Laura Neuman remembers the cold shoulders. The way police detectives didn?t respond to her calls. The way for two decades nobody seemed to care that she was raped. But the 1983 sex offense victim never gave up. She kept pestering detectives to reopen her case. Finally, in 2002, one did.
A few days ? and a search of a fingerprint database ? later, the case was closed.
“I went on a mission,” said Neuman, now a 42-year-old Annapolis resident who was raped in Baltimore City. “I knew I was never going to move on with my life until it was resolved. I went on a calling campaign. I went through at least a dozen people in the police department alone.
“I kept calling and calling. It was solved 19 years after it happened, but it could have been solved so much sooner. Once I finally got in touch with the right detective, it was solved in three days.”
Busted for Neuman?s rape, Alphonso William Hill, 55, admitted his guilt in 2002 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison in Baltimore City.
But what Neuman didn?t know was this: She had helped lock up someone who police allege was one of the most prolific attackers in area history.
Hill has since been charged with six rapes throughout the Towson area between 1978 and 1989 and another rape in Baltimore City.
Investigators also have collected evidence from at least 20 other unsolved rapes that occurred in these areas that they suspect Hill of committing.
Hill was scheduled to be arraigned on several of those cases starting this week.
Neuman said she is stillgetting calls from other suspected victims.
“This is such a big thing,” she said. “For anyone who?s been raped, it?s such a cloud that hangs over you the rest of your life, especially if it?s unsolved.”
Neuman has since started the Laura Neuman Foundation, dedicated to helping other victims pursue resolution of their cases.
“The sad and unfortunate fact is if you don?t make a personal connection with a detective, your case may never be solved,” she said. “DNA is not being run across the board. Cases are lying cold without investigation. I?m pleased they were able to solve these cases, even if it?s been many years. I?m disappointed it?s taken so long to get these cases solved.”
