A man identified as a serial rapist has been linked through DNA evidence to the sexual assaults of four women of widely different backgrounds between 2000 and 2004 in Thornton, Federal Heights and Aurora.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation recently tied the four cases together through DNA analysis, said Thornton police spokeswoman Billie-jo Naysmith. The findings were announced Tuesday.
Police have not yet determined the name of the suspect, but he is not believed to be responsible for a string of rapes in Denver and Aurora.
“We would have never put these (cases) together because the victimology is so different for each victim,” Naysmith said. “It’s very unusual.”
In the Aurora case, the man was joined by another attacker in sexually assaulting a 44-year-old woman in a home near 13th Avenue and Victor Street, said Rudy Herrera, Aurora police spokesman.
On Dec. 20, the Thornton Police Department obtained an arrest warrant for the alleged serial rapist, who uses different weapons and violence to control his victims, Naysmith said.
Police in Thornton, where the rapist struck twice in homes north of 120th Avenue in 2000 and 2002, released a composite sketch of the rapist that was drawn after the 2002 rape. The suspect is described as about 5 foot 4 inches tall, Naysmith said.
“We’re talking about a fairly small suspect who had to use a weapon or force to control them,” she said.
Naysmith said CBI’s backlog is partially to blame for not making the connection for more than a year after the last attack in 2004. It was difficult to see the connections in the cases because the rapist attacked women of different ages and races in three cities, she said.
The rapist attacked a woman in central Federal Heights and in northwest Aurora in March 2004, according to Herrera and Lt. Roger McLaughlin of the Federal Heights Police Department.
The four female victims range in ages from their 20s to 50s. The rapist has used various weapons to control the women, according to police.
In two of the rapes, the suspect knocked on the front door and when the woman opened it, he forced his way in and raped her, Naysmith said.
In the other two cases, each woman awoke with the attacker on top of her in bed, she said. The man apparently entered an unlocked door or window.
He beat some of the women with his hands. All of the women were either married or were living with someone, she said.
“He definitely seems to be watching for at least enough time to know it’s safe for him to go in,” Naysmith said.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
