Police Arrest ‘NorCal Rapist’ Suspect With Data From Genealogy Site


A man thought to be responsible for raping women across Northern California in a series of brutal crimes that started 27 years ago was arrested earlier this week after DNA evidence led police to the suspect, according to USA Today.

Roy Charles Waller of Benicia was arrested Thursday morning in Berkley, where he works at the University of California as a safety specialist and manages training for equipment and machinery. The suspect is thought to be the so-called NorCal rapist, and is believed to be responsible for at least 10 cases of sexual assault between 1991 and 2006. According to District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, the attacks took place in Sonoma, Yolo, Contra Costa, Butte, and Sacramento counties.

Investigators were finally able to crack the case through a genetic testing site called GEDmatch. They sent the website DNA from the crime scenes and created a family tree from information in the site’s database. This lead them to Waller and then police collected and tested two samples of his DNA. Officials report that he matched the profile of the suspect and was directly linked to a sexual assault that took place in Sacramento in 2006.

Waller is married and has had the same job for 25 years. Waller was put on investigative leave after his arrest. A statement from the university said the following.

“There is no indication that any crimes occurred within the campus community, however, UCPD will be reviewing any open sexual assault cases to determine if any might be related.”

The NorCal rapist would enter his victim’s homes late at night, according to Detective Avis Beery. Beery worked on the case from the very beginning.

“He would overcome them. He would bind them and then repeatedly sexually assault them. He would ransack their homes and sometimes he would kidnap victims and take them to ATMs where he would get money out of their accounts. Other times he would steal personal items from their homes,” Beery said,

According to SFGate, sometimes he would call victims after raping them and apologize for using their ATM cards.

The man suspected of being the NorCal rapist has worked at the University of California Berkley for 25 years.

“I spoke with one of the victims this morning and she was so overcome and over the top with emotion and happiness to see that this person is in custody and that no one else has to worry about him anymore. The victims in this case can stop looking over their shoulders,” Beery said during a press conference.

Police believe there may be more victims. They’ve asked victims of similar assaults to come forward. They’ve also asked anyone that might have information about the case to call (916) 808 1773, which is the Sacramento Police Department’s tip line.

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