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[Music]
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up next
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a predator terrorizes a texas town
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i said i have family i have a son just
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please don't rape me he started to choke
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me
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i couldn't breathe i was just gasping
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for air until he finally stopped
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no one knew what he'd do next we had a
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huge problem
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that this guy wasn't going to stop when
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police find him
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the dna evidence exonerates him he was
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smart enough to outwit
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the investigators i knew he he was just
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evil
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and i never knew that there was evil
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people on this earth like that
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[Music]
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it was 9 p.m in texas city texas
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and 19 year old stevie green was waiting
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for a friend to drive her home from work
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but the friend never showed up i'm in
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a ticked off mood because he left me
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hanging christmas was coming around the
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corner
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i've thought about taking a taxi but
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then i was like no i want to save the
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money so
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we can have a better christmas so stevie
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decided to walk home
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which was about a mile away
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suddenly she heard someone running up
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behind her
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the footsteps just stopped the knife was
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in my back
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i didn't want to die i was willing to do
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anything
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that this man was gonna ask me to do he
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said he'd stab her if she didn't
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take off her clothes as he raped me i
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just kept thinking in my head
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saying the lord's prayer the more i said
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it the more angry
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he got afterwards still holding the
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knife
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he told her to get up they told me to
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turn around
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and have my back to him and when i stood
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up
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something in me just told me to run and
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i grabbed my shoe and i
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booked into the middle of the street
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screaming at the top of my lungs
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stevie was traumatized in shock but
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lucky to be alive
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it was very difficult for stevie to look
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at him and get a good description other
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than some general
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build general height and things of that
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nature
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the whole time he kept telling me don't
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look at my face don't look at my face
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stevie described her assailant as an
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african-american wearing a hooded
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sweatshirt
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that concealed his face but nothing more
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it was somewhat shocking that it did
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happen at 9 15
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at night walking home on a street that
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i've walked my kids have walked
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and i would trust them to this day to
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walk down that street
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no clues to the rapist identity were
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left at the scene
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however a rape test kit produced his dna
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profile
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unfortunately that dna profile did not
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match any of the dna profiles in the
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statewide database of known criminal
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offenders
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police checked files for known sexual
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offenders
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living near the crime scene one stood
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out
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kenneth ray johnson had just moved to
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texas city after serving
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25 years for rape he was really a good
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suspect because he was new to the area
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he didn't want to cooperate at first but
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then he did he had
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several alibis if i'm not mistaken
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johnson denied any involvement
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since he was on parole he was wearing an
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ankle bracelet that tracked his movement
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using gps technology
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it showed johnson was at home at the
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time of the rape
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and his dna did not match the dna of the
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rapist
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he was not in the location on the date
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where stevie green was sexually
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assaulted
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i never questioned that he would be
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found i knew that he was going to pay
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for what he did one way or another
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but would he be caught before he could
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strike again
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with no one in custody for stevie
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green's rape
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investigators feared he would strike
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again
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as the investigation went into the fifth
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week and we heard nothing more about
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any suspects being arrested or charged
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or identified
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it became an idea that maybe this was
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going to be an unsolved crime
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then five weeks later fifteen-year-old
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vanessa rocha
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and her sixteen-year-old boyfriend were
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in a secluded area
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of goddard park in downtown texas city
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we went out there on many occasions and
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never had anything to worry about
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a man walked rapidly toward the young
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couple we looked up and we saw a man
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standing there with a devil mask on with
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a gun
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he told my boyfriend to turn not to look
