1987-01-05
Collection: 1987
Title
1987-01-05
Subject
Capps, Lawrence Leland
Description
Obituaries published in the Augusta Daily Gazette
Creator
Augusta Daily Gazette, Augusta, Kansas, USA
Source
Augusta Historical Museum, Augusta, Kansas, USA
Publisher
Augusta Public Library, Augusta, Kansas, USA
Date
1987-01-05
Format
Clippings
Language
English
Type
application/pdf
Citation
Augusta Daily Gazette, Augusta, Kansas, USA, “1987-01-05,” Digital Augusta, accessed November 23, 2024, https://augusta.digitalsckls.info/item/439.
Text
Monday, January 5, 1987
Three charged in murder
By MARY L. HODSON Gazette Area Editor
Three Butler County residents were arraigned today in district court at El Dorado in connection with the murder of former Augusta resident Lawrence Leland Capps, 18, who resided in Andover.
The men are Billy Mathis, aka Charlie Mathis, 18, and William C. Horton, 23, both of Douglass, and John E. Beebe, 23, of Latham, according to the county attorney’s office.
Mathis was charged with first-degree murder, felony murder, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated robbery.
Horton and Beebe were charged with aiding and abetting first-degree murder, aiding and abetting felony murder, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated robbery.
All three are in custody at the county jail in El Dorado following their arrests
Monday.
Capps’ partially-submerged body was found about 2 a.m. Monday in the Walnut River near Gordon, after one of the suspects reportedly told Douglass police officer Steve Miles about a body in the river.
Ten law enforcement officers searched from a 20-foot embankment and after a form of the body was spotted. Sheriff’s captain Stan Cox and sergeant Dave Brown went down on ropes to retrieve it. A winch was used to raise the officers and Capps’ body from the river and up to the top of a 20-foot embankment.
Augusta firemen Ray Marbut and Mark Lewis assisted with the search
Chains and some concrete were apparently used to hold the body in the river, according to sheriff Dave Williams.
Capps had been reported missing Sunday afternoon by his mother, Mary
Sue Madrigal of Andover. Initial reports indicate Madrigal last saw her son alive about 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31.
Officials theorized that Capps was killed New Year’s Eve but now believe he was killed New Year’s Day. Williams says Capps was picked up at a phone booth in Augusta, robbed him of $10 and then shot him. His car was recovered here.
Williams acknowledged the former Augusta High School student had been shot. Sheriff Williams declined comment on the cause of death, other than Capps had been murdered.
Search warrants were served on a house in Douglass and another house in Latham yesterday morning, according to the sheriff. The two Douglass men reportedly lived together in a trailer park on North Elm Street in Douglass.
Augusta law officers recovered a vehicle driven by Capps before his death. The 1963 red Opal was taken to the Augusta safety department for further investigation.
Williams says investigation into the murder continues. Officers hope to find answers on how the car got to Augusta, when, where and why Capps was killed.
Funeral Thursday
Lawrence Leland Capps’ funeral will be 3 p.m. Thursday at the Dunsford Funeral Home with burial in Elmwood.
Capps, 18, Andover, and a former Augusta High School student, died Jan 1.
He was born March 16, 1968 in El Dorado to Everett and Mary Sue Wilson Capps.
Capps was employed by Pizza Hut Corporation in Andover and Augusta.
Survivors include his father, Everett of Augusta; mother, Mary Sue Madrigal of Andover; brothers, Lale of Manhattan, Troy and Travis Capps of Augusta, and Dane Capps of Andover; grandfather, Everett L. Capps of Augusta and maternal grandparents, Oscar and Mary Wilson of Warsaw, Mo.
The Dunsford Funeral Home of Augusta is in charge of arrangements.
LELAND CAPPS ...found in river
Original Format
Newspaper clipping
Title
1987-01-05
Subject
Capps, Lawrence Leland
Description
Obituaries published in the Augusta Daily Gazette
Creator
Augusta Daily Gazette, Augusta, Kansas, USA
Source
Augusta Historical Museum, Augusta, Kansas, USA
Publisher
Augusta Public Library, Augusta, Kansas, USA
Date
1987-01-05
Format
Clippings
Language
English
Type
application/pdf
Citation
Augusta Daily Gazette, Augusta, Kansas, USA, “1987-01-05,” Digital Augusta, accessed November 23, 2024, https://augusta.digitalsckls.info/item/439.Text
Monday, January 5, 1987
Three charged in murder
By MARY L. HODSON Gazette Area Editor
Three Butler County residents were arraigned today in district court at El Dorado in connection with the murder of former Augusta resident Lawrence Leland Capps, 18, who resided in Andover.
The men are Billy Mathis, aka Charlie Mathis, 18, and William C. Horton, 23, both of Douglass, and John E. Beebe, 23, of Latham, according to the county attorney’s office.
Mathis was charged with first-degree murder, felony murder, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated robbery.
Horton and Beebe were charged with aiding and abetting first-degree murder, aiding and abetting felony murder, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated robbery.
All three are in custody at the county jail in El Dorado following their arrests
Monday.
Capps’ partially-submerged body was found about 2 a.m. Monday in the Walnut River near Gordon, after one of the suspects reportedly told Douglass police officer Steve Miles about a body in the river.
Ten law enforcement officers searched from a 20-foot embankment and after a form of the body was spotted. Sheriff’s captain Stan Cox and sergeant Dave Brown went down on ropes to retrieve it. A winch was used to raise the officers and Capps’ body from the river and up to the top of a 20-foot embankment.
Augusta firemen Ray Marbut and Mark Lewis assisted with the search
Chains and some concrete were apparently used to hold the body in the river, according to sheriff Dave Williams.
Capps had been reported missing Sunday afternoon by his mother, Mary
Sue Madrigal of Andover. Initial reports indicate Madrigal last saw her son alive about 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31.
Officials theorized that Capps was killed New Year’s Eve but now believe he was killed New Year’s Day. Williams says Capps was picked up at a phone booth in Augusta, robbed him of $10 and then shot him. His car was recovered here.
Williams acknowledged the former Augusta High School student had been shot. Sheriff Williams declined comment on the cause of death, other than Capps had been murdered.
Search warrants were served on a house in Douglass and another house in Latham yesterday morning, according to the sheriff. The two Douglass men reportedly lived together in a trailer park on North Elm Street in Douglass.
Augusta law officers recovered a vehicle driven by Capps before his death. The 1963 red Opal was taken to the Augusta safety department for further investigation.
Williams says investigation into the murder continues. Officers hope to find answers on how the car got to Augusta, when, where and why Capps was killed.
Funeral Thursday
Lawrence Leland Capps’ funeral will be 3 p.m. Thursday at the Dunsford Funeral Home with burial in Elmwood.
Capps, 18, Andover, and a former Augusta High School student, died Jan 1.
He was born March 16, 1968 in El Dorado to Everett and Mary Sue Wilson Capps.
Capps was employed by Pizza Hut Corporation in Andover and Augusta.
Survivors include his father, Everett of Augusta; mother, Mary Sue Madrigal of Andover; brothers, Lale of Manhattan, Troy and Travis Capps of Augusta, and Dane Capps of Andover; grandfather, Everett L. Capps of Augusta and maternal grandparents, Oscar and Mary Wilson of Warsaw, Mo.
The Dunsford Funeral Home of Augusta is in charge of arrangements.
LELAND CAPPS ...found in river
Original Format
Newspaper clipping