Recent Posts in Rape Category

A former insurance claims adjuster who was suspected of terrorizing women in the 1970s as the Westside Rapist has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for seven murders that were committed in two waves of killings and sexual assaults.

John Floyd Thomas was sentenced for the killings that took place in a area stretching from Inglewood to Claremont. Police describe him as one of the California's most prolific serial killers, saying that he is still a suspect in at least 10 to 15 additional murders.

Police said the sexual attacks targeted women who ranged in age from their 50s to their 90s, many of whom lived alone. He broke into their homes at night and raped and choked his victims until they passed out or died. His sentence was part of a plea deal with prosecutors that was described as an act of pragmatism rather than an act of mercy.

She noted that capital punishment was not legal in California when all but one of the killings Thomas admitted to were committed. She said the death penalty would not have been relevant in this case because Thomas would probably die in prison during his appeals, given his age.

Thomas was born in Los Angeles and was raised by an aunt and his godmother after his mother died when he was 12. He attended public schools, and briefly joined the U.S. Air Force in 1956. At Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, he received a dishonorable discharge. The next year, he was convicted of burglary and attempted rape, which put him in prison for nearly almost 10 years. After his release, police noticed a string of assaults on elderly white women. The attacker was dubbed the Westside Rapist at the time.

The attacks appeared to stop in 1978, when Thomas was convicted and sentenced to prison for the rape of a Pasadena woman. After his release in 1983, he moved to Chino, coinciding with a wave of rapes and killings that began in the Pomona Valley area.

The Westside Rapist faded from public memory and authorities made limited progress in the Claremont killings until 2004, when the LAPD matched male DNA taken from two of the crime scenes. The final break in the case came in October 2008, when two officers collected DNA from Thomas while trying to identify the so-called Grim Sleeper serial killer, who was linked to homicides in South Los Angeles starting in the 1980s. Several months later, detectives learned that Thomas' genetic profile matched DNA evidence from four of the killings he admitted in court.

Police will conduct an intensive investigation following a murder or sexual assault. Therefore, if you are criminally charged, you will need a skilled criminal defense attorney from Marks & Brooklier. Criminal defense lawyers  Donald Marks and  Anthony Brooklier have been successfully representing clients for murder and rape charges for decades. They have the experience necessary to provide you with skilled criminal defense in all Los Angeles County Courts. It takes a dedicated legal team to fight a murder or sexual assault charge, and with our firm you can feel condifent that we will provide you with the highest quality criminal defense team. Our Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers are aggressive in the court room and look forward to defending your case. Contact us for a free case consultation.

In Santa Ana, California, a Lake Forest man goes on trial on multiple felony charges of raping five women and sexually assaulting a sixth. The charges against Sekayi Rudo White, could result in a sentence of 119 years to life in prison if he is convicted of all counts. He is accused of 14 felony counts involving six women he met in bars, had been dating, or was acquainted with during a five-year span.

Prosecutors say that three of the victims initially were too frightened to report the sexual attacks, but called police after they read news accounts of his arrest in connection with the other three women. And one of the assaults took place after he was released on $250,000 bail. He has been in custody without bail since that incident in Lake Forest on March 31, 2007.

White is accused of forcible rape, assault with intent to commit rape, sexual battery, dissuading a witness and residential burglary, plus sentencing enhancements for committing sex crimes against multiple victims, using a deadly weapon, and committing crimes while out on bail. The six incidents according to prosecutors:

On March 31, 2007, a 28-year-old woman was drinking with a friend at Patsy's Irish Pub in Lake Forest. Prosecutors say he covertly followed the victim home, knocked on her door, and was allowed inside after she recognized him. He raped her after she passed out.

On Feb. 21, 2007, he broke into the home of a 22-year-old woman he had been dating, pushed her to the ground, and stepped on her chest as he removed her clothes. He is accused of forcibly raping the victim as he held a large hunting knife to her neck.

One night in January 2007, a woman renting a room from the victim in the Feb. 21 incident was attacked in her bedroom after he broke the lock on her door. He is accused of threatening to kill her if she reported the rape.

On Aug. 13, 2006, White met a 19-year-old woman at Atlanta Lounge in Huntington Beach, California. He offered to give the drunken victim a ride home, but instead drove her to his apartment and raped her.

On Dec. 23, 2005 White met a 44-year-old woman at the Fox Sports Grill at the Irvine Spectrum and offered to give her a ride home because she had been drinking. After arriving at her Newport Beach apartment, he asked to use the bathroom. Prosecutors say he ran out of the bathroom naked, tried to rape the woman while threatening to kill her if she told anyone, but she screamed anyway and he fled the scene.

