LAST EDITED ON Jun-25-02 AT 09:10 AM (EST)DNA links man to 3 rapes
Lafayette man convicted of child molestation
By Christine Reid, Camera Staff Writer
June 25, 2002
A preliminary DNA match has linked a convicted child molester to three unsolved
rapes from the 1990s in Boulder and Lafayette.
A judge has ordered additional blood and saliva samples from Keith Aaron
Schwinaman, 37, to verify the match before an arrest warrant is issued. The
Lafayette man is in prison in Caon City for violating parole.
"We're not forgetting about these cases," said Boulder Police Cmdr. Joe Pelle.
Detectives have been resubmitting DNA evidence from sexual assault cases dating
back to 1990 for the technologically advanced testing.
"This is a result of that effort, and we're going to hopefully continue to see more fruit
of that effort," Pelle said.
Police learned last month that Schwinaman's DNA profile matches that connected with
three unsolved cases, the first on July 3, 1993. A woman living in the 3000 block of
29th Street in Boulder said a man jumped on her as she slept, tied her hands behind
her back and raped her at knifepoint. He also stole money from her purse, police said.
The second attack happened Sept. 24, 1993, in the 4900 block of Thunderbird Drive in
Boulder. The victim told police she was awakened in the middle of the night by a man
covering her mouth. He tied her hands behind her back with a black cord and raped
her, according to police reports. He then rifled through her backpack and stole $19.
On July 18, 1996, a woman called police to say a man had broken into her Lafayette
home in the 1300 block of Alexandria Street and raped her. She said the man crawled
into her bed and placed his hand over her mouth, saying: "Don't move. Don't scream. If
you make a noise I'll kill you and your kid," according to police reports. He then taped
her hands together, performed oral sex on her, raped her and then ordered her to
perform oral sex on him. "Now I'll get what I came for," police reported he said before
stealing her cellular phone and cash from her purse.
Investigators tied all three cases together by matching the DNA from the unknown
assailant in April 1999.
The suspect "hit" came as a result of state law ordering all incarcerated sexual
assault perpetrators to log their genetic material into a database. However, a Boulder
court case questioning whether that evidence could be used in trial held up the match
until just recently.
The Colorado Supreme Court last year ruled a relatively new technique used to match
DNA evidence drawn from Michael Eugene Shreck was scientifically reliable and
could be used before Colorado juries. Shreck, 41, was found guilty and sentenced to
life in prison earlier this year for the rape of a University of Colorado student in 1990.
Schwinaman's blood was originally drawn in June 2000 for the database. But
because the Shreck case was pending, three cases that had been tested in the same
manner as the case in question were taken out of the database until the issue was
resolved.
Schwinaman was convicted of sex assault on a child in Boulder in 1995. In May 2000,
Schwinaman violated his probation and was sentenced to 21/2 years in prison.
Paroled in March, he registered as a sex offender in Lafayette — listing 1306 Vesta
Circle as his address — until he was again taken into custody for parole violation.
Schwinaman has an extensive criminal record in Colorado dating back to 1984,
according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Police said they hope to get the additional DNA test results back later this week or
early next week.
http://www1.dailycamera.com/bdc/lafayette_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2425_1228828,00.html
I hope they check the DNA....
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