WI WI - Stephen Kappell, 18, Oshkosh, 28 September 1965

http://wbay.com/2015/02/02/50-years-after-college-students-death-family-looking-for-answers/

According to Kappell’s death certificate, the 18-year old college freshman was brutally beaten, thrown into Lake Winnebago and drowned. His death was ruled a homicide. Newspaper articles from the time reveal details of Kappell being found bound and with a 30-pound rock attached to his naked body. It’s a horrific death his sister says he didn’t deserve.

Martha Kemp is Stephen Kappell’s sister. She says, “He was a good person. He was a very smart and intelligent, athletic man and he deserved to have a full life and that was robbed from him.”

Now, almost 50 years later, Kappell’s family knows it’s a long shot, but they really want to know why he was killed. “It certainly changed our lives forever, from a happy middle class family to something that was just horrific,” says Martha Kemp.

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http://wbay.com/2015/02/03/friends-still-looking-for-answers-in-1965-cold-case/

His death certificate said he was brutally beaten and drowned — and listed his death as a homicide.

But, as St. Aubin recalls and a newspaper article from December 9, 1965 confirms, a hearing was held to determine if Kappell was murdered or if he committed suicide. The jury’s verdict was undetermined. St. Aubin said he testified at that hearing and was convinced Kappell was murdered.

According to St. Aubin, “I was attesting to the good person he was. And they wanted to make it sound like he had mental problems and he committed suicide, which didn’t happen, didn’t happen.”

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http://wbay.com/2015/01/30/opd-turns-to-facebook-to-solve-50-year-old-cold-case/

Days later the body was identified as Kappell’s with the help of fingerprints. An inquest ruled the exact cause of death as undetermined and the case remained untouched for nearly 50 years.

Oshkosh police today say they weren’t even aware of the Kappell case until recently. We’re told Kappell’s sister asked for the case to be looked into again. “Not sure how it got passed all of these years,” Nichols said, “but when the family members contacted us it was reopened, and we were like, OK, let’s look forward, let’s look into it, see if we have any information, if anyone can remember anything.”

That’s when police took to social media asking for information about the case. Fifty years after the fact, police know Kappell’s acquaintances and classmates would be in their 60’s and 70’s, but authorities are sure someone knows something.

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This certainly doesn't sound like suicide, not at all.

From another article on Feb 4


"Kappell’s death certificate labeled his death a homicide, saying he was brutally beaten and eventually drowned after being thrown in Lake Winnebago. But newspaper reports from less than two months later say several people, who testified at a coroner’s inquest, claimed Kappell likely died by suicide. It’s a story Barry Busby isn’t buying."

http://wbay.com/2015/02/04/cold-case-will-be-tough-to-solve-without-witne

So the coroner ruled the death a homicide, yet "several people" testified that it was a suicide. No, people committing suicide don't beat themselves badly, then bind themselves up, tie on a 30 lb rock and jump nude into a lake.

Who were the "several people" who claimed it was a suicide? Were any of them representatives of the university concerned about bad publicity? How much trouble can an average 18 yo college freshman get into in 1965? There wouldn't have been drugs on a small midwestern campus then, nor much of any other vices.

Was he pledging a fraternity? Victim of a prank turned demented and violent? Dating someone's sweetheart? This was a very violent death, likely committed by more than one person. At least two people would be needed to throw him and the rock into the lake.

It's commendable that local LE are now adamantly looking into the case. Someone knows what happened.

ETA: He was last seen at his dorm, Breese Hall, on Sept. 28. He wascreported missing by a high school friend and fellow college student on Sept. 30.

https://m.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=373400751611&story_fbid=10152519258411612

Stephen W. Kappell
BIRTH 17 Jan 1947
Kaukauna, Outagamie County, Wisconsin, USA
DEATH 28 Sep 1965 (aged 18)
Oshkosh, Winnebago County, Wisconsin, USA
BURIAL
St. Mary's Cemetery
Kaukauna, Outagamie County, Wisconsin, USA

Stephen Kappell, age 18, passed away September 28, 1965. He was born January 17, 1947 in Appleton, the son of Clifford and Eunice (Mielke) Kappell. He attended St. Mary's Parochial School, Kaukauna and Kaukauna High School and had just enrolled at Oshkosh State University. He was very active in all phases of sports and activities while attending school. Stephen is survived by his parents; one brother, Robert; and two sisters, Mary Jo and Martha Ann, all at home, his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Kappell and Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Mielke, Appleton. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Mary's Catholic Church with the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Peter A. Salm officiating. Interment will be in the parish cemetery. Greenwood Funeral Home, Kaukauna, assisted the family.

Source: Post-Crescent. Appleton, Wisconsin. October 20, 1965, page 42

LINK:
Stephen W. Kappell (1947-1965) - Find A Grave...

Student death remains mystery after 56 years - The Advance-Titan
A family never forgets - The Advance-Titan

I have a theory on this one. In a nutshell, he exhibited some oddly intense and also rough behavior toward a coed. I think members of the football team witnessed it or heard about it and removed him from campus via murder. They must have thought he was not safe to leave alive. I think cops low key agreed and thus it was all brushed away as suicide.

Key points supporting that theory from the linked articles:
-Stephen Kappell was a freshman in September 1965 at what was then called the Wisconsin State University at Oshkosh where he played backup center for the Titan football team.
-Stephen’s relationship with high school sweetheart ended in April 1965 and Stephen, apparently distraught from the breakup, was arrested in Milwaukee after stealing a car and several items of merchandise
-Began dating female Falk after meeting at college enrollment. Falk said Stephen was moody and had expressed disappointment in not making the football team as well as concern over the possibility of flunking his classes.
-The day before he disappears- The Northwestern reported Stephen and Falk had disagreed on what route to take to class and Stephen tugged Falk, causing her to trip on some stairs. The Post-Crescent reported Stephen “forced her to walk to class by pulling her down a flight of steps in Reeve Memorial Union.”
-Later that day, Falk wrote Stephen a note scolding him for being pushy, according to the Northwestern. St. Aubin said he was talking with Falk in the student union when she gave Stephen the note and Stephen immediately left the student union, without saying anything.
- The day of his disappearance, Stephen called Falk and apologized for tugging her. He also met her at her dorm room and gave her four letters and a book of Freud saying that maybe the book would help her understand his behavior.
-Falk later met Stephen for supper that day and he asked if she had read the letters he gave her and she told him she hadn’t. Falk said she last saw Stephen at 6:30 the night he disappeared. Falk read Stephen’s letters an hour later and was surprised by what Stephen wrote. Stephen expressed feelings of unworthiness and strong feelings of affection for Falk. “I never realized the extent of his affection,” Falk said.