‘It’s karma,’ says alleged victim of former N.J. priest found shot to death in Nevada

By Kelly Heyboer
NJ.com
March 12, 2019

https://www.nj.com/crime/2019/03/its-karma-says-alleged-victim-of-former-nj-priest-found-shot-to-death-in-nevada.html

A 1985 photo of then-Rev. John Capparelli when he was head of a Catholic youth group. He was later removed from the priesthood after allegations of sexual abuse of young boys.

Richard Fitter speaks to the media at a protest of priest sex abuse victims in front of the Statehouse in 2011. They called for New Jersey to lift its statute of limitations on sex abuse civil lawsuits.

Rich Fitter wasn’t sure how he was supposed to feel when his phone started lighting up late Monday night with the news that the former priest he said sexually abused him and other young boys for years was dead -- shot to death in Nevada.

But Fitter said he knows one thing: John Capparelli, the former New Jersey priest and teacher who was dogged by abuse allegations for years but never prosecuted, will never be able to hurt anyone again.

“The world is a safer place without him,” said Fitter, of Sparta. “The guy had a 40-year record of abuse. Whatever lead to his death, it’s a certain amount of karma.”

Capparelli, 70, was found shot to death in his house in Henderson, Nevada, Saturday morning after police were asked to conduct a welfare check, local law enforcement officials said.

“Preliminary investigation indicates the victim died of suspicious circumstances, and the incident is being investigated as a homicide,” local police said in the statement. “A suspect has not been identified at this time and police are following up on developed leads.”

Capparelli was one of 188 priests and deacons in the state who had been “credibly accused” of child sexual abuse, according to a list released by New Jersey’s five Catholic dioceses last month. But the allegations against him were well known.

He was accused of groping, photographing and brutalizing young boys, often asking them to wrestle in tight swimwear. He was also linked to a fetish website he allegedly ran. He was removed from ministry in 1992 and eventually defrocked by the Catholic Church.

However, he was able to get a job as a public school teacher in Newark until a report by The Star-Ledger detailed his past. He eventually surrendered his teaching licenses in New Jersey and moved to Nevada.

Despite multiple accusers who came forward with similar stories of abuse, Capparelli never admitted to any wrongdoing.

Fitter filed a civil lawsuit against him and the Catholic Church in 2011 in part to hold the former priest accountable for the alleged abuse that he never had to answer for in criminal court. The case was settled for an undisclosed amount.

Fitter, who works as a personal trainer and writer, said he did not know Capparelli had moved to Nevada. He wants to know if the former priest continued his pattern of alleged abuse or had any contact with young boys in his new state.

“I can’t see a change,” Fitter said. “I’ll be very interested to see what police find in his house . . . I don’t see that type of sociopath and predator changing.”

Fitter said he is still processing the news of the death of the former priest he says haunted his dreams for decades. But, his thoughts keep returning to one explanation.

“It’s karma,” he said. “I do think there’s a certain karma.”