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at him
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the man held a gun to vanessa's
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boyfriend and ordered her
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to undress
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he was calling me every name in the book
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cussing me out
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calling me a [ __ ] you know a [ __ ] just
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whatever i was making him mad because i
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kept opening my eyes
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at one point he started to choke me i
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couldn't breathe i was just gasping for
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air until he finally stopped
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after the sexual assault he told
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vanessa's boyfriend
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to remove all of his clothes i was
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terrified
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i really thought he was going to kill us
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i don't even know how to explain it you
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can't explain something like that
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he demanded the keys to the couple's car
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then
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made his getaway and he told us not to
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get up
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until we heard him start the car
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unfortunately because of the mask
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neither of the teenagers was able to
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provide a detailed description
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he was covered up from head to toe what
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caught my attention was his mask that he
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was wearing
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it was the devil when we're teenagers we
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don't think anything's gonna happen to
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us until it happens
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the assault was similar to the stevie
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green case except
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vanessa roach's case was more brazen
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i have never read about or talked to
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anyone that had worked a case
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where two people were abducted and
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totally controlled stripped down
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in front of each other with a girl being
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sexually assaulted
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it very seldom do you have an attack
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take place with a witness present
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attackers in most sexual assaults don't
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want any other witnesses
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a rape test kit collected biological
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evidence
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and the result showed it was the same
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perpetrator in both cases
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the next morning investigators found the
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teenager's car
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just a few blocks from where vanessa was
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assaulted
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we realized he didn't keep the car long
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and at that point we really started
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focusing in that
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he did live in that area and
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that was his area of comfort where he
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was acting from
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just to give him an easy route to get
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home wherever that was
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unfortunately police found no foreign
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fingerprints or other trace evidence
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inside the car
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the very next night two women were
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walking home from a nightclub around 2
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a.m
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when they were approached by a masked
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man brandishing a pistol
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they were both abducted at gunpoint he
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took them to a secluded area behind the
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school in like a little cul-de-sac one
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suspect taking
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two into control and totally humiliating
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one in front of the other
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he sexually assaulted one of the women
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but not the other
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again a brutal sexual assault took place
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very brazen very cocky in the presence
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of the
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witness who was there again a very angry
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very demeaning a very control freak
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type of activity that took place both
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women described a young black male
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all they could see was his eyes and
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mouth
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but they noticed something distinctive
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the assailant
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had a gold front tooth police
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finally had something besides his dna
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profile
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that might identify him
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in the oil refinery town of texas city
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texas
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three rapes within five weeks of each
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other
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had some striking similarities
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the rapist used masks or clothing
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to cover his face it appeared he didn't
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know
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any of his victims before he attacked
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them
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his rapes all happened within a radius
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of
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two miles and most alarming
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the crime showed an unmistakable
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arrogance it indicates a very
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strong-willed
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angry cocky arrogant individual who
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wants to play games with the police
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thinks he's better than the system and
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can beat the system
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and it's a it's a game for him
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a dna test was conducted on rape kits
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from
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every similar crime i was able to look
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at these three cases and say yes
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this was the same person that was in the
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sperm fraction of all these extractions
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police had a serial rapist on their
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hands
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and worried about what he would do next
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we were all concerned about the
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escalation of these offenses
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oftentimes a serial rapist will turn
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into a serial killer
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or injure their victims much more
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severely than he was injuring his
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victims so we were very concerned about
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it
