On December 22, 1975, 22-year-old male victim John Abono, a resident of Concord, California, was reported missing. While specific details about his ethnicity were not publicly disclosed, Abono was later identified as one of the earliest known victims of serial killer John Sapp. The case remained unsolved for over a decade until a breakthrough in the mid-1980s linked Abono’s disappearance to a broader pattern of homicides.
John Sapp, a drifter with a long history of institutionalization
and criminal behavior, emerged as the primary suspect in the murder of 22-year-old male victim John Abono. In April 1986, Sapp was arrested in Grass Valley, California, on an unrelated firearms charge. During questioning, he confessed to multiple murders, including that of Abono. According to Sapp’s statements and subsequent investigations, Abono had been involved in a drug-related transaction with Sapp, which ultimately led to his death. Abono was described as a marijuana buyer, and his association with Sapp placed him in a vulnerable position.
Authorities later confirmed that Sapp had murdered Abono in Contra Costa County, California. The exact method of the killing was not detailed in public records, but the confession and corroborating evidence were sufficient to charge Sapp with first-degree murder. In 1991, John Sapp was convicted in Contra Costa County Superior Court for the murders of three individuals: 22-year-old male victim John Abono, 24-year-old Elizabeth Duarte, and 35-year-old Robert Weber. The jury found that Sapp had personally used a firearm in each of the killings and determined that the murders of Duarte and Weber were committed for financial gain.
Sapp was sentenced to death for the murders of Duarte and Weber, while the conviction for the murder of 22-year-old male victim John Abono contributed to the overall case against him. The case of Abono’s death, once a cold case, was ultimately resolved through Sapp’s confession and the diligent efforts of law enforcement across multiple counties.
