SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A man accused of violently raping women in the Sacramento area in the early '90s is now behind bars after DNA gave him away and dogged police work brought him in, local law enforcement leaders say.
Mark Manteuffel, 59, was arrested on Friday in suburban Atlanta. Sacramento law enforcement agencies traced him there after a break in a cold case.
At a news conference Monday afternoon, the heads of law enforcement agencies involved gathered to announce the news. They included Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Sacramento Field Office Sean Ragan and Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig.
On the evening of May 5, 1992, a 52-year-old woman living in Sacramento County arrived home, parked in her garage, de-activated her security alarm and was almost immediately attacked by a man who had been lying in wait in her home, Jones said.
For more than three hours, he said, the man sexually assaulted the woman.
"Various sexual acts were committed against her until ultimately the suspect fled the residence," Jones said.
The woman survived.
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Twenty months later, on the evening of Jan. 11, 1994, a 22-year-old college student in Davis went for a jog to get some food from a local market.
“As she jogged through a well-known, safe neighborhood in Davis…she was approached and grabbed by a masked man," Yolo County DA Reisig recounted. "He tased her and dragged her away, where he committed monstrous crimes.”
This woman also survived her attack.
Then, on the night of March 23, 1994, a woman returned to her East Sacramento home around 9 p.m, where a masked man waiting inside attacked her, bound her and then sexually assaulted her multiple times before leaving the house.
She, too, survived.
“We knew these crimes were all committed by the same suspect because they were linked by DNA left at each of the three crime scenes," Hahn said.
Until this year, however, the owner of that DNA was unknown.
“Although we knew the suspect’s DNA profile, there was no match in the criminal database," Hahn said. "For decades, the identify of the attacker was unknown – until recently.”
Officials at Monday's news conference declined to say which genetic genealogical database they used to connect the rape suspect's DNA to that of Manteuffel, but they were clear: the DNA was, in fact, his.
“Without our ability to use DNA and genetic genealogy, we would not have this predator in custody right now," Hahn said, adding that they "maybe never would."
THE VICTIMS
All three of the female victims in these attacks have been notified of Manteuffel's arrest, the leaders of those respective agencies said.
Hahn said the woman involved in the March 1994 attack "is extremely emotional and thankful for the thorough and diligent work of the investigators."
“I can tell you that the victim in the case out of Yolo Couty has been notified that the man who did this to her is in custody," Reisig said. "She’s very happy.”
WHO IS MARK MANTEUFFEL?
While the investigation is still very much ongoing, Hahn said they know Manteuffel worked for the Federal Bureau of Prisons for about two decades and retired in 2014 as a correctional institution administrator from a facility in Miami.
"We also know he spent several years here in Sacramento while he attended Sacramento State University and worked for a short time as a part-time lecturer at Sac State," Hahn said.
On the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office's sexual assault cold case page is a rapist whose actions are called the John Doe Rape Series. Both Jones and Schubert confirmed to ABC10 that Manteuffel is the man wanted for these crimes.
The website says, "Detectives are investigating a series of sexual assaults that occurred in the Sacramento area between 1992 and 1994. Several attacks occurred inside the victims' residences. The suspect laid in wait until the victims came home. Upon their arrival, he physically overpowered them, bound and sexually assaulted them. The victims describe the suspect as a Caucasian male wearing a ski mask, with light colored possibly blue eyes and light colored, possibly blonde hair. The suspect is described as being between 5'10" to 6'0" and 180-200 pounds. Suspect used a hunting knife in one attack and a stun gun in another separate attack."
CHARGING THE DNA
Schubert said this case "is about a forward-thinking DNA analyst from our crime lab, who knew the value of preserving rape kits far longer than the law required at the time," naming retired detective Pete Willover.
“At a time when DNA was barely even heard of when it came to solving crime, law enforcement found the evidence in these cases, meticulously collecting it and preserving it, hoping but never really knowing if someday they would find an answer," she added.
DNA was collected from the scene of all three attacks. Back in the early 90s, a statute of limitations existed for violent rape. (If these crimes happened today, Schubert's office said, they would qualify under the One Strike Law, passed in Nov. 1994, which would make it a life crime.)
In Dec. 1999, just a few months before the statute of limitations was about to run out for one of the rapes, Willover came to then-deputy DA Schubert “to question if there was anything he could do with a few of his sexual assault cases because his statute of limitations was going to run in a few months," Schubert recalled.
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That's when Schubert, working with the other local law enforcement agencies, did what had never before been done in California. She charged the DNA with rape. Basically, her office charged whomever the person was with that exact same DNA -- with those crimes, in hopes that they would eventually find a match.
"Two days before the statute of limitations was set to run, on March 21 of 2000, our office filed California’s first-ever John Doe DNA warrant, alleging the person’s DNA as his identification," Schubert said.
By doing that, the statute of limitations paused indefinitely. The following year, then-trial judge Tani Cantil-Sakauye, who is now California's Supreme Court Chief Justice, upheld that legal action.
THE ARREST
A little more than a year ago, Schubert said, "this concept of investigative genetic genealogy," came to light, "the latest and perhaps the greatest advancement to help law enforcement find the truth and solve violent crime.”