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the only clue to the rapist identity
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was a description by a witness that he
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had
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a gold front tooth
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investigators scoured files for people
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in the area who fit
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this description and one did
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chad price a 29 year old construction
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worker
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chad price was a father married seemed
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to be actively participating with his
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wife and children in different things in
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the community
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he had developed a reputation in the
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community of being just that bold
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taunting in your face catch me if you
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can type a guy
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price had never been arrested but had
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been a suspect in a series of robberies
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a year
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earlier the robberies were unique
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because
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the perpetrator would call reporters to
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brag about his crimes
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sometimes he would call and say he was
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going to rob a building
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and sometimes he would call and threaten
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the lives of the reporters
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during one particular attack actually
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called the police department
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and started telling them that he was
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watching them
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actually investigate the crime the
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audacity of the robberies
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mirrored the audacity of the rapes
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police brought chad in for questioning
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we didn't felt we had enough to get a
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search warrant for his dna
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for his blood and that he understood
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that name there was nothing concrete
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to connect him to any of the sexual
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assaults and he basically denied
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everything
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price also refused to provide his dna
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detective getchas wanted to get price's
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dna legally
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without him knowing it i have learned
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from tv shows like forensic files that
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you can't obtain a dna sample from a
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coke can
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or cigarette butt and it's lawfully
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obtained
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during chad price's interrogation
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detective getchas offered him a can
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of soda
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we got through with the interview chad
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he had not finished the
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mountain dew i had an empty trash liner
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in the trash can new and he was going to
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throw it out
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i said no don't spill it don't get it
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all over there leak out
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investigators knew they had to drain the
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soda by making a hole
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in the bottom of the can that's probably
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the best thing to do is to go ahead and
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drain the can so that there's no chance
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that
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anything that spills out of that can
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could possibly
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affect that dna that's on the mouth of
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the can
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then dna testing could begin
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the very next day before the dna results
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were in
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there was another rape 10 miles away
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a 17 year old girl and her 22 year old
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boyfriend were parked
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at the dickinson bio boat ramp when they
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encountered trouble
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two people were present girlfriend and a
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boyfriend
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and out of nowhere came the assailant
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opened the door
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produced a gun had him removed from the
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pickup truck and then the terror began
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the man sexually assaulted the girl at
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gunpoint
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while her boyfriend stood by helplessly
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he picked the perfect people
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just a couple young kids out there uh
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making out in a desolate area
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investigators were convinced this was
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the work of chad price
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at the dna lab christie wimsat swabbed
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the opening of the mountain dew can
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with a sterile swab
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i'm looking for a transfer of saliva or
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skin cells from the mouth
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onto the opening of the can a dna
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profile was produced
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and it matched the dna from all
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of the rape cases i called texas city
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police department to let them know that
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this was the guy the guy that drank out
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of this can was the guy that
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was committing these rapes in that area
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on september 12
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2000 chad price was arrested and
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charged with the crimes they cut a
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search warrant
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for a storage shed where price had items
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they found a duffel bag and in the
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duffel bag they found some tremendous
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evidence that supported
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all the other evidence in the case
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including the dna
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everything from ski masks to the
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halloween mask of a devil
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to a gun when i learned that the dna
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test came back that it was him
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i was excited i was just i was happy
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i i couldn't wait to come to court to
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testify
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despite the evidence price continued to
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deny
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any involvement and he insisted that the
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dna test on the soda can
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was falsified he told me that he was not
