Murder of Stephanie Roper

Last updated
Stephanie Roper
Born1960
Disappeared Prince George's County, Maryland
DiedApril 3, 1982
Cause of deathMurder
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Frostburg State University, Frostburg, Allegany County, Maryland

On April 3, 1982, Stephanie Roper, a 22-year-old Frostburg State University student, was kidnapped, raped repeatedly, tortured, shot, set afire, and partially dismembered, in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. [1]

Contents

Murder

Roper was home on a college break, and she and a girlfriend were returning from an evening with friends at a West End Washington, D.C. bar, the "Twenty-First Amendment" late at night. After dropping her friend off in Brandywine, Maryland, Stephanie proceeded toward her own home in Croom, but her car became disabled on a dark rural road. Two men stopped and kidnapped her at gunpoint. The two men, 26-year-old Jack Ronald Jones and 17-year-old Jerry Lee Beatty, kidnapped Stephanie and took her to an abandoned shack in Oakville, St. Mary's County. There she was tortured and raped repeatedly. One of the men called the other by his first name. Afraid now that Stephanie knew his name, they decided to kill her. Stephanie made several attempts to escape and upon her last capture, her skull was fractured with a logging chain and she was shot to death. In order to hinder identification, the murderers burned her body and severed her hands. They were captured after Beatty bragged about his part in the crime. Both men were charged with kidnapping, rape, and felony murder. Jones was convicted in Baltimore County while Beatty pleaded guilty to the same charges in Anne Arundel County. Both courts imposed sentences of two concurrent life sentences, with parole eligibility after 24 years. [2]

Family response

The Roper family was excluded from observing the trial and was denied the opportunity to present a victim impact statement at sentencing. [3] Stephanie's mother, Roberta Roper, has taken on the cause of victims' rights, including the right of victims' families to address the court before sentencing. She actively lobbies and advocates for rights and support services to crime victims and their survivors. She and her husband, Vincent, formed the Stephanie Roper Committee and Foundation, Inc. and she served as its Executive Director for 20 years. The agency is now known as the Maryland Crime Victims' Resource Center, Inc. (MCVRC). Roberta Roper has dedicated her life to these causes. She serves as the Chair of the MCVRC Board of Directors and co-chairs the National Victims' Constitutional Amendment Network. [4]

Crime Victims' Rights Act

The Crime Victims' Rights Act of 2004 was named, in part, for Stephanie Roper, whose parents were not notified of trial continuances, were excluded from proceedings, and were prevented from giving a victim impact statement. The Act grants victims those and other rights in federal criminal cases. [5] [6]

Legacy

Maryland's annual Crime Victims and Advocates Commemorative Day

In 2012, the Maryland General Assembly passed House Bill 766 (Chapter 678 of the Laws of Maryland 2012) which requires the Governor annually to proclaim April 3 as Crime Victims and Advocates Commemorative Day to give recognition to the individuals in the State who have become crime victims and to honor the advocates who serve those victims. In addition to issuing the proclamation, the Governor is also required to take appropriate steps to publicize Crime Victims and Advocates Commemorative Day. April 3 was chosen as the date for the commemorative day in memory of Stephanie Roper, who was murdered on that day in 1982 and whose family members established the Maryland Crime Victims' Resource Center, Inc. [7]

Stephanie Roper Highway

On October 20, 2012, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley issued a proclamation which named part of Maryland Route 4 (the part of Pennsylvania Avenue just north of Croom, and part of Southern Maryland Boulevard in adjacent Anne Arundel County) in honor of Stephanie Roper and the efforts of her parents Roberta and Vincent Roper. [8]

The Stephanie Ann Roper Gallery is located in the Fine Arts Building on the Frostburg State University campus. [9]

Roper Victim Assistance Academy

The Roper Victim Assistance Academy trains victims' advocates. The Roper Academy was created in 2003 through a grant from the United States Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime received by the Maryland Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention in partnership with the University of Baltimore.[ citation needed ]

Beatty Resentencing

In 2021, Maryland banned life without parole for juveniles, So Beatty is now eligible for parole. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Louisiana</span>

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Louisiana.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Indiana. The last person executed in the state, excluding federal executions in Terre Haute, was mass murderer Joseph Edward Corcoran in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryland Route 4</span> State highway in Maryland, US

