By Scott North

Herald Writer

In September 1998, a woman was sexually assaulted and cut with a knife while she waited at a bus stop along Highway 99 in Lynnwood. On Friday, an Oak Harbor man was facing a first-degree rape charge after a new state DNA database reportedly connected him to the crime.

Clifford Goodwin, 31, had to provide samples of his genetic "fingerprint" after he was convicted of second-degree robbery involving an October 1998 attack on another woman in Everett, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Lisa Paul said in Superior Court papers filed Thursday.

A police officer happened upon Goodwin as he was forcing the woman into a secluded area, according to court papers. He was carrying a steak knife and a crowbar.

The age and identity of the victim in the September 1998 rape were not released in court documents. The woman told police she suffered deep cuts to her fingers and arm as she struggled to keep her attacker from cutting her throat.

When police searched the crime scene, they found the attacker’s genetic material on the victim’s clothing, Paul said.

Goodwin’s DNA was gathered three years ago under a state law that requires people convicted of violent crimes and sex offenses to give blood for testing. State forensic experts found a match between Goodwin’s DNA profile and that of the person who left genetic material at the 1998 Lynnwood rape, Paul said.

Goodwin is currently jailed in King County, where he is being held for violating probation on another felony conviction. Paul sought a $100,000 bail arrest warrant to ensure that he is brought to Snohomish County to face the new rape charge.

You can call Herald Writer Scott North at 425-339-3431 or send e-mail to

north@heraldnet.com.