The FBI announced Tuesday that investigators have linked a single man to a series of rapes committed in hotels in Washington and its suburbs over an eight-year period.
Authorities say DNA collected from victims and crime scenes in D.C., Maryland and Virginia shows one man is responsible, but they have not yet been able to identify him. The assaults occurred between 1998 and 2006.
The U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia, in an unusual move, used the evidence to obtain an indictment, charging the unknown John Doe with two counts of rape in 2003 incidents. The indictment was filed May 1 and announced on Tuesday.
Washington has a 15-year statute of limitations for rape, which means the charges were about to expire. There is no statute of limitations for rape in Virginia and Maryland, meaning those cases can be charged and tried anytime a suspect is identified.
Authorities said DNA has linked the man to six attacks in Maryland and Virginia, and he is a suspect in other assaults.
The assailant’s DNA profile does not appear to be in vast databases collected by law enforcement.
The D.C. Superior Court indictment alleges that on May 11, 2003 the man sexually assaulted a worker at the Renaissance Hotel on Ninth Street Northwest, at Mount Vernon Square. The indictment says the man entered a guest room while the woman was already inside, attacking her and stealing her necklace.
On May 23, 2003, the indictment alleges, the same man entered a room at the Jefferson Hotel, at Scott Circle, and sexually assaulted a victim who was over 60 years old.
Peter Hermann, Michael Brice-Saddler/The Washington Post