|
Charges filed in 1983 rape
Mike Mansur
Public Information Officer
A man in custody in Colorado has been charged in a Kansas City West Side rape from 1983 thanks to DNA technology, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced today.
Arthur J. Romero, 51 (DOB: 5/26/1961), faces charges of Forcible Rape, Robbery 1st Degree and Armed Criminal Action.
According to court records, a 51-year-old woman early in the morning of Dec. 2, 1983, reported that when she walked into her home on West 21st Street a man in a ski mask grabbed her and placed a knife to her throat. “Don’t scream or I’ll kill you,” he told her. After forcing her to the bedroom, he grabbed a rolling pin she kept near her bed and hit her. He also stabbed her in the chest, hand and abdomen. He raped her and tied her up, then ransacked her home and took her vehicle. Evidence collected soon after the attack was matched recently, thanks to DNA technology, to Romero, a convicted felon in Colorado.
Romero is currently in custody in Colorado. He will be extradited to Missouri. He was near being released on parole, when these new charges were filed.
This case was co-investigated by the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Cold Case Unit and the Kansas City Police Department’s Cold Case Unit.
| |
