In the quiet coastal town of Brunswick, Georgia, a tragic story unfolded in the spring of 1989, forever altering the lives of the Kappus family. On the morning of May 1st, the sounds of gunshots shattered the peace, leading to the grim discovery of two bodies in a shed. The victims were 15-year-old Emma W. Kappus, a female, and her 40-year-old father, Patrick Russell Kappus. Both had been fatally shot.
The investigation into the double homicide soon focused on a family member, Roddy Elroy Childress, who was Emma's uncle and the half-brother of her mother, Jolene Kappus. Childress had been living with the Kappus family at the time of the murders. Following the discovery of the bodies, a warrant was issued for his arrest. Childress fled the state but was eventually located and apprehended in Colorado in August of 1990.
During the subsequent trial, prosecutors presented a theory that Childress had been sexually molesting his niece and was caught by her father, leading to the violent confrontation. Neighbors testified to hearing a gunshot, followed by yelling and then several more shots on the morning of the murders. A key piece of evidence was a check for $200 made out to Patrick Kappus that had been cashed after his death, bearing Childress's fingerprints. Childress's sister also testified that he had confessed to the killings during a phone call from jail, claiming he shot Emma accidentally and Patrick in self-defense. Childress, however, denied the truth of this confession at trial.
The jury found Roddy Elroy Childress guilty of the murders of both Emma and Patrick Kappus. For the murder of his niece, Emma, the jury recommended the death penalty, a sentence the judge imposed. He received a consecutive life sentence for the murder of Patrick. However, in a later appeal, Childress's convictions were reversed on two independent grounds, including an error by the trial court in excluding certain testimony and a ruling regarding expert witness reports.
