Login | April 28, 2025
9th District reverses ‘other acts evidence’ ruling in 2 murders
TRACEY BLAIR
Legal News Reporter
Published: May 27, 2022
The 9th District Court of Appeals has reversed an order from a Summit County trial court that denied the state’s motion to introduce other acts evidence in two murders.
On April 29, 1970, the body of K.B., an 18-year-old woman, was discovered in a secluded area in Tallmadge. K.B. was last seen walking home from her parents’ house in Akron around 11:15 p.m. the previous evening. An autopsy revealed that K.B. had been strangled and died from a single stab wound to the heart.
Police were unable to make an arrest in the case until 2018, when a detective submitted the victim’s fingernail clippings for new DNA testing. The new DNA test uncovered a male profile that was consistent with Gustave Sapharas’ DNA profile.
On the afternoon of Sept. 28, 1975, the body of a 20-year-old woman was discovered on a secluded roadway in Suffield Township. The body was identified as L.D., who was last seen that same day, around 2:30 a.m., in a Tallmadge parking lot.
Witnesses who knew L.D. saw her sitting in the passenger’s seat of a parked car next to an unidentified white male who was sitting in the driver’s seat. An autopsy revealed that L.D. had been stabbed twice, with the fatal wound entering her heart. A piece of a broken steak knife handle was found inside the folds of her shirt, which had been pulled up to expose her breasts. Her pants and underwear had been partially pulled down, and swabs taken from the zipper and waistband of her pants were preserved. When those swabs were later tested for DNA, the test uncovered semen and a male profile that was consistent with Sapharas’ DNA profile.
Once Sapharas emerged as a suspect in the deaths of K.B. and L.D., the police began investigating his criminal history and learned the following, according to appellate records:
• In 1972, Sapharas was tried in West Virginia on counts of rape and kidnapping. L.W., a 22-year-old woman, reported Sapharas forced her into his car at knife point, drove her to a secluded area, strangled her when she refused to perform oral sex, and raped her. Although the police found a steak knife behind the driver’s side visor of Sapharas’ car when they arrested him, the case resulted in a hung jury, and the charges were later dismissed.
• In 1973, Sapharas was accused of attacking R.R., a 20-year-old white female, after she accepted a ride from him. R.R. reported that Sapharas drove her to a secluded area, demanded that she perform oral sex, and strangled her when she refused. R.R. identified Sapharas as her attacker, but the case was never prosecuted because R.R. left the area after the incident.
• In 1975, Sapharas was accused of attacking J.S., a 20-year-old woman, after she accepted a ride from him. J.S. reported Sapharas drove her to a secluded area, threatened her with the knife, put his hands around her neck, forced her to perform oral sex, and raped her. Officers met with J.S. immediately after the attack but released Sapharas without charge because the attack occurred outside their department’s jurisdiction. J.S. was told to contact the police department in the jurisdiction where the attack occurred but never did.
• In 1976, Sapharas was convicted of assaulting S.D., a 20-year-old female who accepted a ride from him late one evening after her work shift ended. During the assault, Sapharas drove S.D. to a side street, strangled her into unconsciousness two separate times, removed her pants, and rubbed the inside of her leg. As a result of the incident, Sapharas was sentenced to 60 days in jail and two years of probation.
• In 1977, Sapharas was convicted of rape and carrying a concealed weapon after attacking M.L., a 28-year-old woman whom he had taken out for a date. Sapharas came to M.L.’s apartment when she declined his offer of a second date. While there, he grabbed M.L., pulled a steak knife from his pocket, and threatened to kill her if she did not do what he said. He then forced her to remove her clothing and raped her. As a result of the incident, Sapharas was incarcerated from 1977 until 1990 when he was released on parole.
• In August 1991, the body of B.P., a 21-year-old female, was discovered on a secluded road in Licking County. An autopsy revealed that B.P. died of a single stab wound to the heart. Semen was detected on her underwear, and swabs taken from her underwear and fingernail clippings later underwent DNA testing. The DNA found on those items was consistent with Sapharas’ profile, and he was tried for B.P.’s aggravated murder and murder in 2018. The trial resulted in a dismissal on the aggravated murder charge and a not guilty verdict on the murder charge.
