Simi Rapes Linked; Similarity to Valley Attacks to Be Probed

As they continue their search for a serial rapist, Simi Valley police have matched genetic material obtained in three of eight rape cases, giving them their first physical link between the crimes.

They have also seen similarities in one of the incidents with a series of assaults that Los Angeles police are investigating in the west San Fernando Valley.

Based on the method of operation and physical description in the Simi Valley cases, detectives have long believed that they were searching for one man, Sgt. Andrew McCluskey said.

The rapist is responsible for five sexual assaults and three rapes that occurred between June 1996 and May, McCluskey said.

The genetic match was made from semen, blood or saliva that was left on three of the victims, McCluskey said. In some of the cases, genetic material wasn’t available.

The genetic profile obtained was compared with state and federal DNA files, which are much like fingerprints--but no match was made, the sergeant said.

Meanwhile, Simi Valley police want to talk with Los Angeles officers investigating a serial rapist who has struck at least five times in the western San Fernando Valley since March 29.

McCluskey said there is a similarity between the most recent rape in Simi Valley on May 4 and the method of operation in the Valley attacks.

In a majority of the Valley cases, the rapist forced his victims to drive to a secluded location, where the attacks occurred.

In a majority of the Simi Valley assaults, the rapist broke into his victims’ homes. But in the May 4 incident, which is one of the cases with a match, the rapist forced his 25-year-old victim to drive to a secluded location.

“We’ve seen a change in his method of operation,” McCluskey said of the Simi rapist. “We are very interested in the progress of their [LAPD] cases.”