Man charged in 1992 stabbing death of woman whose body was found by St. Paul Cathedral
Annette Gail Seymour, 39, was found stabbed to death near the St. Paul Cathedral on July 14, 1992. (Ramsey County Attorney's Office / FOX 9)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office charged a Minneapolis man Wednesday in the 1992 stabbing death of a woman whose body was found near the St. Paul Cathedral in St. Paul, Minnesota.
John Capers, 65, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of 39-year-old Annette Gail Seymour.
On the morning of July 14, 1992, a citizen found Seymour’s body near the entrance of the now-sealed Selby Avenue street car tunnel below the St. Paul Cathedral and called St. Paul police. She was wearing only a black t-shirt.
An autopsy revealed Seymour had 11 stab wounds on her neck, chest, back and neck. One of the stab wounds severed her carotid artery. There were also various bruises and abrasions on her body, including her face. Her blood alcohol content was 0.208.
John Capers, 65, of Minneapolis is now charged in the 1992 stabbing death of Annette Gail Seymour. (Ramsey County Jail / FOX 9)
Seymour’s husband, James Fletcher, was the last person to see her alive. He told police he and Seymour had been married for four years, but it was a difficult relationship due to Seymour’s drinking and they were no longer living together.
Fletcher said he had stayed over at Seymour’s apartment on the 200 block of Dayton Avenue, less than two blocks from the Cathedral, on July 12 and had spent most of the following day, July 13, with her.
He said Seymour was drinking and they had been arguing repeatedly. He said they parted ways around 9 p.m. on July 13 when she got into a vehicle with an unknown man outside a bar on West 7th Street.
Fletcher then went to a friend’s apartment for a few hours and returned to Seymour’s apartment around 12:30 or 1 a.m. and found Seymour there. They argued and he eventually left the apartment.
Fletcher said Seymour followed him and they walked down the stairs by the cathedral and down the stairs by the Selby Avenue tunnel, still arguing. He told Seymour to go home. She eventually left him and walked up the stairs towards the cathedral. Fletcher said he saw her reach the top of the stairs but did not see where she went after that.
Seymour’s body was found around 8:30 a.m.
In 2009, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension tested evidence in this case and found DNA from a semen stain on Seymour's shirt matched Capers. Additional testing in 2011 determined DNA from blood scrapings on Seymour's left hand also matched Capers.
In an interview with investigators in 2011, Capers denied knowing Seymour or having anything to do with her death.
Capers will make his first appearance in court on Thursday.