Authorities in Sacramento County, Calif., announced Friday the arrest of a longtime University of California, Berkeley employee as a suspect in the "NorCal Rapist" case.
The suspect was identified as Roy Charles Waller, 58, a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area city of Benicia. He is accused of carrying out a series of sexual assaults from 1991 to 2006 in several cities from Sacramento Valley to the Bay Area, according to District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert.
Waller, who is married, faces 12 counts of forced sexual assaults with special circumstances for use of a gun while carrying out the crimes.
Schubert said the crimes spread across six counties in Northern California and involved 10 victims.
"I've always said cold cases become a journey for justice," Schubert said.
Authorities said that journey had taken about 27 years until 10 days ago when DNA and genealogy websites linked the suspect to an October 2006 sexual assault case in the city of Sacramento, eventually leading authorities to Waller. He was arrested in Berkeley.
"I have often said DNA is the silent witness to the truth," Schubert said. "For 27 years that truth was not known until now."
The arrest is another major breakthrough for authorities who have turned to DNA as they seek breakthroughs in cold cases. The most notable case came last year when Sacramento police used DNA and genealogy websites to arrest Joseph DeAngelo, whom authorities say is the Golden State Killer.
DeAngelo has been arrested in connection with multiple counts of murder and sexual assaults.
Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn said no crimes are believed to have occurred at the UC Berkeley campus. The university was notified of his arrest.
In a statement, university officials expressed shock over the arrest of one of their employees and said campus police would review any open sexual assault cases to determine if any might be related.
"Waller has worked in our Environment, Health & Safety office since 1992 as a Safety Specialist," university officials said. "The duties include managing programs to help ensure safety and training regarding the use of equipment and machinery including forklifts, aerial lifts, respirators."