In September 2002, White met a 22-year-old woman in driving school and asked her out for a date. He is accused of taking her to a hotel in Santa Ana and forcibly raping her while she was temporarily unconscious. After the attack, he is accused of harassing the woman, who did not initially report the incident,  by showing up at her work and home.

If you have been charged with a rape or any type of sex crime, you need the skilled defense services of a Los Angeles rape criminal defense attorney who has the experience and knowledge of this area of the law. At Marks & Brooklier, attorneys Donald Marks and Anthony Brooklier are qualified Los Angeles sex crimes lawyers who will aggressively defend you. Our skilled lawyers have handled high profile cases involving rape with great success and can do the same for you. Contact us for a free consultation, 24/7, strictly confidential.

A Santa Ana man was charged with abducting and raping a 16-year-old girl as she was walking home from a fast-food restaurant. Police were led to Juan Humberto Avila, from DNA collected after he was convicted of a federal weapons charge in Ariznoa.

The girl was walking home after meeting friends at an In-and-Out Burger in Santa Ana about 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 21, 2008, when her attacker jumped on her and punched her, according to prosecutors. Avila allegedly dragged the girl across the street while threatening to stab her to death if she screamed. He allegedly forced her behind large storage containers at the rear of a parking lot, where he repeatedly raped and sodomized the teenager before forcing her to orally copulate him.

Avila stole the girl's bank card before fleeing. She ran home and reported the assault to the Santa Ana Police Department. Prosecutors said DNA was recovered from the girl during a medical rape examination, but the case remained cold until recently, when the recovered DNA was matched to Avila's.

Avila is charged with felony sexual penetration by a foreign object by force and two felony counts each of forcible rape, sodomy by force and forcible oral copulation. He is also accused of inflicting great bodily injury and kidnapping. Avila has a previous strike against him from a 1997 conviction for participating in a criminal street gang. He faces a maximum sentence of 355 years to life in state prison if convicted. Prosecutors planned to request that Avila be held on $2-million bail.

If you have been charged with a rape or kidnapping, you will need the services of a Los Angeles rape criminal defense lawyer who has the special knowledge of this area of the law. At Marks & Brooklier, attorneys Donald Marks and Anthony Brooklier are qualified Los Angeles and Beverly Hills sex crimes lawyers to represent you. You will need the over 33 years of experience that our law firm can provide you with. Our legal team has handled high profile cases involving rape and kidnapping with great success and can do the same for you. Contact us for a free consultation, 24/7, strictly confidential.

Authorities using DNA evidence have linked a 44-year-old convicted murderer and rapist on death row to a 1990 double homicide in Riverside County. Alfredo Rolando Prieto, who is already on California's death row and who recently received the death penalty for a murder in Virginia, was linked to the slayings of Stacey Siegrist, 19, and Anthony Gianuzzi, 21, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said.

On May 5, 1990, a jogger discovered the victims’ bodies along a dirt power line access road west of the intersection of Canal and Alta streets in Rubidoux. The two were dating and had not been seen for nearly two days. Both had been shot once in the side of their heads and once in the back of their necks. Siegrist had also been sexually assaulted.

Earlier this year, Riverside County’s cold case unit submitted evidence from the crime scene to a private laboratory. The lab linked the DNA to Prieto. The department said it delayed notifying the public to ensure Virginia jurists were not influenced during the penalty phase of Prieto’s trial there. Prieto has been linked to nine murders and four sexual assaults, including the 1992 murder and rape of 15-year-old Yvette Woodruff of Ontario, the crimes for which he was sentenced to death. He is appealing his California death sentence.

In 2005, preliminary DNA tests implicated him in three 1988 Virginia slayings. Prosecutors from Fairfax County, Va., extradited Prieto from California to face trial for two of those murders. Prieto has operated with three other accomplices in the past, and authorities believe the Rubidoux murders involved one or two additional suspects.

If you have been arrested or under investigation for murder, it is important that you consult a Los Angeles homicide and murder criminal defense attorney immediately to begin planning of your legal defense. A conviction for murder can result in a lifetime sentence in a California penitentiary or even the death penalty.

Los Angeles Police will conduct an intensive investigation following a murder. If you are criminally charged, you will need an experienced murder criminal defense lawyer from Marks & Brooklier. Attorney's Donald Marks and Anthony Brooklier have been successfully representing clients for murder or homicide charges for over four decades. They have the skill necessary to provide you with an exceptional criminal defense. We will conduct our own thorough investigation of the facts and study all evidence obtained against you in order to present a strong defense. Our Los Angeles homicide criminal defense lawyers are aggressive and are well-versed in a court room setting and look forward to assisting you with your case. Contact us for a free consultation, 24/7.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation to put some sex offenders in prison for life at a bittersweet ceremony for family and friends of a 17-year-girl who was killed after being abducted while running less than seven months ago.

