LAS VEGAS, Nev. (KOLO) – A Pennsylvania man is facing life in prison after he was convicted of kidnapping a woman then driving her to Nevada and killing her in the desert.
44-year-old John Matthew Chapman was found guilty of one count of kidnapping resulting in death. He will be sentenced on Aug. 2.
On Nov. 14, 2019, the Bethel Park Police Department in Pennsylvania conducted a welfare check on the victim at the request of a friend. Neighbors told police they had not seen the victim in around two months, but that they had seen Chapman, who they thought to be her boyfriend, entering and leaving her residence.
Inside the woman’s residence, officers found ID cards with Chapman’s name and picture, the victim’s cell phone, multiple zip ties, and a roll of duct tape.
The next day, detectives with the Bethel Park Police Department arrested and interviewed Chapman. During the interview, Chapman admitted that, in September 2019, he drove the victim from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania to Las Vegas. He also admitted to misleading the victim that they were going on vacation, and that they would be possibly buying a residence in Las Vegas.
In fact, Chapman had planned to kill the victim before their departure to Nevada. He told investigators that he drove the victim out to the desert in Lincoln County. Under the pretext of a bondage photo shoot, Chapman bound his victim’s hands and feet with plastic zip ties and affixed her to a signpost. He then put duct tape on her mouth and nose and watched her die from asphyxiation.
Chapman then returned to Pennsylvania, pretended to be the victim, used her Facebook messenger account and her residence and money after her murder.
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