"A Georgia man was arrested and charged with raping five women in Southeast Queens during the 1990s after DNA from a discarded cup matched decades-old crime scene evidence, authorities said. Michael Benjamin, 57, of Conyers, Georgia, was arraigned Thursday on 17 charges, including five counts of first-degree rape, following his extradition from Georgia on Wednesday, according to the Queens district attorney's office. Officials described the attacks as "heinous" and said Benjamin forced his way into victims' homes."
"The cold case breakthrough came in 2024, when investigators matched his fingerprints to the crime, police said. The NYPD then obtained DNA from a cup Benjamin used at the Rockdale County Sheriff's office in Georgia. The sample matched DNA collected from victims during attacks between 1995 and 1997 in Jamaica, St. Albans, Laurelton and Brookville, according to prosecutors. "After several decades, this defendant will finally face charges of violently raping at least five women, some at gunpoint," Queens DA Melinda Katz said."
Michael Benjamin, 57, of Conyers, Georgia, was arraigned on 17 counts including five first-degree rape charges after extradition to Queens. Prosecutors said the attacks occurred between 1995 and 1997 in Jamaica, St. Albans, Laurelton and Brookville, involving forced entries and some assaults at gunpoint. Investigators matched his fingerprints in 2024 and obtained DNA from a cup he used at the Rockdale County Sheriff's office, which matched samples collected from victims. Prosecutors pre-indicted an unknown "John Doe" in 2005 to preserve charges while the suspect was unidentified. Benjamin pleaded not guilty; his lawyer called the delayed indictment and prosecution unfair and cited the statute of limitations.
Read at Gothamist
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