Stranger Rape DNA Project will speed police work — and already has

The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs has started the Stranger Rape DNA Project, a program that will speed the investigation of stranger-rape cases.

Now when a medical worker examines a rape victim after an attack, the DNA evidence will be sent to a laboratory in Dallas. The evidence will be tested quickly, and the results will be released within 30 days, according to WASPC.

In the past, it could take years for DNA evidence in stranger rapes to be tested in Washington because of a backlog at the State Patrol's crime laboratory, said Aaron Toso of Gordon Thomas Honeywell, a public affairs agency that represents the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. About 200 stranger rapes occur in Washington state each year, Toso said.

The test results in Dallas will be compared to known suspects and given to the Washington State Patrol so it can be compared to state and national DNA databases, Toso said.

The stranger-rape project has already been put to use.

Last month, an 11-year-old girl was raped at her Olympia home. DNA evidence was flown to Dallas and the results were available in two weeks. Those results exonerated a 23-year-old man arrested in connection with the rape.

David Lynch had been arrested Feb. 6, the day after the rape. He had been living in an elaborate underground bunker a few blocks from her home. Lynch is now at Western State Hospital under a civil commitment that is separate from the criminal case.

Police have since arrested Peter Inouye, 24, who has been charged with rape of a child.

Thurston County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jon Tunheim said that had it not been for the Stranger Rape DNA Project, it is likely Lynch would still be locked up.

"All the other kinds of evidence pointed pretty strongly at him," Tunheim said. "The DNA was clearly not his. We knew at that point it was time refocus the investigation."

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com