Handyman Charged in Killing of 4 Widows
A handyman has been charged with raping, murdering and burning four elderly widows in a series of killings that terrorized this retirement community.
Edwin Kaprat, 29, was arrested Saturday after his fingerprints were identified at the homes of all the victims. The homes were in neighborhoods where he had done repair work, Hernando County Sheriff Thomas Mylander said.
The killings began Aug. 7, when Sophia Garrity, 80, was found dead in her home. Investigators initially believed that she had died in a fire set off by a short circuit.
Investigators also blamed an electrical short when 70-year-old Ruth Goldsmith’s burned body was found the next day in her nearby mobile home.
Police began searching for a serial killer after the Sept. 2 death of Goldsmith’s best friend, 79-year-old Lydia Ridell, and the Sept. 30 death of Garrity’s elderly neighbor, Loraine Dawe.
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