‘Innovative’ investigation helps convict Collinsville Starbucks rape suspect
The same genetic testing technology many use to trace their ancestry helped Madison County prosecutors secure a guilty verdict in a 2022 kidnapping and sexual assault case.
On Thursday after about an hour and a half of deliberations, a jury convicted Timothy J. Dubois Jr., 42, of Fayette County, of aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse and aggravated kidnapping.
According to the prosecution, Dubois entered a 21-year-old woman’s car as she waited for her mobile order at the Starbucks in the Collinsville Crossing shopping center on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2022. The woman testified that he was armed with a knife and instructed her to drive to a more remote area in Troy where he raped her.
This investigation was the first time the Collinsville Police Department used a commercial genetic genealogy database to find a suspect. Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine said Thursday he believes it was the first case in the county to use such evidence.
The technique, which Haine described as “incredibly innovative” in a post-trial news conference, was popularized when it was used to arrest the so-called “Golden State Killer.” In Collinsville, it led to charges being filed against Dubois in March 2023.
According to Collinsville Police Detective Sam Luna’s testimony during the trial, police sent a DNA sample from a discarded condom believed to be used in the assault to a private lab. Data from genetic testing sites yielded a list of names of people who were genetically similar. Both the sites and users must consent to have their data used for law enforcement purposes, Luna said.
Investigators then searched the individuals’ social media accounts. Luna said they found a photo of Dubois, who matched the description the woman gave of her attacker in multiple ways — from his looks and age to the military career he mentioned.
She told the jury she made conversation during the drive and tried to be nice to him because she feared for her life.
“I thought it would give me a better chance of surviving,” she said in court.
He told her he had to commit the assault because “women didn’t talk to him” and that he “deserved” to do so because it was Veterans Day, the woman testified.
It is the Belleville News-Democrat’s policy not to name the victims of sexual abuse.
Police contacted Dubois and got a sample of his DNA from a cheek swab. Tests revealed it matched the male DNA found on the condom, according to Luna.
Apple Watch helped police find DNA
The woman testified on Wednesday that her attacker made her turn off her phone soon after he got in the car. But her Apple Watch continued recording location data.
The Apple Watch data, along with the woman’s memory, helped investigators find the DNA evidence that would become key to the case through a condom near East Center Street in Troy.
Attorney Kane McClellan from the Madison County Public Defender’s office, who represented Dubois, argued the condom was exposed to the elements for a week before it was collected and that could have caused the DNA to degrade.
Law enforcement witnesses also testified about other evidence. They said Dubois drove a car resembling the vehicle seen circling Collinsville Crossing the morning of the kidnapping and sexual assault; that he was identified in a photo lineup; and that he confessed to the crimes when questioned by police.
Dubois wrote an apology letter to the woman, which Luna read in court.