The quiet of a Virginia home shattered in October 2020 when a husband’s routine shower was interrupted by a chilling discovery: his wife, Cynthia Capps, was missing.
He frantically searched the house, finding only a single, ominous drop of blood on the kitchen floor. A 911 call was made, launching a desperate search that would reveal a horrifying truth.
Police investigation quickly focused on a tenant, 41-year-old Hagen Lawrence Roberts, who had been renting a room from the Capps. His room was locked, requiring a forced entry by authorities.
Roberts was found in bed, appearing freshly showered, but a wrapped right hand and a visible cut immediately raised suspicion. The scene felt deliberately staged, a chilling attempt at normalcy.
The search extended beyond the room, uncovering bloodstains in the backyard and, most disturbingly, on a toolbox. What lay inside would confirm their worst fears.
Investigators opened the toolbox to find Cynthia Capps’ body concealed within. The discovery was brutal, a stark and devastating end to the search.
An autopsy revealed the unimaginable: Capps had been stabbed over 90 times, the attacks concentrated on her head, face, and neck. The sheer violence of the act was staggering.
Evidence mounted quickly. Bloodstained clothing was found discarded in the trash, and further bloodstains were discovered throughout the house, painting a grim picture of the attack.
A black folding knife, its tip broken and coated in dried blood, was recovered from Roberts’ room. Crucially, DNA evidence linked both Capps and Roberts to the knife, the clothing, and the bloodstains.
A metal shard, identified as the broken tip of a knife, was even extracted from Capps’ skull during the autopsy, solidifying the connection to the weapon found in Roberts’ possession.
Hagen Lawrence Roberts was ultimately convicted of first-degree murder and felony stabbing. He now faces a life sentence, plus an additional five years, for the senseless and brutal killing of Cynthia Capps.
