The Long Arm of the Law Over Decades

It was late 1983, and Wifey had moved to Edgewater Drive in the Grove, with her old work mate Carol. The two of them shared a first floor, two bedroom apartment in that nice 'hood -- close to the middle of the Grove, where we hung out a lot, and not too far from Wifey's Kendall house. She and I were dating, but not "serious," since I was just 22 and finishing my first semester of law school.

There was a sinister man about in South Florida then -- the so called "pillowcase rapist." He attacked women from South Miami through Deerfield Beach -- always the same MO. He would come into their apartments, sneak up on them, cover their heads and his with a pillowcase or his t shirt, and rape them, at knifepoint. Thankfully, no one died, but this bastard escaped capture -- despite stakeouts, task forces, etc...All anyone could say was that he was in his 20s or 30s, white, athletic...Maybe he worked for FPL or the phone company -- so he had access to his victims' apartments, never looking out of place.

Mike and I were in my apartment studying, and Wifey called, frantic. She had gone out with friends, and returned to a slew of cop cars. Carol, who was blonde and slender, like many of the rapist's victims, had in fact become one -- she was getting ready to go out herself, had left the slider open, and the POS grabbed her.

Mike and I drove right over. Carol, of stoic, Midwestern stock, seemed ok -- less frantic than Wifey. I met Dave Simmons, the lead detective, nicknamed "Spiffy" because he was a sharp dresser, and he told me this bastard was prolific and smart. He also sometimes returned to his prior locations. Carol left for her parents' in Lauderdale, and I drove Wifey to her parents' house. It was a terrible thing.

Finals ended in January '84, and I helped Wifey move back home with her parents. Carol stayed in the place, as I recall -- not going to allow some trash to change her life. Like I said -- she was very stoic.

And they never caught the guy. The task force they formed disbanded in '87. The attacks stopped. Far as the cops could tell, either the rapist died, moved, or was imprisoned for something else.

Carol hired a lawyer and sued the apartment complex. Indeed -- they had switched security companies, and the night of her attack, were without any guard. It was '88 when I accompanied Wifey to a depo for Carol's case -- at the venerable defense lawyer Bruce Telander, who I knew well. Carol settled, and used the money to go back to law school in her native Michigan -- Cooley Law, in East Lansing. I had a depo there, and visited her. She was doing great -- returned to South Florida, and then, after Hurricane Andrew, we lost touch. Last I heard, she was working for a golf club as an exec up in Boca -- but Wifey thinks she got bored there and may have come back to Miami

Well -- today I read an article online in the Herald early, that caused me to say Holy Shit out loud -- they arrested the bastard!  He was apparently registered as a sex offender in Palm Beach County in the 90s, and had moved up to Brevard County. They haven't given details yet, but I assume that old marker DNA matched him to the attacks in South Florida -- 44 victims is the best estimate.

The fellow is 60 -- which means he was indeed mid 20s when he was about his evil acts. They're extricating him back here for charges. I wonder if Simmons is retired or still on the Force. Either way, I know he'll be grinning.

I imagine Carol will hear about this. As a husband and father of 2 women, I'd like to hear some "accident" befalls this fellow. But either way -- it shows you can't hide from your genetics. And the technology now brings creeps to justice decades later.