• In August 1991, a neighbor of Sapharas’ sister called the police because she saw Sapharas standing outside while holding a knife over a woman on the ground. Sapharas was naked, and the woman was partially naked, bleeding, and screaming for help. The woman, D.Y., was a twenty-eight-year-old woman who had been working as a prostitute. D.Y. told police Sapharas strangled her, repeatedly raped her, and stabbed her with a knife before she fled outside. She sustained a large puncture wound to her chest and several slash wounds to her arm. The incident was never prosecuted but resulted in a parole violation for Sapharas.
The police learned Sapharas’ family owned a restaurant, and steak knives were collected from the home of his parents and his ex-wife. The steak knives collected from those homes, as well as the knife collected from the visor of Sapharas’ car in 1972, were all the same brand. The knives also were similar in color, texture, size, shape, and chemical property to the knife handle piece found in the folds of L.D.’s shirt.
The police interviewed Sapharas multiple times in 2019 and asked him about the attacks on L.W., R.R., J.S., and S.D. Sapharas admitted he was “guilty of every one of [them].”
Following their investigation, the police pursued charges against Sapharas for the death of K.B. in 1970 and the death of L.D. in 1975.
A grand jury indicted Mr. Sapharas on eight counts. With respect to K.B., he was charged with abduction resulting in death, second-degree murder, maiming or disfiguring of another, and aggravated murder. With respect to L.D., he was charged with murder, two counts of kidnapping, and attempted rape.
Sapharas later moved to dismiss the two counts of kidnapping and the one count of attempted rape related to L.D., and the trial court granted his motion. Thus, as to L.D., only the murder count remained for trial.
Before trial, the state filed a motion to admit evidence of the seven other acts the police uncovered while investigating Sapharas.
After a three-day hearing, the trial court denied the state’s motion to admit evidence of Sapharas’ other acts.
The state was seeking to admit other acts evidence against Sapharas to establish identity and motive. The trial court found the evidence was not relevant to either purpose, and only served to establish Sapharas’ propensity to commit such acts.
On appeal, the state argued the trial court erred when it denied its motion to admit evidence of Sapharas’ other acts at his trial for the murders of K.B. and L.D. The appellate panel determined that all of Sapharas’ other alleged bad acts tend to establish either his identity or motive.
“Identity is a material issue in this case, as, thus far, Mr. Sapharas has not admitted that he was involved in the deaths of either K.B. or L.D.,” appellate Judge Thomas Teodosio said in his 3-0 opinion. “His DNA was found on both women, but it is unclear when it was deposited, and Mr. Sapharas was never identified as having been seen with either woman directly before her death. There was evidence that both women were young, white females who were last seen between 11 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. K.B. was walking home alone, and L.D. was spotted in the passenger’s seat of a man’s car. Both women died from a stab wound to the chest, and both of their bodies were found in secluded areas next to a road. K.B. had been strangled, and L.D.’s clothing had been forced apart to expose her breasts and pubic region. Additionally, a broken steak knife handle was found in the folds of L.D.’s shirt.
“The state theorized that Mr. Sapharas isolated K.B. and L.D. in a remote location for the purpose of sexually assaulting them, turned physically aggressive when they refused to submit, stabbed them, and left their bodies in the secluded locations. The state argued that the other acts evidence it sought to admit was relevant to prove Mr. Sapharas’ identity as K.B.’s and L.D.’s murderer because it tended to show that he (1) approached young, white females while they were alone, generally with the aid of his car; (2) brought them to a secluded location for the purpose of sexually assaulting them; and (3) either strangled them or used a steak knife to force them to submit.”
The appellate court determined other acts involving L.W., R.R., J.S., S.D., B.P., and D.Y. tend to establish Sapharas’ identity as the perpetrator of K.B.’s and L.D.’s murder, but not with respect to M.L. because he knew her, and her attack stemmed from her refusal to continue a romantic relationship with him.
“This court reverses and remands this matter for the trial court to apply Evid.R. 403(A) in light of the conclusions we have reached in this opinion and the important considerations identified by the Ohio Supreme Court in Hartman,” Judge Teodosio added.
Appellate judges Jennifer Hensal and Lynne Callahan concurred. The case is cited State v. Sapharas, 2022-Ohio-1157.