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the rapist
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that the mountain dew can never touched
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his lips so therefore they
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the police did not have his dna and that
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he was going to be required to take
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another blood sample
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and that when the results of that blood
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sample were made available it would show
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that it was his dna was not at any of
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the crime scenes
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in a shocking development chad price
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turned out to be right when price was
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arrested
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a sample of his blood was collected and
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sent to an independent lab for dna
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testing
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this time his dna did not match
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the biological evidence from the victims
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i was in disbelief
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i couldn't believe that we had the wrong
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person
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and that all the testing we had done had
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been wrong
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and i wanted to if it wasn't him let's
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get him out of jail
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no matter what i thought of him but what
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went wrong investigators were determined
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to find out
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a dna test conducted by texas law
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enforcement indicated
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chad price was the serial rapist
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terrorizing
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texas city texas but his defense
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attorney insisted
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on an independent dna test
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and when a private lab performed their
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test
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it showed chad price wasn't
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the rapist i was mortified i was
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immediately short of breath just trying
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to remember what i had done in the case
00:16:03
trying to figure out
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you know what did i do what was switch
00:16:06
what was different
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prosecutors couldn't believe they had
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the wrong man
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the blood sample for the independent lab
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had been drawn from price while he was
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in custody
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at the galveston county jail a
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technician went into the prison
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checked his identification took his
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blood
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then wrote the inmate's name on the vial
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containing his blood when samples are
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taken
00:16:33
there is a fingerprint that goes with
00:16:35
the vial of the sample of
00:16:37
blood the individual who gave this blood
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obviously put their fingerprint on this
00:16:43
file so prison officials compared the
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print
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on chad price's blood vial to chad
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price's fingerprint
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the expert said that's not chad price's
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fingerprint on the vial
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great the next step
00:17:00
whose fingerprint is it the unknown
00:17:03
print
00:17:04
was run through aphis or the automated
00:17:07
fingerprint identification system
00:17:10
and there was a hit
00:17:13
the print belonged to 36 year old
00:17:17
derrick perry derek perry was
00:17:20
another inmate being detained or held in
00:17:22
the galveston county jail on unrelated
00:17:24
charges
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he was also a not a cell mate
00:17:29
but he was in the same pod as chad price
00:17:32
and in each pod there must be 50 or 60
00:17:35
inmates
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two jailhouse informants told prison
00:17:39
officials
00:17:40
how chad price switched the dna sandals
00:17:44
they admitted to me that they witnessed
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and have personal knowledge of the
00:17:48
conspiracy between
00:17:49
chad price and derek perry to switch
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armbands
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for the blood sample chad price
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had a mindset of someone who really
00:18:01
believed he was smarter than everyone
00:18:03
else
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he had a real sense of power he had a
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sense that he could control situations
00:18:09
i don't know where that comes from the
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medical staff
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does not look at faces they don't know
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chad price from derrick perry
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they call the name chad price instead of
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chad price standing up and walking
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forward to get blood
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it was derek perry who came forward
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another dna
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test confirmed what investigators had
00:18:29
long suspected
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the dna from their rape cases
00:18:34
was from chad price he was
00:18:37
just as brazen in the rapes as he was in
00:18:40
his attempt to get away with them
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i think chad price believes he can beat
00:18:45
anything the system will give him
00:18:46
and that that he is smarter than we are
00:18:49
and
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and just anything is the limit for him
00:18:54
you actually had a criminal who thought
00:18:56
he was smart enough to outwit
00:18:57
the investigators and play this game
00:19:01
with his own dna
00:19:04
on may 24 2001 a jury
00:19:07
took just two hours to find chad price
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guilty of aggravated rape
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kidnapping and robbery for the attack on
00:19:16
stevie green
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he was indicted on the other rapes and
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the jury was informed of his involvement
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during
00:19:22
the penalty phase they sentenced price
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to life in prison plus 60 years
00:19:31
he got a life sentence and i found that
00:19:33
to be surprising
00:19:34
because i really i really thought he
00:19:37
would he
00:19:37
might get the death penalty i was just
00:19:40
ecstatic
00:19:41
uh knowing that he was going to be there
00:19:43
just
00:19:44
for life i mean there's no that i can't
00:19:46
even explain the way i felt you know
00:19:48
just
00:19:48
i don't have to see this man i have to
00:19:50
worry about this man ever coming for me
00:19:53
i'd love for him to admit it that was
00:19:55
the only thing out of the whole trial
00:19:57
that i think that's why i felt so robbed
00:20:00
was because i wanted him to admit it i
00:20:02
wanted him to say yes
00:20:03
i did this derek perry
00:20:06
who was due to be released from prison
00:20:08
the day after he switched wristbands
00:20:11
with price
00:20:12
was charged with fabricating evidence
00:20:14
and got
00:20:15
an additional five years in prison
00:20:18
the galveston county jail has since
00:20:21
changed its procedures
00:20:22
for drawing blood but the lesson for
00:20:25
investigators
00:20:26
and for chad price was that criminals
00:20:30
may lie
00:20:31
but forensic technology doesn't
00:20:35
without that mountain dew can to link
00:20:37
him to these sexual assault cases
00:20:39
they might not have ever been able to
00:20:41
get a warrant to get the actual known
00:20:43
sample
00:20:44
to compare to the sexual assault case so
00:20:46
i would say the dna
00:20:47
was was key in this case we take a lot
00:20:50
of pride in putting a person like chad
00:20:52
price
00:20:53
behind bars it's nice to get someone who
00:20:55
is that arrogant
00:20:56
and that cocky and that brazen behind
00:20:58
bars as quickly as possible
00:21:01
chad price thinks he can beat whatever
00:21:02
the system has to present
00:21:04
technology is foolproof given the best
00:21:07
circumstances we had those best
00:21:11
[Music]
00:21:13
circumstances