By inputting the rape suspect's DNA into a genetic genealogy database, local law enforcement officials were eventually led to Manteuffel. Again, officials aren't saying which one, although the one used by Schubert's office to solve the Golden State Killer case was GEDmatch.
“For 19 years, we have waited to put a face to that DNA profile," Schubert said, referring to Manteuffel. "For the victims in this case, they have waited well over two decades to put a face to the man who sexually assaulted them."
Law enforcement found Manteuffel living in Decatur, Ga., just outside of Atlanta. That's when Sac PD asked the Sacramento Field Office of the FBI to get involved.
“We had a surveillance team set up from our Atlanta field office that surveilled the subject," Ragan said.
That team recovered some of Manteuffel's DNA at a restaurant. Once law enforcement confirmed his DNA definitely matched that of the rape suspect, Sac PD once again turned to the Atlanta office of the FBI to arrest Manteuffel, which they did on Friday without any problems.
Manteuffel is currently still in Georgia, awaiting extradition to Sacramento. He faces eight criminal charges across Sacramento and Yolo counties, including torture with the use of a knife, rape and kidnapping for purposes of robbery.
DNA TAKEAWAYS
Schubert said this case highlights the importance of keeping rape kits and testing them, no matter how long ago the crimes occurred.
This is not the first time the DA's office has worked collaboratively with other law enforcement agencies to crack a cold case. Last year, DNA evidence led investigators to arrest former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, on suspicion of 13 murders and more than 50 rapes across California in the 1970s and 80s.
Since the announcement of the arrest of the Golden State Killer using a genetic genealogical database, questions have been raised about the ethics of granting law enforcement officials access to people's genetic profiles.
Schubert said law enforcement agencies aren't given free rein to peruse people's genetic makeup.
"You’re provided a list. You’re never looking at somebody’s actual DNA, but you’re provided potential matches that may be related," she said. "It could be something from a close relative to something that you’ve got to spend months trying to figure out ‘how to build the tree,’ as I call it and develop what potential relationships."
She said cases the yield distant relatives could take law enforcement officials months of work to track down the person with a suspect's exact genetic match.
"It all comes down to detective work because it’s passionate persistence of trying to use your good, old-fashioned police work to identify individuals," Schubert said.
This is the third case in Sacramento in just over a year, Schubert said, with an arrest made using DNA evidence.
"I think that’s because we have tremendous law enforcement here," Schubert said. "The message should be clear: if you committed a violent crime in this community and you left your DNA, you can expect that we’re going to try to solve that crime and bring you to justice.”
HISTORY OF CHARGING DNA
Schubert's office started keeping track of these so-called John Doe DNA warrants starting in 2012. Since then, the DA's office has filed more than 50 cases with such warrants.
Altogether, John Doe DNA Warrants have led to approximately 10 arrests, a spokesperson said.
Schubert has received calls about this process from all over the country, as other prosecutors in other states explore this possibility for cold cases in their own jurisdictions.
John Doe DNA Warrants are typically used for sexual assaults, robberies and burglaries, Schubert's office said.
MORE VICTIMS?
Local law enforcement leaders say it's possible Manteuffel has victims in other locations and from other times. They ask anybody with information - whether a victim or a witness - to call 916-808-0650.
“The news, again, today, is that predators and monsters can’t hide forever any longer," Reisig said.
3:30 p.m. UPDATE:
Mark Jeffery Manteuffel, 59, was arrested last week in Decatur, Ga., and is suspected of three violent rapes in Sacramento area, between 1992 and 1994. The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, Sacramento Police Department Sacramento County DA announced his arrest with the help of genetic genealogy identifying Manteuffel as a suspect.
Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn said Manteuffel worked for years for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He also spent several years in Sacramento, as he attended Sac State and worked as a part-time lecturer.
The victim of the Sacramento rape “is extremely emotional” and thankful for diligent work.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Sacramento County’s top law enforcement officials will announce an arrest they’ve made in a string of violent crimes that took place in the region between 1992 and 1994— nearly three decades ago.
The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office announced a press conference at the Sacramento Public Safety Center that includes District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn and Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones.The three are expected to announce “a collaborative and extensive investigation involving the arrest of a suspect responsible for several violent crimes that occurred in the Sacramento region in 1992 and 1994.”
Other Sacramento law enforcement leaders and elected officials will also be present for the big announcement.
The DA’s office didn’t release any information prior to the press conference, however, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office website lists cold case investigations, one of which includes “a series of sexual assaults that occurred in the Sacramento area between 1992 and 1994,” which the Sheriff’s Office calls the “John Doe Rape Series.”
“Several attacks occurred inside the victim's residences. The suspect laid in wait until the victims came home. Upon their arrival, he physically over powered them, bound and sexually assaulted them,” the website describes. “Suspect used a hunting knife in one attack and a stun gun in another separate attack.”
This is not the first time the DA's office has worked collaboratively with other law enforcement agencies to crack a cold case. Last year, DNA evidence lead investigators to arrest former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, on suspicion of 13 murders and more than 50 rapes across California in the 1970s and 80s.
ABC10 will stream today's conference on our Facebook page.
ABC10 journalist Becca Habegger is covering the announcement. Follow her Twitter feed and Facebook page for updates.