36 Years After Woman Is Raped At Knifepoint, Her Push To Get Police To Re-Examine DNA Evidence Leads To Arrest

Decades after a woman woke up to an armed man who had broken into her home and who went on to assault her in her own bedroom, she pushed investigators to take another look. They did, and linked DNA at the scene to a suspect.

Timothy Norris, 60, was charged in connection with the break-in and rape, which occurred 36 years ago in Coral Springs, Florida, the Coral Springs Police Department announced on Friday.

During the 1983 incident the “victim awoke to an armed stranger in the bedroom of her ... home. The suspect gained entry through a rear door and proceeded to rape the victim against her will,” police stated.

The survivor described the rapist as a young white male with a slender build wearing strong cologne and who spoke with a heavy southern accent. He held a steak knife to her neck, WPEC reported. 

“I have loved you for months,” the survivor said the man told her during the attack, according to the Sun Sentinel. “You have very nice children and a nice husband.”

Decades after a brutal rape, Timothy Norris was charged in connection with it after DNA allegedly linked him to the scene. Photo: Coral Springs Police Department

The case went cold for decades but in March of this year, Coral Special Victims Unit detectives and members of CSI re-evalulated evidence “as part of their on-going cold case initiative,” according to police.

The victim reportedly pushed them to reopen the case after she saw breaks in other cases due to DNA, according to CNN.

During the re-examination, “detectives learned that a sample of the victim’s clothing contained a DNA profile belonging to Timothy Norris.”

Norris is already serving a federal sentence in West Virginia for armed bank robbery and has a lengthy criminal history prior for armed burglary, aggravated assault, assault on a female, and kidnapping.

Norris is awaiting extradition back to Florida to face charges for the 1983 rape.