Conviction upheld in 1998 rape

EVERETT — The state Court of Appeals recently upheld the conviction of an Everett man accused of raping a school teacher in 1998.

The court concluded that a person can be charged with rape outside the statute of limitations if the suspect isn’t conclusively identified until later.

Michael McConnell is serving 13 years for the violent attack against a teacher at Discovery Elementary School. The woman was sexually assaulted at gunpoint in her classroom as she prepared for summer school.

The case was cold for more than a dozen years, but in 2011 McConnell was identified as the rapist when a sample of his DNA matched genetic evidence collected during the investigation. He was charged with first-degree rape.

McConnell, 33, moved to have the case thrown out, arguing that time had run out for prosecutors to charge him.

Generally, prosecutors have 10 years from when a rape is committed to file a charge. However, there is some leeway in cases where the suspect hasn’t been identified. Prosecutors argued that the law allows them to file charges a year from when a suspect is “conclusively identified” through DNA testing.

McConnell’s lawyers contended that the case could have been charged much earlier using the unique DNA profile first identified in 1998. Prosecutors didn’t have the man’s name, but they could have charged it anyway, simply identifying the suspect using a genetic profile, as they have done in other cases, the defense argued.

Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Bruce Weiss refused to throw out the charge. McConnell opted for a bench trial and in 2012 Weiss found McConnell guilty of first-degree rape.

McConnell filed an appeal. On Monday, the state Court of Appeals upheld the rape conviction. The court concluded that McConnell’s identity wasn’t established until 2011 when tests matched his DNA with that collected from the crime scene.

“We conclude that under the plain language of the statute, the identity of a suspect is not ‘conclusively established’ until DNA testing matches the DNA profile of an unknown suspect to the DNA profile of a known suspect,” the court wrote.

Detectives caught up with McConnell as part of an investigation into two unrelated homicides.

In 2010, Snohomish County sheriff’s cold case detective Jim Scharf asked that the genetic material collected during the rape investigation be retested using current technology. He made the request as part of his probe into the 1995 killing of Patti Berry, and the presumed slaying of Tracey Brazzel earlier that same year.

The suspect in those deaths, Danny Giles, was known to ride a bicycle. Bicycle tire tracks discovered in 1998 suggested that the rapist had pedaled away from the school.

Scientists concluded that the male genetic evidence collected at the rape scene didn’t match Giles. Instead, it matched McConnell’s profile in the state’s DNA database. His genetic profile was entered after a burglary conviction in 2000.

McConnell had been living within a mile of the school at the time this rape occurred. He also admitted using a bicycle as a method of transportation at that time. He has denied raping the teacher.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.