the early 2000s after advancements in DNA testing technology.
A DNA swab matched the DNA of a car thief, however, the thief was only seven years old at the time of the murders.
The car thief turned out to be Kapper’s son, Paul.
With this development, investigators were able to convince family members of Kapper to provide swabs for DNA.
The findings led to the decision to exhume Joseph Kapper’s body in 2002.
Tissue extracted from his femur and teeth were a complete match, thus determining his guilt and finally getting justice for his victims.