EVERETT — The suspect in the 1998 rape of an Everett school teacher made his first court appearance Thursday.
Everett District Court Judge Tam Bui found probable cause to hold Michael McConnell for investigation of first-degree rape and first-degree burglary stemming from a sexual assault at
Discovery Elementary School.
Detectives suspect that McConnell, then 17, crawled through a window in a portable classroom and waited for a teacher to return from her lunch break. She told investigators that the suspect pointed a gun at her, took $14 and sexually assaulted her.
On Thursday, the judge ordered McConnell held on $250,000 bail.
The Everett man, 30, denied breaking into the classroom and denied having sex with the teacher, according to court papers filed Thursday.
Detectives, however, say that forensic tests have identified McConnell as the suspect in the 12-year-old case.
Genetic evidence was collected during the initial investigation but didn’t help detectives identify a suspect back then.
In June, sheriff’s cold case detectives asked that the genetic evidence be retested using today’s more advanced technology.
Scientists ran the tests and concluded that the evidence collected matched a profile in the state’s DNA database. The profile belonged to McConnell, investigators said.
He was required to submit DNA samples after being convicted of residential burglary in 2000. The information was entered into the state’s database.
Generally, prosecutors have 10 years from when a rape was committed to file a charge. However, there is some leeway in cases such as these in which the suspect hasn’t been identified.
The law allows prosecutors to file rape charges a year from when the suspect is conclusively identified through DNA testing, said Lisa Paul, who leads the special assault unit for the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office.
McConnell was arrested Wednesday. He was on probation for a federal conviction stemming from a string of pharmacy burglaries, according to police.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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