Edwin Kaprat

The two inmates responsible for the murders, Mario Lara and Rigoberto Sanchez-Velasco, were both convicted of two counts of third degree murder. Sanchez-Velasco was executed for his respective crime in 2002, while Lara remains imprisoned on an unrelated life term for a double murder.

In January 1995, Kaprat's trial for the murder of Riddell began. From the very beginning, it was closely monitored by residents of Hernando County due to its high-profile nature and the viciousness of the crimes, which were described as the worst in the county's history. After being ruled sober and sane at the time of the crimes, Kaprat was charged with first-degree murder. During the proceedings, a tape-recorded interview between Kaprat and a detective was played which showed that Kaprat had repeatedly asked for the interview to be stopped so he could smoke a cigarette. In it, the detective repeatedly shouted at him and called him a liar, which Kaprat's attorney argued was tantamount to coercion - on the other hand, prosecutors excused it by pointing out that the detective was simply calling him out on his lies.

On April 19, 1995, Kaprat and another inmate, Charles Street, were both stabbed to death by two inmates at the Florida State Prison's death row. His death was met with relief from the victims' family members, most of whom said that he deserved what he got; at the same time, they expressed their condolences to his own family members. As a result of his death, the charges in the remaining cases were dropped and they were officially closed.

Before being put on trial, investigators attempted to link Kaprat with an unrelated arson attack on another man committed the day after Bugay's murder, but could not charge him due to a lack of evidence. At the trial itself, it was determined that Kaprat's confession was not overtly reliable, and he was thusly convicted on the forgery charge and dealing in stolen property. He was then placed under house arrest at his parents' home in Hernando County, but was later arrested for violating it and was imprisoned until May 7, 1993. By that time, his wife had divorced him due to his aggressive behavior towards their children and his volatile temper (which she believed was a projection of his own alleged physical abuse as a child), and he had dropped out of the Hillsborough Community College. After his release, Kaprat wrote a letter to his attorney in New Jersey, alleging that his eldest son had attempted to kill his younger brother and had sexually molested his mother, but these allegations could not be substantiated.

On August 7, 1993, a fire broke out at the Spring Hill home of 80-year-old Sophia Francis Garrity, a retired public relations employee from New Jersey who lived by herself. By the time the firemen had arrived to extinguish the flames, she had perished in the blaze. The incident came as a shock to the community, as Garrity, affectionately called "The Cookie Lady", was well-liked and respected by everyone. The starting point of the fire was determined to be the cause of an electrical malfunction in Garrity's bedroom, with the fire being spread by her bedroom fan. Due to the circumstances, it was ruled as accidental and Garrity's death was also ruled as such.

On February 22, 1991, the body of 27-year-old Lee Anthony Bugay III was found in a mangrove near the Courtney Campbell Causeway in Tampa by a man who had been sunbathing. Bugay had been reported missing the previous morning, and injuries on his head indicated that he had been beaten to death with either a tire iron or a pipe. His vehicle was later found at a nearby boat ramp, and investigators took plaster casts of footprints and tire tracks found near the crime scene in the hopes of finding clues that would let them catch the killer.

After his 16th birthday, Kaprat dropped out of the Hackettstown High School, and in November 1982, he married his pregnant girlfriend, Nora Niederhaus. Even after the birth of his two sons, Kaprat continued drinking and smoked marijuana. By that time, the Kaprat family had faced some strife, as the elder Kaprats divorced and their daughter, Ruthie, experienced marital problems with one of her husbands having threatened to torch her car. Despite his hot temper, Kaprat was well-liked by his family and relatives, and was noted for his interest in the Middle Ages and Dungeons & Dragons. In October 1990, he and his wife moved to his parents' home in Spring Hill, Florida, where they had planned to start a new life with their children.

Edwin Bernard Kaprat III (September 21, 1964 – April 19, 1995), known as The Granny Killer, was an American serial killer, rapist, and arsonist who committed six murders in Tampa and Hernando County, Florida from 1991 to 1993, with a majority of his victims being elderly women. Convicted for two of the killings and sentenced to death, he and another inmate were stabbed to death during a dispute in prison.

Edwin Bernard Kaprat III was born on September 21, 1964, in New York City, New York, one of two children born to refrigeration mechanic Edwin "Skip" Kaprat Jr. and his wife Ruth, a real estate agent. The family moved to Great Meadows, New Jersey when he was still young, and according to neighbors, they were considered to be upstanding citizens. Although described as intelligent and obsessed with reading books, Kaprat, who was nicknamed "Mike" by family members, was also known to be a very violent and easily-angered bully who would attack those weaker and smaller than him. Due to this, his teachers resorted to giving him plush toys so he could redirect his anger to them, punching and kicking them. He reportedly started drinking at age 12 and developed an addiction to alcohol, which landed him in juvenile treatment centers and juvenile courts on numerous occasions.