Lunch Led to Rapist’s Capture

A suspect who was tricked by an enterprising police detective into leaving his saliva on a soft drink straw at an Orange County Taco Bell pleaded guilty to two rape charges Monday in a case that even his lawyer said represented a legitimate yet unusual use of DNA evidence.

Brea Police Det. Susan Hanna had been working on the case for months and thought Robert William Bradford Jr. was her man when she invited him out for a meal at Taco Bell, saying she wanted to pick his brain about the case. When Bradford wasn’t looking, she snatched his cola straw. She then sent the straw to a crime lab for DNA testing, which connected Bradford to the rapes.

“It was a shot in the dark,” Hanna said. “It paid off.”

The case underscores the new ways police are using DNA to help solve cases.

And despite the detective’s ploy, Bradford’s attorney said Monday he believes that the evidence was gathered legally.

“We had every reason to believe the evidence would be allowed at trial,” said Donald T. Barkemeyer. “[Police] did not unreasonably seize or delay Mr. Bradford. He voluntarily had the soda with the cops. They were tricky. But they weren’t illegal.”

Bradford was sentenced Monday to two life terms plus 52 years for attacking a 24-year-old woman at her Brea home in 1998 and a 19-year-old woman at an apartment complex in 2000. In each case, he slipped through an unlocked door in the middle of the night and threatened to kill his victim and others in the home if she did not cooperate, prosecutors charged.

Bradford waived his right to a trial because he wished to spare the two women and his family further suffering, Barkemeyer said.

Hanna said she linked the two rapes after the second victim said her attacker reeked of smoke and also recalled how a chain-smoker who lived in the apartment complex frequently stared in the direction of her home.

After identifying Bradford as that man, Hanna discovered he used to live in the same neighborhood where the other attack took place. So she went back to that woman, who confirmed that her attacker was also a smoker.

Second Detective Posed as Employee

Following up on her hunch, Hanna asked Bradford for his help as a possible witness and arranged to meet him for lunch at a Taco Bell in Santa Ana, where another detective posed as an employee.

Hanna said Bradford “was trying to point me away from him. He was giving me false leads.”

After Bradford finished his soda, Hanna got him a refill, replacing his straw and, on her way out, handing the old one to the disguised detective. The straw was taken to a crime lab for DNA tests, which linked Bradford to both rapes.

Law enforcement officials are increasingly turning to DNA evidence to crack cases. But typically, detectives seek a suspect’s consent or obtain a search warrant before taking a sample.

Legal experts said the defense probably couldn’t challenge the evidence in the Bradford case. They said the tactic is equivalent to lifting someone’s fingerprints from a glass, or strands of hair from a crime scene.

“Better be careful where you leave your DNA,” said Loyola University law professor Laurie Levenson. “It’s creative law enforcement, as some would say. And I would guess as DNA becomes used more in the courts, you’ll see even more creative techniques.”

Hanna said she got the idea after serving on a task force that eventually captured serial rapist Steven Morales, a construction worker who terrorized Orange County in 1998 with seven sexual attacks and is now serving 101 years in prison.

“I wish I could take credit,” Hanna said. “I was involved in the task force. And we did a lot of brainstorming about ways we could get DNA covertly, like on cigarettes or drinking straws.”

Bradford’s two victims sat stoically in the back row of the courtroom and addressed the court before sentencing.

“He took something from me that night. I’m taking it back,” said one victim. “I do not hate you. I pity you more than anything. And I refuse to let you take my spirit.”

The other victim trembled and cried as she recalled how she has been living in terror since the rape.

“I thought I was going to die. I was so scared,” she said. “I’m going to put this behind me. I’m not going to let it get the best of me.”