David Thomas Hawkins was arrested on August 19, 2020 and charged with four sexual assaults in Dallas, Texas, and two in Shreveport, Louisiana. The case has been cleared by exception due to the death of Hawkins.
One assault in Dallas occurred in 1985, the others took place from December 1982 to April 1985. The women had been raped at gun point in their homes. The two assaults in Louisiana took place in 1980. There were several serial rapists operating in northeast Dallas in the 1980s, a time when sexual assaults in the city were three times the national average.
These cases were linked together through DNA profiles developed from the victim’s sexual assault kits. The FGG investigation was performed by the FBI’s Investigative Genealogy Unit, through funding from the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative. Investigators made the initial confirmation through surveillance followed by the surreptitious sampling of items Hawkins had discarded in his trash.
Hawkins had been convicted of rape in Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1973. He was sentenced to 30 years in jail, with 9 years suspended. He was paroled in 1977, when he moved to the Fort Worth area. The case against Hawkins for the rapes in Dallas is pending in Dallas County Criminal Court. There are currently no charges filed in the Louisiana cases, but the investigation is ongoing.
Throughout the course of the investigation, DNA samples were taken from several other suspects.
Hawkins pled guilty to the charges on August 27, 2021 and was sentenced to life in prison. One of the victims, Carrie Krejci, spoke at the sentencing hearing and stated that, despite the harm done to her, she had gone on to live a good life. Krejci had been instrumental in solving the case, asking police to reopen the investigation and test her evidence in 2005.
Sources:
3-Investigates Team. “Bossier Deputies Question Accused Serial Rape Suspect About Cold Cases.” KTBS 3 News ABC, September 1, 2020. Accessed December 21, 2020. https://www.ktbs.com/news/3investigates/bossier-deputies-question-accused-serial-rape-suspect-about-cold-cases/article_c902da16-ec9c-11ea-a6e5-df2fb2eb1b14.html.
Lopez, Rebecca. “‘Same Eyes, Same Monster.’ How Genealogy DNA Helped Crack a 38-Year-Old, Unsolved Dallas Cold Case.” WFAA, June 1, 2023. Last Modified June 2, 2023. Accessed June 3, 2023. https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/crime/genealogy-dna-used-crack-unsolved-cold-cases/287-610582b0-5a5f-4aae-9170-192141d294e9.
Steele, Tom. “Authorities Say 74-Year-Old Man Arrested in Dallas Cold Case Could be a Serial Rapist from the 1980s.” Dallas Morning News, August 19, 2020. Accessed December 21, 2020. https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2020/08/19/74-year-old-man-arrested-in-1985-dallas-sexual-assault-case-authorities-suspect-hes-a-serial-rapist/.
Steele, Tom, and Aria Jones. “Police Say DNA Program Helped them Arrest Suspect in String of 1980s Rapes in Dallas, Louisiana.” Dallas Morning News, August 21, 2020. Accessed December 21, 2020. https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2020/08/21/man-who-sexually-assaulted-dallas-women-in-the-80s-was-finally-undone-by-dna-police-say/.
Williams, Michael. “Woman Confronts Dallas Serial Rapist in Court: ‘In Spite of You, I Have a Good Life.’” Dallas Morning News, August 27, 2021. Accessed December 29, 2021. https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2021/08/27/woman-confronts-dallas-serial-rapist-in-court-in-spite-of-you-i-have-a-good-life/.