Chelsea's Law is named for Chelsea King, who was murdered by 31-year-old convicted child molester John Gardner. He was sentenced to life in prison fter pleading guilty to murdering Chelsea and 14-year-old Amber Dubois. "Because of Chelsea, California's children will be safer. Because of Chelsea, this never has to happen again," said Schwarzenegger, an early backer of the legislation.

The ceremony began under a light drizzle then gave way to sunshine at an outdoor theater in Balboa Park, where Chelsea played French horn for the San Diego Youth Symphony. Many of the 200 people in the audience carried sunflowers, her favorite flower.

Brent and Kelly King, who traveled from their new home in suburban Chicago, thanked lawmakers for speeding the bill through the Legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support. Brent King said he was initially skeptical about the bill's prospects and had been preparing to sponsor a ballot initiative. Kelly King said the lawmakers were an example for young people.

The Kings, in an interview, said they plan to promote similar legislation in other states and have tentatively targeted Texas, Florida, Colorado and Ohio, the scenes of high-profile child abductions. They have not settled on a timetable.

The Kings have not been considering their new home state of Illinois for legislation because they want to shield their 14-year-old son Tyler from the spotlight. The avid baseball player has recently shown renewed interest in the game.

The Kings plan to use their nonprofit foundation, Chelsea's Light, to promote peer counseling programs  and to offer scholarships for college and other programs.

Chelsea's Law allows life without parole sentences for adult predators who kidnap, drug, bind, torture or use a weapon while committing a sex crime against a child. Life terms could be ordered for first-time and repeat offenders.

It also increases other penalties for child molesters, including requiring lifetime parole with GPS tracking for people convicted of forcible sex crimes against children under 14. Previous law permitted lifetime GPS monitoring, but most tracking ended when offenders leave parole.

Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, the San Diego Republican who spearheaded the Chelsea's Law legislation, said in an interview it would have resulted in a longer prison sentence, possibly life, and longer parole for Gardner in 2000 for molesting a 13-year-old neighbor. Gardner served five years of a six-year sentence and repeatedly violated parole. Supporters came to the ceremony wearing T-shirts with one of Chelsea's favorite quotations, "They can because they think they can," from the Roman poet Virgil.

If you have been arrested with a sex crime, you will need to consult a Los Angeles sex crime criminal defense lawyer who has the special knowledge of this area of the law. Attorneys Donald Marks and Anthony Brooklier are qualified Los Angeles and Beverly Hills sex crimes criminal attorneys to defend you. You will need the over 33 years of experience that our law firm can provide you with. Contact us for a free consultation, 24/7, strictly confidential.

A man suspected of being an international serial rapist is in custody in Orange County after being extradited from Austria following a DNA match through INTERPOL. The defendant was featured on the Orange County District Attorney’s Ten Most Wanted list.

Ali Achekzai, 32, formerly of Ladera Ranch, will be arriving at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) from Austria. He is being escorted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Tustin Police Department.

The defendant will be held in the Orange County Jail on $1 million bail and is subject to a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement nobail hold. He is expected to be arraigned in the Central Jail, Santa Ana. 

Achekzai is charged with two felony counts of forcible rape, two felony count of sexual penetration by foreign object by force, one felony count of aggravated assault, one felony count of assault with the intent to commit a sexual offense, and sentencing enhancements and allegations for committing sexual crimes against more than one victim and causing great bodily injury to a victim. The Orange County District Attorney's Office is prosecuting the defendant for rapes and assault with the intent to commit a sexual offense  that occurred in both Orange and San Diego Counties. If convicted, Achekzai faces a maximum sentence of 68 years and four months to life in state prison.

Tustin Police Department is the lead investigating agency and the FBI coordinated the extradition. The OCDA charged the defendant and a $500,000 arrest warrant was issued for him Oct. 19, 2004. The warrant was later increased to $1 million and Achekzai was arrested in Salzburg, Austria, on Jan. 26, 2010. The Federal Ministry of Justice in Vienna, Austria granted extradition on Aug. 13, 2010.

Achekzai's return to the United States will be funded by the FBI Project Welcome Home, which provides funding to facilitate the transportation of fugitives wanted by the FBI to the United States. It is anticipated that the federal government will dismiss the federal warrant charging Achekzai with Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution in lieu of the OCDA prosecution.

On Jan. 31, 2004, Achekzai is accused of meeting 21-year-old Jane Doe #1 at a nightclub in Laguna Beach. Shortly after 2:00 a.m., Jane Doe #1 observed the defendant following her in his car as she was driving on Jamboree Road toward Tustin. The defendant is accused of following Jane Doe #1 as she drove around and attempted to get away from him. Achekzai is accused of pulling up near Jane Doe in his car and yelling for her to pull over because he wanted to talk to her about something important.

