A Pennsylvania man will spend 22 to 44 years in state prison after pleading guilty on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, to killing his wife, Elizabeth “Beth” Capaldi, dismembering her body, and hiding her remains.
Stephen Capaldi, 57, of Sellersville, Pennsylvania, entered guilty pleas to third-degree murder, possessing an instrument of crime, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, obstructing the administration of law or other governmental function, and abuse of a corpse.
He was charged on Dec. 9, 2022, almost two months after his wife was reported missing from their Sellersville home, according to the Bucks County District Attorney.
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The Common Pleas Judge accepted Capaldi’s negotiated plea agreement.
Deputy District Attorney Mary Kate Kohler said the plea agreement was not entered into lightly by the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, but it allowed “for swift closure for the victim’s family, which was one of the wishes of the family.”
Additionally, she said, as part of the negotiated plea, Stephen Capaldi fully cooperated with investigators, told them what he did to his wife and led them to her remains, allowing her family to give her a proper burial.
In an emotional victim impact statement, their daughter said she has struggled daily since she lost her mother, who was like a best friend to her. Making it harder for her is that her father was the killer and lied to her for several weeks about what happened to her.
“My mother is dead, and my father killed her,” she said. “I have the love of friends, family, even strangers, but my own father took the person who loved me most.”
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While she said, she could not help but feel grief and love for her father, the daughter said, “he should never be free from prison to finally leave my mother’s memory in peace.”
This investigation began on Oct. 12, 2022, when Elizabeth Capaldi, 55, was reported missing to the Perkasie Borough Police Department by her daughter. Elizabeth Capaldi lived with her husband, Stephen Capaldi, who last saw her in the early morning hours of Oct. 10, 2022, but never contacted police.
An investigation led by Detectives from the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and the Perkasie Borough Police Department concluded that Stephen Capaldi murdered his wife, lied to investigators on several occasions, took steps to destroy evidence, and hid her body.
Stephen Capaldi killed Elizabeth Capaldi on the morning of Oct. 10, 2022, while she was sleeping in their bed, by strangling her and using a pillow to smother her.
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He then moved his wife’s body from the master bedroom to a back bedroom, and then the basement where he dismembered her and disposed of her remains on Oct. 12, 2022, before ever meeting with law enforcement.
The investigation found that Stephen Capaldi purchased items to dispose of his wife’s body.
This case was investigated by Detectives from the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and the Perkasie Borough Police Department, with the assistance of the Bucks County Investigating Grand Jury.
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