Ex-doctor arrested for rape, murder of woman who died 30 years later

A former Texas doctor was arrested Wednesday, months after the woman who he allegedly raped and strangled 30 years earlier died from her injuries.

KTVT reported that George Guo, 56, faces capital murder charges for the death of Dr. Katherine Bascone. Prosecutors believe Guo strangled and raped Dr. Bascone in June 1988, when she was 28. The strangulation caused her to suffer an anoxic brain injury which left her blind, confined to a bed, and unable to control her extremities until she died in February while in hospice care.

Authorities have determined that Dr. Bascone’s death was caused by the assault she suffered 30 years earlier, making the case a homicide. Guo, a registered sex offender, has never been arrested in connection with the 1988 incident.

Alarmingly, Guo was convicted of burglary of a habitation in 1991 for breaking into the apartment of a Southern Methodist University student. Officers who rushed to the scene caught Guo as he began to sexually assault the 19-year-old victim, according to WFAA.

The district attorney’s office said Guo—who was a licensed doctor at the time—had syringes containing “hospital-grade” syringes, a glass cutter, screwdrivers, a ski mask, mace, and condoms. The Dallas Morning News reported that he served eight years in prison for the attack.

In 2003, Guo pleaded guilty to burglary of a habitation with intent to commit sexual assault in Fort Bend County for a 1999 incident that involved a minor girl. He sentenced to 14 years and ordered to register as a sex offender. He was released from prison in 2013.

Local police, U.S. Marshals, and SWAT arrested ex-doctor without incident in the Houston area. He will be transported to Dallas County, where he’ll face capital murder charges.

 

[Featured image: George Guo/Texas Department of Public Safety]