William Sapp (serial killer)

Last updated
William Sapp
WilliamSapp.png
Born
William Kessler Lilly

(1962-03-22) March 22, 1962 (age 62)
Other namesBob Sapp
Robert Lancaster
Bill Sapp
Conviction(s) Aggravated murder (3 counts)
Kidnapping
Rape
Attempted murder
Criminal penalty Death (October 21, 1999)
Details
Victims3+
Span of crimes
1981(?) 1992 1993
CountryUnited States
State(s) Ohio, Florida
Date apprehended
October 10, 1996

William Kessler Sapp (born William Kessler Lilly; March 22, 1962) is an American serial killer and rapist who committed the murders of three women and girls in Springfield, Ohio, in 1992 and 1993, the attempted murder of another, and a possible fourth murder in Florida. Sapp was detained for the murders only in 1996, after already being imprisoned for an earlier rape. He was sentenced to death on October 21, 1999, and is currently awaiting execution at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Criminal activity

William Kessler Lilly was born on March 22, 1962, in Springfield, Ohio. He had one younger brother, and according to Children's services, young William had "hostility toward all women he [came] in contact with." When he was nine, his parents divorced, and he and his brother went to live with his father and step-mother, whom they later claimed physically and mentally abused them. [2]

Lilly committed his first crime on March 20, 1980, when he was arrested on charges of animal cruelty. The next year, he moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where he was legally adopted by a man named Al Sapp, which caused Lilly to change his last name to Sapp. In 1988, Sapp married a woman named Karen, and together they moved back to Ohio, settling in Sapp's hometown of Springfield and having three children. (born 1988, 1994, and 1995). In 1991, Sapp set fire to a log cabin close in proximity to his father's home. [2]

On August 23, 1992, the bodies of 12-year-old Phree Marrow and 11-year-old Martha Leach were discovered near a pond behind Penn Street. [2] The girls were described as “best friends,” and they were determined to have been killed the previous day when the two were returning to Martha's home from a bakery. [1] [4]

On July 8, 1995, a couple found the body of 30-year-old Belinda Fay Anderson under their garage in Springfield. Anderson was found to have been killed back in September 1993 after she went missing on her way to her parents' house. [2]

Revelation

On February 27, 1996, Sapp was arrested on charges of attempting to kill Una Timmons, who, on February 5, was beaten and stabbed by Sapp after he offered her a ride and smoked cocaine with her. On September 9, he went on trial, pleading not guilty by reason of insanity. During the trial, investigators from Jacksonville, Florida, visited Sapp in his jail cell. At the time, they were investigating his possible involvement in unsolved cases that occurred while he was living there. Sapp gave information but blamed crimes on a man named Robert Lancaster, whom he claimed killed 56-year-old Shirley Ogden on West Main Street in April 1981. [5] [2] At the same time, a Sample of Sapp's DNA was seized and collected by the FBI, who were able to confirm his role in the murders of Phree Marrow and Martha Leach. [2]

Detectives sought to interview Sapp after the tests were complete. In the interview, Sapp confessed to the murders, as well as to the murder of Anderson. By the time Sapp was connected to the crimes, two men, David Marciszewski (born June 3, 1959) [6] and John Balser (born December 21, 1969) [7] were already serving time for their role in the murders of Marrow and Leach. Despite this, investigators proved that both men were involved as accomplices, while Sapp was the ringleader, and their convictions were upheld. [5] Another man, Jamie Turner (born November 11, 1971), [8] was also convicted for his role in Marrow and Leach murders, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment on November 13, 1998. On October 13, 1999, Sapp was convicted of the murders of Phree Marrow, Martha Leach, and Belinda Anderson; days later, he was sentenced to death. Sapp signed over parental rights of his children to his wife, though she later relinquished custody as well. They became state wards until 2001, when they were placed with a local family.

See also

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Scarver</span> American murderer (born 1969)

Christopher J. Scarver Sr. is an American convicted murderer. He is best known for the 1994 murders of his fellow inmates Jeffrey Dahmer and Jesse Anderson, both convicted murderers, at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Wisconsin. The three inmates were on a work detail together in the prison gymnasium, and had a confrontation while unsupervised. Scarver found a metal bar that he used to beat and fatally injure Dahmer and Anderson. Scarver was convicted and sentenced to two further life sentences for these murders. He had already been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of the murder of Steve Lohman in 1990.

