BYRON TOWNSHIP, MI -- DNA technology has helped link a 54-year-old Indiana prisoner to a 1981 rape in Byron Township, police say. <\/p>\n
Kent County prosecutors plan to pursue charges against Joseph Blackmer, who has been in prison since the early 1980s for a similar crime in Elkhart, Indiana. <\/p>\n
Police identified Blackmer as the assailant in the 1981 rape after a Kent County sheriff's detective began reviewing several cold-case sexual assaults to determine if evidence was available to submit for lab DNA testing. <\/p>\n
The detective decided the Byron Township case -- a rape at a home in the 7100 block of Houndstooth Street SW -- offered a good opportunity. <\/p>\n
In that case, a 23-year-old woman was raped after she answered the door on Dec. 17, 1981 to a man who had knocked. The man, estimated to be 18 or 19, asked for directions. <\/p>\n
Moments later, the man pushed his way inside and put a gun to the victim's head. He ordered her into a bedroom and sexually assaulted her. <\/p>\n
Police gathered evidence from the crime, but ended up closing the case in March 1982 for lack of leads. <\/p>\n
The recent decision to submit DNA from the rape to the state police crime lab ended up generating a match to Blackmer. State police obtained a DNA profile in the labl and submitted it to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). <\/p>\n
Blackmer was caught the same day as a June 2, 1982 sexual assault in Indiana and ended up pleading guilty. <\/p>\n
Court records show his earliest possible release date is in June 2023. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Excerpt from: BYRON TOWNSHIP, MI -- DNA technology has helped link a 54-year-old Indiana prisoner to a 1981 rape in Byron Township, police say. Kent County prosecutors plan to pursue charges against Joseph Blackmer, who has been in prison since the early 1980s for a similar crime in Elkhart, Indiana. Police identified Blackmer as the assailant in the 1981 rape after a Kent County sheriff's detective began reviewing several cold-case sexual assaults to determine if evidence was available to submit for lab DNA testing. Continue reading
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