A California man has been arrested in connection to rapes committed in the 1990s with the help of genealogical DNA obtained from the crime scenes through commercial genealogy websites.
53-year-old Kevin Konther was taken into custody Thursday at his home in the San Bernardino County community of Highland.
The DNA evidence discovered was originally linked to two men – twin brothers, and Konther and his brother were originally taken into custody. Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said “good, old-fashioned detective work” helped authorities narrow it down from there.
“We are confident we have the individual,” Barnes said.
Konther was being held in lieu of $1 million bail pending an initial court appearance scheduled for Monday, where he will be arraigned on two counts of felony rape, oral copulation on a child under the age of 14, lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14 and aggravated sexual assault.
Konther grabbed the two victims randomly and raped them in the woods, one of the victims was only 9-years-old at the time, the other victim was a 31-year-old female jogger.
Prosecutors have said there is a possibility of additional charges in the case, and that there may be other victims.
