On the morning of March 18, police were called to Gerald Canepa's modest brick home in Oak Cliff. Inside, they found the 68-year-old's body, naked and lifeless. It was clear from the stab wounds that he'd been murdered. His TV, two computers and DVD collection were gone.
The friend or family member who initially found the body (police records don't specify) told detectives that Canepa lived alone and dated through Craigslist. A search of his phone and email records suggested he'd been communicating with a 27-year-old named Chris Beachum, who'd agreed to come to Canepa's home for sex. The emails stopped on March 15 at 12:29 a.m.
A search of Beachum's cell phone records showed that he'd been in Addison near Midway and Spring Valley roads in Addison. That was very close to the Value+ pawn shop on Montfort Place where Canepa's stolen camera would turn up as well as the Alpha Road Entertainmart where Beachum pawned several DVDs.
Police detail all this in an arrest affidavit released this afternoon. They suspect Beachum killed Canepa and that he lives on Spring Valley Road in Addison, but they haven't yet been able to find him. They're looking.
