hird-degree murder, possession of a weapon, tampering with physical evidence, obstruction of justice, and mistreatment of a body are just some of the counts to which Stephen Capaldi has pled guilty.
After killing his wife, Elizabeth “Beth” Capaldi, dismembering her corpse, and burying her remains, he was found guilty of first-degree murder and given a sentence that ranges from 22 to 44 years in state prison.
Judge Charissa J. Liller of the Court of Common Pleas agreed to accept his guilty plea after negotiating a plea deal with his attorney. Stephen Capaldi complied with the investigators and took them to the location of his wife’s remains as part of the agreement. This gave his wife’s family the opportunity to give her a dignified burial. In addition to this, he is required to provide restitution to his daughter in the amount of $8,308.50 for the costs associated with her burial, to submit to a mental health examination, and to have no contact with his daughter until she chooses to contact him.
The day that Elizabeth Capaldi, 55, was reported missing to the Perkasie Borough Police Department by her daughter is considered the first day of the inquiry into her disappearance. Stephen Capaldi is suspected of killing his wife, lying to investigators on multiple occasions, taking steps to destroy evidence, and concealing her body, according to the findings of an investigation that was led by detectives from the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and the Perkasie Borough Police Department. Elizabeth Capaldi was slain by her husband, Stephen Capaldi, on the morning of October 10, 2022. When she was resting in their bed, Stephen strangled and smothered Elizabeth, causing her death. After that, he transferred her corpse from the main bedroom to a bedroom at the rear of the house, and then he took it to the basement, where he dismembered her and disposed of her body parts.
In accordance with the report from the grand jury, Stephen had “found someone (another woman) that he loved and who supported his dream of opening a comic book store with his brother while his wife did not.”
Stephen also had many curious Google searches, like: “How to get away with murder”; “DIY blacklight”; “how to delete Facebook messages”; “can you avoid police detection by turning off your phone”; “how to control your dark impulses”; “how to disappear and never be found”; and “FBI Handbook of Crime Scene Forensics.”
According to the article, the couple watched television together the night before the murder and even held hands during the show.
Their daughter delivered a heartfelt victim impact statement in which she conveyed her sorrow over the passing of her mother as well as the feelings of betrayal she had towards her father. She added that her father should spend the rest of his life behind bars for the things he did to her mother and that he should never be released. Detectives from the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and the Perkasie Borough Police Department, together with members of the Bucks County Investigative Grand Jury, worked together to investigate this case.
