FIRST REPORT, 3:35 PM: The King County Sheriff’s Office believes it’s finally solved the vicious attack and rape of a 58-year-old woman in the 24th/Roxbury area three months ago – a case that drew regional attention. The attack happened early March 7th, as first reported here; investigators circulated a sketch, a photo of the victim’s purse, and went door to door. Now, DNA evidence has made a match, according to this announcement:
Police in Oklahoma arrested a 25 year old male for the March rape of a female in the White Center area.
The case was solved when the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab developed a DNA profile from evidence collected at the scene which matched the male. He had apparently been visiting King County from Oklahoma when the crime was committed.
The King County Prosecutor’s Office filed charges of Rape in the 1st degree and Assault in the 1st degree. An arrest warrant was issued and law enforcement in Oklahoma arrested him yesterday.
The suspect will have to go through the extradition process before being returned to King County.
We’re working to find out more.
5 PM UPDATE: The charging documents we just obtained from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office identify the suspect as 25-year-old Christopher Anthony Brown. They say his record in Oklahoma goes back seven years and includes convictions for burglary and assault/battery on a justice/social-services system worker.
According to the charging papers, the woman had left Roxbury Lanes around 11:30 pm and was walking to catch a bus to her home in South King County. In the 2200 block of SW Roxbury, her attacker approached her and asked for a cigarette. She gave him one and lit it for him, then started to walk away. He then asked if she would have sex with him for $40. She declined, and that’s when, the documents say, he grabbed her around the neck, choked her until she was almost unconscious, and dragged her into a “dark, secluded, semi-fenced corner” area, where he punched, kicked, and hit her along with raping her. He took her purse and said that he knew who she was and where she lived and would kill her and her family if she told anyone what had happened. He ran away; she managed to start walking back toward Roxbury Lanes and encountered a woman who called 911 for her.
She was taken to the hospital for treatment of her injuries and for a sexual-assault examination that gathered the evidence that eventually led authorities to Brown via a DNA match in mid-May. Investigators discovered that although he didn’t seem to have any ties to this area, he was here from late January through mid-April, staying with people who live in the 10000 block of 25th SW, about two blocks from the scene of the attack. He also was on record as pawning several items at Cash America in White Center. The charging papers say the suspect sketch created from the description the victim provided resembled photos of Brown.
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