Maryland Route 4 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The highway runs 64.85 miles (104.37 km) from MD 5 in Leonardtown north to Southern Avenue in Suitland at the District of Columbia boundary, beyond which the highway continues into Washington as Pennsylvania Avenue. MD 4 is a four- to six-lane highway that connects Washington and communities around Interstate 95 (I-95)/I-495 with southern Prince George's County with southwestern Anne Arundel County. The highway is the primary highway for the length of Calvert County, during most of which the route runs concurrently with MD 2. MD 4 also connects Calvert and St. Mary's counties via the Governor Thomas Johnson Bridge across the Patuxent River. The highway connects the Southern Maryland county seats of Leonardtown, Prince Frederick, and Upper Marlboro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Kidnapping Act</span> United States federal criminal law prohibitting kidnapping

Following the historic Lindbergh kidnapping, the United States Congress passed a federal kidnapping statute—known as the Federal Kidnapping Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(1) —which was intended to let federal authorities step in and pursue kidnappers once they had crossed state lines with their victim. The act was first proposed in December 1931 by Missouri Senator Roscoe Conkling Patterson, who pointed to several recent kidnappings in the Missouri area in calling for a federal solution. Initial resistance to Patterson's proposal was based on concerns over funding and state's rights. Consideration of the law was revived following the kidnapping of Howard Woolverton in late January 1932. Woolverton's kidnapping featured prominently in several newspaper series researched and prepared in the weeks following his abduction, and were quite possibly inspired by it. Two such projects, by Bruce Catton of the Newspaper Enterprise Association and Fred Pasley of the Daily News of New York City, were ready for publication within a day or two of the Lindbergh kidnapping. Both series, which ran in papers across North America, described kidnapping as an existential threat to American life, a singular, growing crime wave in which no one was safe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doris Tate</span> American crime victim rights activist (1924–1992)

Doris Gwendolyn Tate was an American activist for the rights of crime victims, and the mother of actress Sharon Tate. After Sharon Tate and several others were murdered by members of the Manson Family in 1969, Doris Tate began working to raise public awareness about the U.S. corrections system. She was influential in a court decision that amended California criminal laws relating to the rights of victims of violent crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Goudeau</span> American serial killer and rapist on death row

Mark Goudeau is an American serial killer, kidnapper, thief and rapist. Goudeau terrorized victims in the Phoenix metro area between August 2005 and June 2006; coincidentally, Goudeau was active at the same time as two other Phoenix serial killers, jointly known as the "Serial Shooters.”

Michael Benneman Sams is an English kidnapper, extortionist, rapist and murderer. He kidnapped Julie Dart in July 1991 and later murdered her following her attempted escape. He subsequently kidnapped Stephanie Slater in January 1992, eventually releasing her after payment of a ransom. Slater was also raped during her imprisonment by Sams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Edward Duncan</span> American serial killer (1963–2021)

Joseph Edward Duncan III was an American convicted serial killer and child molester who was on death row in federal prison following the 2005 kidnappings and murders of members of the Groene family of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. He was also serving 11 consecutive sentences of life without parole for the 1997 murder of Anthony Martinez of Beaumont, California. Additionally, Duncan confessed to — but had not been charged with — the 1996 murder of two girls, Sammiejo White and Carmen Cubias, in Seattle, Washington. At the time of the attack on the Groene family, Duncan was on the run from a child molestation charge in Minnesota.

This is a list of notable overturned convictions in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom</span> 2007 carjacking, rape, and murder of a couple in Knoxville, Tennessee

Channon Gail Christian, aged 21, and Hugh Christopher Newsom Jr., aged 23, were from Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. They were kidnapped on the evening of January 6, 2007, when Christian's vehicle was carjacked. The couple were taken to a rental house. Both of them were raped, tortured, and murdered. Four males and one female were arrested, charged, and convicted in the case. In 2007, a grand jury indicted Letalvis Darnell Cobbins, Lemaricus Devall Davidson, George Geovonni Thomas, and Vanessa Lynn Coleman on counts of kidnapping, robbery, rape, and murder. Also in 2007, Eric DeWayne Boyd was indicted by a federal grand jury of being an accessory to a carjacking, resulting in serious bodily injury to another person and misprision of a felony. In 2018, Boyd was indicted on state-level charges of kidnapping, robbery, rape, and murder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ripper Crew</span> American cult and organized crime group

