OK - Muskogee, 1990's, multiple women raped, Leroy Jamal Smith,50, arrested *DNA*

[dotr]

Alleged serial rapist arrested in Muskogee, Oklahoma for crimes dating back to the 1990's - KOAM
June 11 2020


''MUSKOGEE, Okla – Muskogee authorities arrest a suspect believed to be connected to multiple rape cases dating back to the 1990’s.

Leroy Smith is charged with five counts of rape.

This comes after authorities used DNA collected from sexual assaults and had a genealogical service do an analysis.

This analysis found Smith was the suspect in multiple investigations from the time.

Smith’s DNA was collected, tested, and came back as a match.''

''Between January 1993 and October 1995, the women, ranging in age from 19 to 40, were sexually assaulted. The survivors all described their attacker as an African American male in his 20’s. DNA was collected at the time, but was never able to be matched to a suspect. In September 2019, District 15 District Attorney Orvil Loge requested assistance from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) with identifying a suspect using tools available through the Bureau including forensic analysis and genealogy testing.''

 

[dotr]

rbbm.
Oklahoma serial rape suspect arrested 25 years after crimes
''Muskogee Police Chief Johnny Teehee says he was with the department when the calls started coming in to the department.

He says he was assigned to the first two cases and soon realized there was a connection. As the number of cases grew, so did the fear in the community.

“There was a fear that gripped Muskogee like I’ve never seen before,” Teehee said.

Investigators were able to develop a composite sketch, but they couldn’t seem to get closer to identifying a suspect.

Although multiple detectives worked to solve the case over the years, they continually hit roadblocks.

Even though DNA evidence was collected at the crime scenes, they could never match the DNA to a particular suspect.

“I knew that we had his DNA, I just had to identify it,” said Muskogee County District Attorney Orvil Loge.

After consulting with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, agents turned to a company to use genealogy to find a suspect.''

''Chief Teehee says they are aware of two other possible cases in Tulsa.


“I truly believe there will be more cases from this either from Muskogee or Tulsa,” Teehee said.''

 

[PayrollNerd]

It is a shame one victim has already passed away. I wonder how close their composite sketch matched this photo of him. I love DNA!

 

[dotr]

Muskogee man charged with five counts of rape
rbbm.
''The first case attributed to Smith was a Jan. 20, 1993 rape that occurred when a man placed a handgun to the victim's head and forced her into an alleyway, according to an affidavit filed with the case. The second, which occurred Feb. 3 that same year, included the same use of a handgun to force the victim into submission. During the third case, which occurred July 16, 1993, a knife was used to a similar effect.

"When we had that second case, it caused, obviously, some serious alarm," Teehee said. "As we continued through the process, there was a fear that gripped Muskogee like I've never seen it before."

Former MPD Investigator Faye Banks echoed the sentiment.

"We told people to be aware of anything that didn’t look right, anybody walking around that didn’t look normal. You had to, that’s the way you developed leads," Banks said. "That was just normal procedure, but people were scared, and because there were so many of them, we got a large volume of calls to follow up on."

The next case attributed to Smith took place Oct. 10, 1994, when a man broke into the victim's home and dragged her into the bedroom to assault her. The last case occurred nearly one year later on Oct. 3, 1995, in which a man grabbed a woman by the neck while she was sleeping and then assaulted her.

In all five of the cases, the perpetrator was described as a black male, between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 8 inches tall, and slender built, the affidavit states. A composite sketch published in the media also served to link the cases, Teehee said.

"When we showed the victims the composite sketch, they all said, 'yeah, that's him,'" Teehee said.

The serial rapes slowed in 1995 and then stopped completely, shortly before similar cases began appearing in Tulsa, Teehee said.''

''Teehee said investigators believe Smith may have been responsible for at least two more rapes in the Muskogee area during that 1993-1995 time period. Loge said he hopes Smith's arrest means more victims can report.''