DNA tests find ninth victim of serial rapist in Cleveland

The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that police have identified the ninth victim of a serial rapist preying on the city's women since at least 1996, and that a state program testing DNA from cold cases could link the man to more rapes soon.

In the last two weeks, the newspaper reports that DNA tests identified this previously undetected serial rapist as well as the work of another rapist in Cleveland. Police have few clues to help them find the one linked to nine rapes. Police told the Plain Dealer that as DNA testing of evidence from past rapes continues, they suspect that more victims of the serial rapist will be found.

When it first became evident that a sexual predator and serial killer was on the loose in Lousiana in 2002, that state's Governor did the right thing: he told women to exercise their right to self-defense.

And more recently, with news of a serial rapist on the loose in his city, Mobile (Alabama) Police Chief Sam Cochran told news reporters that he respects [women's] right to protect themselves within the law. When asked if, in a scenario similar to the eleven other rapes, 'Can a woman use deadly force and shoot an intruder in her house when she feels threatened?', Cochran said "absolutely she can".

After fighting this legislation for years, Governor Bob Taft then attempted to take credit for its passage last year.

So will Taft remind women in Cleveland that they have the option to obtain a temporary emergency license to carry a concealed firearm, and an Ohio Concealed Handgun License? Will he now trumpet the success of Ohio’s CHL program, and encourage residents to apply for licenses? Will he call on Cuyahoga County Sheriff McFaul to end a restrictive application policy that allows only two score of applicants in the state’s most populous county to apply each week?

We won’t hold our breath.