In the middle of what was supposed to be a four-day trial, Thomas Carroll abruptly pleaded guilty to a 14-year-old rape.
Carroll, who was cornered by DNA evidence, eventually relented and admitted his guilt, Baltimore County Assistant State?s Attorney Jason League said.
“We are getting more and more of these cold cases solved,” League said, adding that his Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit has several old cases with DNA evidence waitingfor trial.
As part of Carroll?s plea agreement, Baltimore County prosecutors will ask the judge for 40 years in prison as punishment, instead of the maximum life sentence that rape carries.
Carroll, 38, was indicted Aug. 28 and accused of raping a Reisterstown teen on Feb. 20, 1993.
The victim, who was 17 at the time, was asleep in her bedroom when she was awakened by footsteps, police said.
Four assailants entered her room while her head was covered by an article of clothing ? one said “shut up or I?ll kill you” ? and two raped her, according to charging documents.
The victim said she believed the person who spoke to her and raped her sounded like her mother?s boyfriend, Carroll, although she was unable to see his face, police said.
More than a decade later, Baltimore County police traced a DNA sample from the rape to Carroll, they said.
Only one in 55 quadrillion people could have had the same DNA, League said.
League said Carroll?s co-conspirators have not been charged with any crime.
“We?ve never been able to find out who they are, and he won?t tell us,” League said.
Carroll?s attorney, Stephen Freedman, could not be reached for comment.
Lynnda Watson, biology supervisor for Baltimore County Police Department?s forensic lab, said larger DNA databases are helping get the matches that catch suspects.
“We didn?t have the tools to do this 14 years ago,” she said. “Once upon a time if a domestic case didn?t have an identified suspect, there was nothing besides fingerprints that we could do. Those types of cases usually sat on shelves, until the advent of DNA. It takes a while to get a hit. But the larger your database is, over time, we?re going to get more and more hits.”
Detective Sgt. Rose Brady, supervisor of the Baltimore County?s Special Victims Unit, said the satisfaction from solving such an old case is “awesome.”
“When these cases were investigated, we didn?t have DNA, but now we do,” Brady said. “These women thought everybody forgot about them. They have been looking over their shoulder. It?s very rewarding to put these guys away.”
