Husband of missing Sellersville woman charged with homicide

Stephen Michael Capaldi, the husband of Elizabeth “Beth” Capaldi, who was reported missing two months ago, is being held without bail for the murder of his wife of 30 years, the Bucks County District Attorney announced at a press conference Thursday.
The 57-year-old Stephen Capaldi is accused of strangling and suffocating Beth Capaldi, 55, with a pillow while she slept in the main bedroom of their Sellersville home on Oct. 10. He then moved her body to another bedroom and later to the basement, according to DA Matt Weintraub. It was in the basement where he dismembered her body.
Capalidi is charged with third-degree murder, possession of an instrument of crime, tampering with evidence, obstruction of justice and abuse of a corpse, said Weintraub. He’s expected to serve 20 years to 40 years in prison.
The reduced charges came in a negotiated agreement that provided Capaldi would show authorities where he disposed of his wife’s remains. Beth Capaldi’s family supported the deal, said the district attorney.
“It was a value judgment on my part,” Weintraub said of the agreement. At times, “we have to make a bargain.” The agreement eliminates any appeals, he noted, and “allows the family to grieve on its own terms,” bringing, “in a word, closure.”

Capaldi took police to Hog’s Island in Tinicum Township, Delaware County, near the Philadelphia International Airport, where some remains were recovered and “conclusively found” to be those of Beth Capaldi.
He also told authorities he disposed of some remains in an apartment complex dumpster in Lansdale, but the dumpster had since been emptied by the time police arrived, said Weintraub. Finding them at the landfill where they had been taken proved to be “an insurmountable challenge.”
The DA said the investigation is continuing and authorities hope to find the rest of Beth Capaldi’s remains and return them to her family. “That is the humane part of this case.”
While no motive for the brutal murder is yet clear, Weintraub said, “We are convinced he was solely responsible for the murder.”
A Bucks County Grand Jury report said phone messages found by investigators indicated Capaldi had a six-month affair with a woman. Authorities also found internet searches on “how to get away with murder,” “how to vanish and never be found,” and “can a polygraph be skewed.”

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