The Ripper Crew or the Chicago Rippers was an organized crime group of serial killers, cannibals, rapists, and necrophiles. The group was composed of Robin Gecht and three associates: Edward Spreitzer, and brothers Andrew and Thomas Kokoraleis. They were suspected in the murders of 17 women in Illinois in 1981 and 1982, as well as the unrelated fatal shooting of a man in a random drive-by shooting. According to one of the detectives who investigated the case, Gecht "made Manson look like a Boy Scout."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sue Hecht</span> American politician (born 1947)

Sue Hecht is an American politician from Maryland and a member of the Democratic Party. She retired in 2011 after serving three terms in the Maryland House of Delegates, representing Maryland's District 3A in Frederick County. She is known for her campaign slogan "Hecht Yes!".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Joe Long</span> American serial killer (1953–2019)

Bobby Joe Long was an American serial killer and rapist who was executed by the state of Florida for the murder of Michelle Denise Simms. Long abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered at least eight women in the Tampa Bay area in Florida during an eight-month period in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burton Abbott</span> American criminal

Burton Wilbur Abbott was an American man who was convicted of the rape and murder of 14-year-old Stephanie Bryan in Berkeley, California.

Wayne Eugene DuMond was an American criminal convicted of murder and rape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Albert Gardner</span> American murderer, rapist and child molester

John Albert Gardner III is an American convicted double murderer, rapist, and child molester. He confessed to the February 2009 rape and murder of 14-year-old Amber Dubois from Escondido, California, and the February 2010 rape and murder of 17-year-old Chelsea King from Poway, California, after he entered a plea agreement that spared him from execution. Additionally, Gardner attempted to rape 22-year-old Candice Moncayo of San Diego County, and had been previously incarcerated for the molestation of a 13-year-old girl.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murders of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Peña</span> Child murders and rapes in 1993

The rapes and murders of Jennifer Lee Ertman and Elizabeth Christine Peña, two teenage girls from Houston, Texas, aged 14 and 16, respectively, occurred on June 24, 1993. The murder of the two girls made headlines in Texas newspapers due to the nature of the crime and the new law resulting from the murder that allows families of the victims to view the execution of the murderers. The case was also notable in that the state of Texas rejected attempts by the International Court of Justice to halt several perpetrators' executions.

The incident on Hill 192 refers to the kidnapping, gang rape, and murder of Phan Thi Mao, a young Vietnamese woman, on November 19, 1966 by an American squad during the Vietnam War. Although news of the incident reached the U.S. shortly after the soldiers' trials, the story gained widespread notoriety through Daniel Lang's 1969 article for The New Yorker and his subsequent book. In 1970, Michael Verhoeven made the film o.k., based on the incident. The Visitors is a 1972 American drama film directed by Elia Kazan also based on the incident. In 1989, Brian De Palma directed the film Casualties of War, which was based on Lang's book.

Ming Sen Shiue is a Taiwanese-American murderer, kidnapper, stalker, and rapist convicted of the murder of six-year-old Jason Wilkman, the kidnapping of Mary Stauffer and her daughter Elizabeth, and multiple counts of rape of Mary Stauffer.

In France, rape is illegal, and marital rape is also illegal. In recent years there has been increase of reported rape cases in France.

References

  1. ↑ "Roper Killers Get More Prison Time P.G." The Washington Post . May 21, 1985.
  2. ↑ https://www.yahoo.com/news/man-serving-life-1982-murder-230303446.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
  3. ↑ Duggan, Paul (August 29, 2003). "'A Giant Hole in Your Life'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  4. ↑ Noble, Andrea (May 23, 2007). "Reaching out to victims of crime". Southern Maryland Newspapers Online. Archived from the original on September 9, 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  5. ↑ "One Hundred Eighth Congress of the United States of America AT THE SECOND SESSION Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, the twentieth day of January, two thousand and four" (PDF). Frwebgate.access.gpo.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 7, 2010. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "The Need to Protect Crime Victims' Rights - In Their Own Words". United States Senator Dianne Feinstein, California. Archived from the original on February 5, 2011.
  7. ↑ "BILL INFO-2012 Regular Session-HB 766". Maryland General Assembly web site. Annapolis, Maryland: Department of Legislative Services, Office of Information Systems. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  8. ↑ "Stephanie Roper Highway". Mdcrimevictims.org. Archived from the original on 24 December 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "FSU Stephanie Ann Roper Gallery". Allegany County, The Mountain Side of Maryland. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  10. ↑ https://www.wmar2news.com/local/advocates-oppose-release-of-murderer-convicted-in-1982-case#google_vignette
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.