NorCal Serial Rapist Faces Life in Prison After Jury Finds Him Guilty on All 46 Charges
An alleged serial rapist attacking in Northern California was found guilty on all 46 charges, including rape, sodomy, and kidnapping.
The Sacramento panel passed the judgment on Roy Waller, 60, dubbed as the NorCal serial rapist. The charges were all related to the assaults of nine women in six counties across Northern California.
One of the victims, Nicole Earnest-Payte, said that this was 29 years of waiting. Earnest-Payte was assaulted in Rohnert Park and was Waller's first known victim.
"A lot of work went into solving this case, couldn't be more grateful to everyone involved," Earnest-Payte said in an NBC News report.
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Investigators were able to identify Waller through a public genealogy website GEDMatch.
Sacramento County Deputy DA Keith Hill said that they were just thankful that the DNA was there and the victims could receive justice no matter how long it took.
Reports said that the evidence of Waller's DNA was at nearly at all the crime scenes, making deliberations fast, as noted by Juror No. 7, who called himself Michael H.
The juror said that they all knew it was a slam dunk case as DNA does not lie.
"Your DNA can't show up at every rape case if you're innocent," the juror said in a report.
Waller had been working at the University of California, Berkeley. He was a safety specialist in the Environment, Health, and Safety Department at the university.
Police and school authorities said that none of the assaults seemed to have occurred within the campus. The NorCal serial rapist's modus operandi was to learn a victim's name, study their daily routines, break into the victims' homes late at night and tie them up.
Authorities said that Waller mostly targeted younger Asian women. Waller had a vast collection of sexually explicit images of bound Asian women, as prosecutors showed during the trial.
"It was heartbreaking, tear-dropping what them young ladies had to go through... Nobody should have to go through that," Juror No. 7 said in a report.
One of the victims, Theresa Lane, said it was satisfying to stare down Waller as he sat with hands folded while hearing all the 46 counts of charges all guilty verdicts.
Lane was known to have fought her attacker. Reports said that she slashed his forehead, which matched Waller's forehead.
Lane's attack was in 1992 and took place in Vallejo. She said that it feels like some things will never go away, but said that he is going away.
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Waller faces life in prison, and his sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 18. His defense team left court without speaking to reporters.
Investigators also used the same DNA website to apprehend "Golden State Killer" Joseph DeAngelo.
DeAngelo was a 75-year-old police officer. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to 13 counts of first-degree murder and 13 rape-related charges.
DeAngelo is currently serving consecutive life terms. Two weeks ago, DeAngelo arrived at North Kern State prison, a reception center in Delano.
Officials there will decide his permanent prison destination based on his security, medical, psychiatric, and program needs, as reported by ABC30.