Networked Knowledge - Media Report

This version of the report has been prepared by: Dr Robert N Moles

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On 30 September 2008 Perth Now / AAP reported “DNA identifies alleged rapist from 1987 attack”.

It said West Australian police have used DNA technology to identify a man who allegedly raped a woman in her Kalgoorlie home 21 years ago. The then 16-year-old teenager was alone at her McDonald Street unit in the Goldfields town on March 6, 1987, when someone broke into the home, police say. She woke up to find a man in bed next to her. Police say he allegedly started hitting her with his fists until she managed run from the house. But the man dragged her back inside and allegedly sexually assaulted her, police said.

WA's Sex Assault Squad, set up last year, sent exhibits from the case to Perth's Pathwest pathology laboratory for forensic analysis and found the alleged rapist on the police DNA database. Detective Senior Sergeant John Hindriksen, the officer in charge of squad, said the man was currently awaiting trial on a different matter in a NSW prison. Det Snr Sgt Hindriksen said police interviewed him in September and were preparing a warrant for his arrest and extradition back to WA. ``It's just a waiting game now until he's dealt with in NSW,'' he said.

The squad has recently been conducting a number of cold case reviews. ``The technology with DNA has advanced to the point where samples five to 10 years ago might not give a result, but we are now getting results from those samples,'' Det Snr Sgt Hindriksen said. ``We've got a lot of cold case files on the books and we're slowly going through them.''

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