Police in California seeking proof Sean Patrick McNulty raped two Ventura County women four decades ago found it in a saved DNA sample from a 1993 Bloomington rape investigation.
McNulty died in Michigan by suicide as investigators were closing in to arrest him in 1997 for the Bloomington rape.
A Sept. 4 news release from the Ventura County District Attorney details how the serial rapist was tied to six sexual assaults committed when McNulty broke into homes and terrorized women.
Multi-state connection
After years of investigating, McNulty was connected in 2024 to two unsolved Venture County home invasion rapes, in 1982 and 1983, as well as three others committed in Michigan and Ohio in 1994, 1995 and 1997 .
Last year, Ventura County’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative tested the evidence collected from 1980s victims. They found the three other DNA matches as well but had no identity to tie them to.
An FBI crime analyst joined an investigative genealogist with the Columbus Police Department in Ohio to research the DNA profile. They identified McNulty as the suspect in all five rapes.
They needed a sample of his DNA for comparison, but McNulty was long dead. They located his headstone in a Ventura cemetery, then learned there was no body in the grave to exhume.
McNulty had been cremated and the whereabouts of his ashes was unknown.
The Bloomington connection
Undaunted, the FBI expert then discovered reports from a 1993 rape in Bloomington where McNulty was named as the suspect. Did any viable evidence remain?
It did.
Bloomington detectives searching for evidence from the department’s investigation more than 30 years ago found a “biological sample” taken from McNulty. It was sent to an Ohio forensics lab “and determined to be an exact match to the 1997 rape in Columbus.”
After that, forensic scientists in Ventura County matched McNulty’s DNA to the 1980s rapes there. And his DNA matched that of the rapist in the 1994 and 1995 sexual assaults in Michigan.
Other victims could be out there
Police continue investigating, looking to possibly solve other sexual assaults the U.S. Navy veteran may have carried out. He lived or spent time in 14 states and the Philippines, so victims could be widespread.
Ventura County rape investigators officials contacted McNulty’s victims to let them know he had been identified and that he died more than 25 years ago.
The news release said the Bloomington victim was grateful, saying that “after all these years you didn’t give up.”
In 2022, Ventura County launched the sexual assault kit initiative with a goal to test all samples in an effort to identify suspects in unsolved cases.
“The results show the importance of testing every kit and pursuing every lead, no matter how old or how long it takes,” Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said.
Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Decades-old Bloomington evidence solves rape cases
