California man arrested in two 1990s cold-case rapes after police use familial DNA testing

Kevin Konther was arrested in connection to multiple rapes in the 1990s. (Orange County Sheriff's Department)

A California man is set to be arraigned Monday in a pair of brutal rapes from the 1990s after authorities used familial DNA to track down the suspect, police said Friday.

Kevin Konther, 53, is accused of raping a 9-year-old girl in Lake Forest in October 1995 and a raping a jogger in Mission Viejo in June 1998, according to the Los Angeles Times.

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Officials initially collected evidence from the 1995 crime scene and found no match in their database at the time. The DNA in the 1998 crime scene matched the DNA found in the 1995 attack, but police still had no suspect until investigators used the DNA tactic, which also recently helped track down the alleged Golden State Killer, the Los Angeles Times reported.

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 charged with two counts of felony rape, oral copulation with a person under 14, lascivious acts with a child under 14 and aggravated sexual assault. He was being held in Orange County Jail.

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“We will never stop attempting to solve these cases,” Barnes said. “That commitment does not have a time limit.”