DNA evidence linked identical twin brothers to two rapes in the 1990s, and one accused the other of committing the horrific crimes.
Earlier this week, however, an Orange County jury convicted 57-year-old Kevin Michael Konther for raping a 9-year-old girl and 32-year-old woman in 1995 and 1998, respectively, after he accused his identical twin of committing the crimes when they were both charged in 2019. Konther was also convicted of molesting his ex-girlfriend’s 12-year-old daughter.
“Without the advances in DNA technology, we may have never been able to solve this case. But because of DNA and the persistent pursuit of justice by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the Orange District Attorney’s Office, this monster has a name – and his name is Kevin Konther,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a Friday statement.
A genetic genealogy investigation linked both brothers to the two rapes in 2019 because they share the same DNA, and they were both arrested in January of that year.
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Investigators staged covert, recorded conversations between the two brothers after the arrests in which Konther made incriminating statements and admissions of guilt, according to Spitzer’s office.
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In 1995, Konther attacked a 9-year-old girl walking home from buying school supplies in Serrano Creek Park in Lake Forest, California. He “grabbed her and covered her mouth while pulling her down an embankment and into a secluded wooded park.” He also threatened her with a knife, telling her not to scream. He raped the girl even after she told him she was just 9 years old, according to the DA’s office.Â
Three years later, Konther jumped out of the bushes, naked, and attacked a 32-year-old jogger in Mission Viejo, California. He told her not to scream before raping her and running away. DNA collected…
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