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FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kristin Fleckenstein (410) 222-1740 ext. 3945 or (410) 279-7893 [email protected]

Montgomery County Police Public Information Office 240-773-5030

MONTGOMERY COUNTY 1987 COLD CASE RAPE SOLVED WITH DNA EVIDENCE AND MATCHED TO ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY CONVICTED, SERIAL RAPIST

Annapolis, MD - - July 23, 2012. Thanks to the power of DNA evidence, a Silver Spring cold case rape from 1987 has been solved. Montgomery County Police were able to close the 25 year-old case via a DNA database hit that resulted in a match to a convicted, serial rapist. The victim, who was 20 at the time, now lives in Anne Arundel County, Maryland and has been contacted by authorities as to the findings.

The DNA from the perpetrator matched that of two solved cold cases in Anne Arundel County. In 2008 those rape cases from 1988 were solved through the same CODIS database.

William Joseph Trice, then 47, of 428 Lincoln Hill Road in Eagle Bridge, New York was taken into custody without incident on November 20, 2008 at his workplace in upstate New York. He made a living as a truck driver. The New York State Police played a significant role in the collection of DNA evidence and the surveillance of Trice prior to his arrest. He was then brought Anne Arundel County and tried for one of those cases in January of 2010. Six days after his conviction by a jury, Trice committed suicide by hanging himself in his jail cell while awaiting sentencing.

In 2005, Anne Arundel County Police received information from a CODIS search that the suspect DNA profile from each of the Anne Arundel County cold cases matched. However, there was no specific DNA profile match on record in the system that would lead to a suspect. In July of 2008 evidence from one of the rape cases was reviewed. A fingerprint recovered from the scene of an August 1988 rape matched that of a known individual in the latent fingerprint database. With the fingerprint matched to a name, authorities were able to secure a DNA sample from the suspect. That sample was unwittingly taken from the suspect while in New York State at a traffic stop. The sample matched that of the DNA profile taken from evidence in the 1988 Anne Arundel County unsolved rapes.

On August 21, 1988 the first known victim returned home from work at a local restaurant at approximately 3 am. The defendant is alleged to have made his way into her home and raped her. Later that year, on December 11th, another woman arrived home, also at 3 am. She was attacked and raped while still outside her residence. At the time there were no additional cases related to the defendant. However, the Montgomery County Police recently ran the evidence from their 1987 cold case and got a hit that linked the DNA to Trice. In that case, the 20 year-old victim was awakened at 4 am in her apartment by the defendant who had gained access through a window and raped her. What has been a 25 year-old cold case was then solved.

Due to the similar patterns in the rape cases and the relative short window of time between them, the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Frank Weathersbee encourages jurisdictions in the surrounding area with unsolved rapes from the mid to late 1980’s to review the evidence and determine whether a DNA profile can be run for a CODIS match. Anyone with further questions should contact Chief Investigator David Cordle at 410-222-1740 ext. 3863.

Anyone with information about the Montgomery County case or possible related cases in Montgomery County is asked to contact the Montgomery County Police – Major Crimes Division at 240-773-5070. Media inquiries regarding the Montgomery County case can be directed to the Montgomery County Police – Public Information Office at 240-773- 5030. Additional information about the Montgomery County case can be found at www.mymcpnews.com.

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