A Charge Naming John Doe Finds a Match After 7 Years
NY Times
9/1/07
The man charged in the serial-rape case, Rodney Washington, appeared in court this week for a judge to decide whether the case should go to trial. But after four of the victims testified, Mr. Washington waived his right to a preliminary hearing. His arraignment was scheduled for Sept. 10.
John Doe No. 5, with a DNA profile that prosecutors say matches Mr. Washington’s, was charged on March 17, 2000, with four counts of first-degree sexual assault, one count of second-degree sexual assault and three counts of robbery.
The five rapes occurred from March 1994 to January 1995.
Mr. Washington, 49, is accused of forcing the women, ages 14 to 20, into secluded areas and raping them.
Mr. Washington went to prison in Illinois in 1978 for rape and armed robbery, in 1987 for robbery and theft, and in 1990 for robbery. In October 1995, after the rapes in Wisconsin, he started serving about five years in Illinois for another robbery. In March, Mr. Washington went back to an Illinois prison for drug possession. He served about four months and was paroled in July.
While he was in prison the last time, Illinois took a DNA sample from him and entered it into the Combined DNA Index System, or Codis, said Master Sgt. Luis Gutierrez of the Illinois State Police. Law enforcement agencies across the nation participate in the databank.
In Wisconsin, a state crime laboratory expert had been running periodic searches in Codis for the owner of the DNA.
He received a hit in June, 10 days after the Illinois State Police entered Mr. Washington’s profile. Mr. Gahn amended the charges to identify John Doe No. 5 as Mr. Washington, and he was arrested in Chicago this month.
NY Times
9/1/07
The man charged in the serial-rape case, Rodney Washington, appeared in court this week for a judge to decide whether the case should go to trial. But after four of the victims testified, Mr. Washington waived his right to a preliminary hearing. His arraignment was scheduled for Sept. 10.
John Doe No. 5, with a DNA profile that prosecutors say matches Mr. Washington’s, was charged on March 17, 2000, with four counts of first-degree sexual assault, one count of second-degree sexual assault and three counts of robbery.
The five rapes occurred from March 1994 to January 1995.
Mr. Washington, 49, is accused of forcing the women, ages 14 to 20, into secluded areas and raping them.
Mr. Washington went to prison in Illinois in 1978 for rape and armed robbery, in 1987 for robbery and theft, and in 1990 for robbery. In October 1995, after the rapes in Wisconsin, he started serving about five years in Illinois for another robbery. In March, Mr. Washington went back to an Illinois prison for drug possession. He served about four months and was paroled in July.
While he was in prison the last time, Illinois took a DNA sample from him and entered it into the Combined DNA Index System, or Codis, said Master Sgt. Luis Gutierrez of the Illinois State Police. Law enforcement agencies across the nation participate in the databank.
In Wisconsin, a state crime laboratory expert had been running periodic searches in Codis for the owner of the DNA.
He received a hit in June, 10 days after the Illinois State Police entered Mr. Washington’s profile. Mr. Gahn amended the charges to identify John Doe No. 5 as Mr. Washington, and he was arrested in Chicago this month.
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