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

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Ohio, although all executions have been suspended indefinitely by Governor Mike DeWine until a replacement for lethal injection is chosen by the Ohio General Assembly. The last execution in the state was in July 2018, when Robert J. Van Hook was executed via lethal injection for murder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Quentin Rehabilitation Center</span> Mens prison in California, US

San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (SQ), formerly known as San Quentin State Prison, is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California State Prison, Corcoran</span> Prison in California

California State Prison, Corcoran (COR) is a male-only state prison located in the city of Corcoran, in Kings County, California. It is also known as Corcoran State Prison, CSP-C, CSP-COR, CSP-Corcoran, and Corcoran I. The facility is just north of the newer California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, Corcoran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Division of Juvenile Justice</span> Law enforcement agency in California, USA

The California Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), previously known as the California Youth Authority (CYA), was a division of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that provided education, training, and treatment services for California's most serious youth offenders, until its closure in 2023. These youths were committed by the juvenile and criminal courts to DJJ's eleven correctional facilities, four conservation camps and two residential drug treatment programs. The DJJ provided services to juvenile offenders, ranging in age from twelve to 25, in facilities and on parole, and worked closely with law enforcement, the courts, district attorneys, public defenders, probation offices and other public and private agencies involved with the problems of youth. The DJJ underwent reorganization as required by a court agreement and the California State Legislature after widespread criticisms of conditions at its youth prisons. The agency's headquarters were in Sacramento, California.

The Nebraska State Penitentiary (NSP) is a state correctional facility for the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. Located in Lincoln, it is the oldest state correctional facility in Nebraska, opening in 1869. Until after World War I, it was the only adult correctional facility in the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potosi Correctional Center</span> Maximum security prison located near Mineral Point, Missouri

Potosi Correctional Center (PCC) is a Missouri Department of Corrections prison located in unincorporated Washington County, Missouri, near Mineral Point. The facility currently houses 800 death row, maximum security and high-risk male inmates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Ohio Correctional Facility</span> Maximum security prison in Scioto County, Ohio, U.S.

The Southern Ohio Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison located just outside Lucasville in Scioto County, Ohio. The prison was constructed in 1972. As of 2023, the warden is Cindy Davis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mule Creek State Prison</span> California State Prison for men

Mule Creek State Prison (MCSP) is a California State Prison for men. It was opened in June 1987, and covers 866 acres (350 ha) located in Ione, California. The prison has a staff of 1,242 and an annual operating budget of $157 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Penitentiary, Hazelton</span> American federal prison in West Virginia

The United States Penitentiary, Hazelton is a high-security United States federal prison for male inmates in West Virginia. The high-security facility has earned the nickname "Misery Mountain" by the inmates who are incarcerated there. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility has a satellite prison camp for minimum-security male offenders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Harvey</span> American serial killer (1952–2017)

Donald Harvey was an American serial killer who claimed to have murdered 87 people, though he has 37 confirmed victims. He was able to do this during his time as a hospital orderly. His spree took place between 1970 and 1987.

Chillicothe Correction Institution, or CCI, is a state-run medium security prison on the west bank of the Scioto River just outside Chillicothe, Ohio. It is located adjacent to Ross Correctional Institution and Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. The prison is a former military camp, named for Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman. It later became a federal penitentiary and has housed several high-profile prisoners including Charles Manson in 1952, bootlegger and future NASCAR driver Junior Johnson, and serial killer Anthony Sowell.

Donna Marie Roberts, an American convicted of being an accomplice to murder, is the only woman on death row in the State of Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Easter Sunday Massacre</span> Mass shooting on Easter Sunday 1975

The Easter Sunday Massacre occurred on Easter Sunday, March 30, 1975, when 41 year-old James U. Ruppert fatally shot eleven members of his own family in his mother's house at 635 Minor Avenue in Hamilton, Ohio.

Correctional Training Facility (CTF), commonly referenced as Soledad State Prison, is a state prison located on U.S. Route 101, 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Soledad, California, adjacent to Salinas Valley State Prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Kirkland</span> American serial killer on death row

Anthony Kirkland is an American serial killer. Between 2006 and 2009, Kirkland murdered two women and two girls in the Cincinnati area, following a 16-year prison term for the 1987 killing of his girlfriend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Execution of Dennis McGuire</span> Botched execution in Ohio

The execution of Dennis McGuire occurred on January 16, 2014, at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio, in what was considered to be a botched execution. McGuire was executed via lethal injection using a new combination of untried and untested drugs: midazolam and hydromorphone. During the execution, witnesses reported that McGuire could be seen struggling to breathe, and reportedly gasped loudly while making snorting and choking sounds for at least ten minutes. It took over twenty-five minutes for McGuire to die, in a process that should normally take just over eight minutes.

Matthew J. Hoffman is an American convicted murderer known for killing three people, as well as kidnapping and raping Sarah Maynard, Herrmann's 13-year-old daughter, over the course of four days. The triple murders took place in Howard, Ohio. Police traced purchases for tarps found at the scene to a local Walmart that led them to Hoffman.

References