DNA match leads to arrest of long-haul serial rapist truck driver, Mark Burns, who allegedly raped at least nine women over 30 years – Burns, 69, ‘forced victims’ relatives to watch as they were being sexually assaulted’ – police
Trucker Mark Douglas of Ogden, Utah arrested Wednesday in decades-old rapes in the state and neighboring Wyoming
DNA match led to arrest of the 69-year-old long-haul truck driver in Utah who has been charged with 17 felonies
Burns is suspected of raping at least nine women over 30 years – between 1991-2001 in Utah and Wyoming and police suspect there may be additional rape victims out there
Investigators said the suspect ‘forced victims’ relatives to watch as they were being sexually assaulted’
‘The sexual assaults were incomprehensible, brutal and methodical attacks on females,’ police said
In each case, victims were bound and raped repeatedly in front of family members, the attacker was described as drunk and armed with knife or gun
His arrest came after a years-long investigation using familial matching DNA samples in collaboration with a true-crime TV show
Burns who was convicted of rape in North Carolina in 1974 and served a lengthy prison sentence before moving to Utah, has been charged in Davis County with eight counts aggravated sexual assault, six counts aggravated kidnapping, two counts aggravated burglary and one count aggravated robbery
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Mark Burns, [photo], from Wyoming, is accused of raping at least nine women in Wyoming and Utah between 1991-2001. DNA match led to Burns being connected with cold-case rape cases going back 30 years on Sept 25
A long-hauled truck driver from Utah has been arrested in connection to at least nine violent rapes in two different states going back decades. Police suspect there may be more victims out there.
Police in Clearfield, Utah announced 69-year-old Mark Douglas Burns was arrested on Wednesday after a years-long investigation using familial matching DNA samples in collaboration with a true-crime TV show.
Davis County Attorney’s Office so far has filed 17 first-degree felony charges against Burns, with more charges likely to follow as other jurisdictions prepare to file charges against him.
A press release from the police department described Burns as a ‘serial rapist.’
‘The sexual assaults were incomprehensible, brutal and methodical attacks on females,’ police said. ‘In addition, family members were forced to watch the violent and repeated attacks.
According to the statement, the agency investigated multiple rapes in Clearfield between 1994 and 2001, and collected DNA evidence.
In 2003, a DNA warrant was obtained concerning additional sexual assaults that occurred in 2001 and 2003, prior to the entry of the DNA profile into the Combine DNA Index System [CODIS], but at that time, those rapes were not linked to the sexual assaults that were reported in the 1990s.
Police artist’s sketch shows a then unidentified armed male suspect in multiple cases of sexual assault on women in Utah and Wyoming in the 1990s and 2000s
So far, DNA evidence has linked a total of nine cold-case rapes that occurred in Rock Springs, Wyoming, in 1991; Riverdale City, Utah, in 1992; Ogden, Utah, in 1993; Clearfield, Utah in 1994 and 1995; Laramie, Wyoming, in 1996; Layton, Utah, in 1997, and two more cases that were reported in Clearfield in 2000 and 2001.
A police probable cause statement cited by Deseret News says that in the 2000 incident, a woman said she was asleep when a stranger woke her up and threatened to ‘cut her throat’ if she said a word.
He then blindfolded her and proceeded to rape her multiple times before tying her up and leaving.
The 2001 case involved a home invasion during which a woman and her 19-year-old daughter were both raped at gunpoint in front of their male family members.
According to the police, in each of the rapes, the rapist bound the victim and proceeded to rape her repeatedly over an extended period of time.
All the victims reported that their assailant smelled of alcohol, gained access to their homes through sliding glass doors, and was armed with a gun or a knife.
Authorities compiled the cold-case rape incidents attributed to Burns beginning in 1991. In each case, the victims were bound and raped repeatedly in front of family members by an attacker who smelled of alcohol and was armed with a knife or firearm
Over the past few months, detectives followed several leads before ultimately zeroing in on Mark Burns, of Ogden, as the prime suspect
His DNA was then tested and confirmed to match the DNA warrant profile connecting him to all nine rapes being investigated, according to the police.
The Davis County District Attorney’s Office has charged Burns with eight counts of aggravated sexual assault, six counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated burglary and one count of aggravated robbery.
Laramie and Rock Spring police departments in Wyoming are expected to file additional charges stemming from the rapes that took place in those cities.
Burns was convicted of rape in North Carolina in 1974 and served a lengthy prison sentence before moving to Utah. Investigators suspect that there may be additional victims out there, especially in Western United States, given Burns’ occupation as a long-haul truck driver.
‘These sexual assaults have caused a tremendous amount of pain and grief with all victims and family members,’ the police press release stated. ‘Because of the grievous nature of these crimes, detectives believe there are more victims and do not believe Mr Burns suddenly stopped committing such heinous crimes since 2001.’
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