A former prison employee and college lecturer was arrested Friday in Georgia in connection with three rapes which occurred in California in 1992 and 1994.
According to the Davis Enterprise, Mark Jeffrey Manteuffel, 59, was apprehended in Decatur for three attacks in Davis, Sacramento County, and Sacramento. Officials declined to fully divulge how DNA played a role in solving these cases but, in March 2000, authorities filed a “John Doe” complaint before the statute of limitations expired for those offenses.
KOVR reported that Sacramento Police chief Daniel Hahn revealed that DNA and genetic genealogy led to Manteuffel. The cutting-edge technology has solved a growing number of cases in recent years, including the “Golden State Killer” case in California.
In the 1994 Davis attack, a 22-year-old University of California, Davis student was jogging on a trail when the suspect grabbed her from behind and subdued her with a stun gun.
“He tased her and dragged her away, where he committed monstrous crimes,” Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig told reporters Monday, according to the Enterprise.
Police said Manteuffel worked as a law enforcement and criminal justice lecturer at California State University, Sacramento. For decades, he worked for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, according to NBC News.
Yolo Superior Court records showed a complaint filed Friday against Manteuffel, charging him with felony kidnapping with intent to commit robbery. Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said he also faces charges of rape and torture.
Schubert went on to praise the detectives who thought to store the DNA samples for longer than the law dictates.
“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, never really knowing if someday they would find an answer,” the prosecutor said, per the Enterprise.
“This is evidence that does not forget.”
Manteuffel is awaiting extradition to California to face criminal charges. KOVR reported that authorities are in the process of determining whether he’s a suspect in any other crimes.
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[Featured image: Mark Jeffrey Manteuffel/Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office]
