COCOA, Florida -- On
Tuesday, a Brevard County Grand Jury indicted 87-year-old Benjamin
Reapp, on charges of First Degree Premeditated Murder in the death of his wife.
The charges stem from a Brevard County Sheriff’s Office cold case homicide investigation in the 1988 death of 52-year-old Wanda Reapp of Melbourne, Florida.
On the evening of Friday, August 26, 1988, Reapp reported that he and his wife were the
victims of a kidnapping. It was reported that the kidnapping occurred at the Mr. Donut
located on US-1 in Cocoa, Florida.
According to Reapp, the couple was allegedly forced to drive to
a desolate area of Canaveral Groves where the kidnapper restrained Reapp and brutally
murdered Wanda, disposing of her body in a canal. After the murder, the alleged kidnapper
drove away from the area, leaving Reapp who was able to walk to a residence, where the
Sheriff’s Office was contacted.
During March 2010, Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit Cold Case Agent
Joseph Martin began reviewing the case. For the past three years, Agent Martin along with
other members of the Homicide and Crime Scene Units compiled physical evidence and
conducted multiple interviews.
Throughout the investigation, Agents say that the evidence continued to point
to the involvement of the decedent’s husband. The investigators then began coordinating
efforts and reviewing evidentiary findings with prosecutors from the State Attorney’s
Office in Brevard County.
Reapp is currently serving a three-year sentence at the Central Florida
Reception Center of the Florida Department of Corrections for a lewd and lascivious conviction on a child
under the age of 12.
This investigation is the seventh Cold Case Homicide successfully solved by
the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit during the past four years.
"It is a very good feeling when we can meet with the family and
tell them that the individual responsible for their loss is being brought to justice," Sheriff Wayne Ivey said. "The law
enforcement personnel and our State Attorney’s Office involved in the investigation are
absolutely determined to solve every case. Our citizens would be amazed to watch them
work; they are a very dedicated group of people."
It is unknown at this time
when Reapp will be transported form the Department of Corrections to Brevard County for
his initial appearance on the murder charges.
Anyone with information about the investigation is urged to call the Brevard County
Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit at 321-633-8413 or CRIMELINE at 1-800-423-TIPS
(8477).
All calls to CRIMELINE are confidential, and callers can remain anonymous and
be eligible for a reward for information leading to an arrest.
