DNA Breakthrough Identifies Deceased Navy Diver in Multi-State Cold Case Rape Spree

Ventura County, CA – Officials have announced a significant breakthrough in a series of decades-old rape cases spanning four states, identifying a former Navy diver, Sean Patrick McNulty, as the perpetrator. The announcement, made by the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office on Thursday, brings a measure of closure to victims of crimes committed between 1982 and 1997.

Through advanced DNA evidence, investigators connected McNulty to two unsolved home invasion rapes in Ventura County, California, along with four other similar incidents in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. McNulty, who died by suicide in 1997, was linked to the cases after DNA from an unknown perpetrator in the California cases was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) in March 2024.

This critical step led to matches with DNA profiles from rapes in Okemos and Birmingham, Michigan (1994, 1995), and Columbus, Ohio (1997). While McNulty’s body had been cremated, a crime analyst with the FBI’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program located a 1993 Bloomington, Indiana, rape case where McNulty was a named suspect. Indiana authorities confirmed McNulty’s death by suicide shortly after being identified as a suspect in that case and were able to provide DNA material that proved to be an exact match to the perpetrator’s DNA in the other five cases.

Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff emphasized the importance of persistent investigation, stating, “The results show the importance of testing every kit and pursuing every lead, no matter how old or how long it takes.” Victims, some of whom waited over forty years, expressed profound gratitude for the authorities’ unwavering efforts. Officials confirmed that investigations into other potential crimes committed by McNulty across the 14 states he lived in, and the Philippines, remain ongoing.

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