Jane Doe #1 parked in a fast food restaurant lot and Achekzai is accused of getting into her car under the pretense of warning her about another man she had met at the nightclub. The victim became scared, got out of her car, and attempted to run away. Achekzai is accused of getting out of the victim’s car, chasing Jane Doe #1, catching her, and leading her back to the car as she cried and struggled to get away. Once they were back in the car, the defendant is accused of grabbing Jane Doe #1 by the neck, holding her down, digitally penetrating and forcibly raping her. He is accused of then getting back into his car and driving away. Jane Doe #1 reported the rape to police and DNA was collected from her clothing. TPD investigated this case.

On May 3, 2004, Achekzai is accused of meeting two women while at a nightclub with his male cousin in San Diego. Late that night, the defendant is accused of going with his cousin and the two women to Mount Soledad in San Diego County. Achekzai is accused of isolating 21-year-old Jane Doe #2 from the other two friends by inviting her to take a walk through a dark park. Once the defendant was alone with the victim, he is accused of grabbing her and pulling her to the ground as she struggled to get away.

Achekzai is accused of repeatedly hitting and punching the victim and telling her that he would kill her if she screamed. He is accused of covering the victim’s mouth to keep her quiet and forcibly raping and sexually penetrating her in the bushes. The defendant is accused of threatening Jane Doe #2 that he would kill her if she told anyone about the rape.

When the defendant and victim returned to the car, Jane Doe #2 immediately told her friend that she had been raped. Achekzai is accused of becoming angry and punching her in the mouth, knocking out her front tooth. Jane Doe #2 reported the rape to police and DNA was collected from her clothing. The San Diego Police Department investigated this case. In July 2004, DNA linked both rapes to the same defendant. Charges were filed against Achekzai for the sexual assaults of Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2 in October 2004.

On Oct. 26, 2002, Achekzai is accused of getting into a limousine with four other people including 24-year-old Jane Doe #3, her friend, and two friends of the defendant. The group had been at a nightclub in Laguna Beach and drove to Costa Mesa to drop one of the men off at home. While still in the limousine, Achekzai is accused of removing Jane Doe #3’s pants and assaulting her after she fell asleep with the intent to commit a sexual offense. The victim woke up to find the defendant fondling her breasts. Achekzai is accused of swearing at the victim and telling Jane Doe #3 to shut up as she screamed. Jane Doe #3’s friend was also asleep in the limousine.

Achekzai is accused of fleeing the country prior to being charged for the rapes. The defendant is accused of fleeing illegally into Canada. He is accused of changing his name several times and obtaining identification under the identities of Ali Achekzai, Ali Achekza, Ali Achelczia, Waleed Nawabi, Walid Nawabi, David Azizi, and Wali Ahmed Shoja. He is a national and citizen of Afghanistan and is suspected to have lived in Afghanistan, Germany, San Francisco, Canada, Austria, and England.

Based on the fact that Achekzai had multiple California victims, and knowing that he fled internationally, Tustin Police Department worked with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Crime Lab in December 2009 to coordinate the submission of Achekzai’s DNA to the international police agency, INTERPOL.

On April 24, 2009, Achekzai was arrested in Austria for rape under the name Wali Ahmed Shoja. His DNA was taken at that time, but the case in Austria was later dismissed. As a result of this case, INTERPOL matched the defendant from the Austria rape to the rapes in Orange and San Diego Counties and determined that Achekzai was living in Salzburg, Austria.

He was arrested Jan. 26, 2010, at the Hotel Unterbrunn in the Austrian town of Neukirchen am Grossvenediger. He was arrested by the Salzburg Criminal Investigative Division in cooperation with the FBI.

The case against and arrest of Achekzai has been a coordinated effort between the Tustin Police Department, Orange County District Attorney's Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation and FBI Legal Attache in Vienna, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and ICE Homeland Security Investigations, United States Marshals Service, United States Department of Justice Office of International Affairs, Toronto Police Services Fugitive Squad, INTERPOL, Salzburg CID, Austrian Federal Police, Austrian Ministries of Justice and Interior, San Diego Police Department and San Diego District Attorney’s Office.

If you have been charged with a sex crime, you need to contact a Los Angeles rape and sex crimes criminal defense attorney who has the extensive knowledge of this area of the law. At Marks & Brooklier, we have qualified California and Los Angeles rape and sex crimes lawyers to defend you. You will absolutely need the experience that our law firm can provide you with. Our international legal team has handled high profile cases involving rape and other sex crimes with great success and can do the same for you. Contact us for a free consultation, 24/7, strictly confidential.