Monday, May 4, 1998 | 10:36 a.m.
Las Vegas police Sgt. Clint Robison said task force members have been comparing the rapist's crimes with similar ones from jurisdictions across the West, crafting lists of people who may have had access to apartment complexes in the Las Vegas Valley and poring through reports with robbery detectives to see if details of past robberies could help identify the rapist.
"All of that has been done, including the (establishment) of the task force," Robison said. "We are all in constant communication with each other."
The task force is composed of robbery and sexual assault detectives who meet regularly to review reports and look for similarities among the rapes and previous robberies. Two other officers from the Las Vegas police Southeast Area Command have been taken off their regular duties to follow leads and research computer records.
Behavioral profiles indicate the rapist, who has struck six times at apartment complexes since 1996, is likely an experienced prowler.
He entered his victims' apartments without leaving signs of a break-in, and police think he is getting in through unlocked windows or sliding glass doors.
"We have researched all of the hot prowl burglaries that date back well before 1996," Robison said. "Every single hot prowl burglary and every single sexual assault, we've looked at."
Detectives also are reviewing a lengthy list of people who may at one time have had routine access to apartment complexes or who may work in professions that indicate an ability to bypass security measures. Robison said police are scouring the list and ruling out potential suspects one by one.
Brent Turvey, a Michigan-based forensic scientist, profiler and expert on serial crime, said police can learn a lot from the rapist's victims. By using the Behaviorally Oriented Interview, detectives can ask the victims a standard set of questions and then scrutinize their answers to discover a link among the victims.
Robison said the women have been interviewed extensively.
"So far, there has been no common denominator found in their social activities," Robison said.
The rapist strikes between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. Police think the man may be stalking his victims and choosing women who live alone or who live under vulnerable circumstances.
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