Who is murderer Joseph Kappen and where is he now?
JOSEPH Kappen 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 Kappen?
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 Kappen 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, Kappen 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 Kappen’s victims?
There were three known victims of Joseph Kappen. 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 Kappen 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 Kappen.
Where is Joseph Kappen now?
Joseph Kappen 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 Kappen’s son, Paul.
With this development, investigators were able to convince family members of Kappen to provide swabs for DNA.
The findings led to the decision to exhume Joseph Kappen’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.