North Texas police have arrested a Las Vegas man in connection to two cold case sexual assaults in the 1990s, after evidence retrieved from the two victims recently matched his DNA.
The Denton Police Department on Oct. 21, 1993, a now-retired detective responded to a park on W. Windsor Drive after a report that an unknown man had sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl while waiting for other members of her cross-country team.
The same detective responded to the same park on Sept. 17, 1997, after a woman reported she, too, had been sexually assaulted by an unknown man while out for a walk.
An investigation consisting of interviews with both sexual assault survivors led the detective to believe the cases were related.
Marcus Deshaun Johnson booking photo (Denton County Jail)
Still, the detective exhausted all possible leads and could not identify the suspect.
The DNA was sent to the Texas Department of Public Safety crime lab in 1998, which determined collected samples may have come from the same source.
The DNA profile was obtained and entered the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) in 1999 and had been searched continuously ever since.
Pipette placing sample into vial for extracting DNA evidence in forensic lab. (Andrew Brookes via Getty Images) (Andrew Brookes via Getty Images)
Then, in 2023, a statewide DNA search was conducted in Texas, and investigators determined the suspect was related to a known person in the criminal justice system.
Police said a person of interest was identified in the sexual assault cases, and investigators learned that person, 53-year-old Marcus Deshaun Johnson, was arrested for unrelated warrants in Denton in 1993.
The suspect that both survivors described was like Johnson in appearance, police said.
TEXAS COLD CASE TORE APART FAMILY THAT KEEPS FIGHTING FOR ANSWERS NEARLY 40 YEARS LATER
At the time of the discovery, detectives learned Johnson was a Las Vegas resident. So, they reached out to the Las Vegas Metro Police Department and FBI to assist with obtaining a DNA sample from Johnson.
The sample was taken to a lab for analysis, which concluded that Johnson’s DNA could not be excluded from the investigations into the 1993 and 1997 investigations.
Johnson was indicted on June 29, 2023, on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and three counts of sexual assault.
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Jail records show Johnson has since been released on bond.
