In 2001 a university student was attacked in her car in a parking lot near Byrd Stadium, Maryland. At the time she fought valiantly and lived to tell her story, and now, 8 years on, she is finally seeing justice prevail.
According to an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, because the woman, Julie, managed to fight back so many years ago, the attacker has now been caught and will be sentenced by a judge this coming Friday.
According to police reports, on May 11, 2001, the victim was in her car when a 35-year-old male, recently released from jail for a rape conviction, knocked on her car window. The startled woman asked him to leave, saying, “you’re making me uncomfortable. He didn’t leave. Instead he put his hands through the window and grabbed me by the throat.”
As Julie bravely fought the man and tried to escape through a broken window, the attacker punched her repeatedly in the face up to 25 times. She told police that he wanted her to drive him somewhere, but luckily she spotted some other students and screamed out for help, causing him to jump out of the car and run off.
According to court documents, during the struggle, the suspect had left behind in the vehicle traces of his blood, a baseball cap and a necklace, all of which had come off during the struggle. Forensics were able to extract DNA from the articles however no matches were made at the time and the case went cold.
Over the years the police have continued to try and find a match with no success, until recently when the attacker struck again on the same campus. The suspect was finally caught and matches of his DNA were made to the samples of Julie’s case.
Eight years on and Julie is thankful that she fought back that day. She is recovering from her ordeal well, and is grateful to police for continuing to check the DNA Database that finally brought her attacker to justice.
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