Police say DNA evidence connects prison inmate to 30-year-old Cape rape case

An inmate at Northeast Correctional Center in Bowling Green, Mo., for the kidnapping and rape of a 15-year-old girl has been connected to another Cape Girardeau rape a woman alleges occurred in November 1981.

Charles E. O'Howell, 50, was charged Tuesday with rape after the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Lab matched DNA from O'Howell to DNA on evidence obtained from the victim when a rape kit was performed following her assault nearly 30 years ago.

O'Howell was sentenced to 55 years in prison for the 1982 kidnapping and rape. He was sentenced to 30 years for rape, 15 years for kidnapping, five years for burglary and five years for receiving stolen property. O'Howell saw the girl from a distance riding a horse and later broke into her parents' home, kidnapped her at gunpoint and raped her.

According to court documents, the victim in the 1981 rape, who was 31 at the time, said a man around 18 years old came to her residence claiming to have car trouble and wanted to use her telephone. She told police she spoke to the man through a crack in the door, took a telephone number from him and went inside to call the number.

At that time, the victim alleges the man jerked the door open, pushed her inside the home, held a knife to her throat and raped her. The man told the victim if she ever told anyone what happened he'd kill her, according to the affidavit. After he left, the woman contacted her sister and then police. A medical examination was performed, and physical evidence from a rape kit was stored at police headquarters.

On Nov. 8, 2010, Cape Girardeau detective Jim Smith requested the state crime lab conduct a lab analysis of the evidence, which included some of the woman's clothing, hair and fibers. In March, the lab got a hit in its Combined DNA Index System database, matching O'Howell's DNA to profiles on the evidence.

On March 11, O'Howell denied any involvement in the 1981 crime and also denied being acquainted with anyone near the victim's residence. Court documents don't indicate O'Howell was a suspect before the DNA analysis was ordered.

There is no hearing scheduled for O'Howell in Cape Girardeau County.

ehevern@semissourian.com

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