BPD: DNA helps solve rape case

Demarqus Walker has been in jail since last November when he was arrested on charges of armed robbery and aggravated burglary after he allegedly pulled a knife on a woman on Bankston Street and trapped her in her closet, then ran when the Bogalusa Police Department arrived on the scene. He was 20 years old at the time.

This week, he was arrested in his Washington Parish Jail cell on charges stemming from an earlier incident, said BPD Capt. Joe Culpepper.

“On April 12, 2007 we started an investigation on a home invasion and aggravated rape of an elderly female,” he said. “Evidence was collected and sent to the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab for analysis.

“We recently received information from the Crime Lab that Demarqus Walker’s DNA matched the 2007 rape case.”

Culpepper said there was no rape in the 2008 incident. But when Walker was convicted of that felony, his DNA was taken and put in “the system” to see if he could be connected to any other crimes.

He was, said Culpepper.

On Monday, Walker was charged with aggravated rape and aggravated burglary for the 2007 case.

The aggravated burglary charge might have been a home invasion charge, but it occurred before that was a possibility, said Culpepper.

“Home invasion is a good descriptor and it is actually now a criminal charge, like aggravated burglary but with a stiffer penalty and more flexibility,” he said. “But it became a charge too late for these cases.”