‘Karma?’ NJ ex-priest accused of molesting boys shot to death

A former New Jersey priest accused of molesting young boys over a 12-year span was found shot to death in the kitchen of his Nevada home this past weekend, according to authorities there. The news led one abuse survivor to suggest the death was a comeuppance.

The body of 70-year-old John Capparelli was found by police in Henderson on Saturday. He died of a gunshot wound to the neck and his death was ruled a homicide by the Clark County Coroner’s Office.

A suspect had not been identified as and the department was following up on leads, police said Tuesday.

Capparelli was on the list published last month of 189 Roman Catholic priests and deacons in New Jersey who had been “credibly accused” of sex crimes against children.

As shared by the Archdiocese of Newark, Capparelli was assigned to at least five parishes and posts, including Our Lady of Fatima in North Bergen, Oratory Prep in Summit, Holy Trinity in Westfield, St. Theresa in Kenilworth and Temporary Chaplain Valley Hospital in Ridgewood.

He was linked to multiple victims between the time of his ordination in 1980 and when he was permanently removed from ministry in 1992, after which Capparelli became a public school teacher in Newark.

NJ Advance Media reported that Capparelli was barred from teaching in 2013 after at least two victims were set to testify about being molested as boys by the then-priest.

A separate 2011 report by NJ.com said he had also run a fetish website featuring videos of young men wrestling.

One of the men who went public with memories of abuse by Capparelli, Rich Fitter, on Tuesday told NJ Advance Media that “the world is a safer place without him," adding that "Whatever lead to his death, it’s a certain amount of karma.”

​More from New Jersey 101.5: