The man who broke into houses at night, armed with a knife or a gun, woke his victims, and then bound and sexually tortured them, could not be identified by the police for decades. He covered his face with a ski mask or leggings when he wore a bulky coat.
In 2020, 35 years after his last known assault in the county, investigators were able to identify the attacker as Steven Ray Hessler and arrest him. The breakthrough came when Mr. Hessler's DNA was found in an envelope of a water bill that had been licked.
Mr. Hessler was sentenced to 650 years in prison. A jury found Mr. Hessler guilty of two counts of rape, six counts of unlawful deviate conduct, seven counts of burglaries resulting in bodily injury, three counts of criminal deviate conduct and one count of robbery.
James B. Landwerlen said that Mr. Hessler raped 10 people, including a former Marine.
Mr. Landwerlen said in a statement that he had the pleasure of prosecuting Steven Ray Hessler for more than 30 years.
Mr. Landwerlen said that the victims had testified about the torment they had suffered at the hands of Mr. Hessler.
Bryan L. Cook said that Mr. Hessler would appeal his conviction.
Eight of 10 victims were not DNA cases, which was a central issue in the case, Mr. Cook said.
A cousin of Mr. Hessler and a convict who committed similar crimes in the 1970s were among the 80 to 100 suspects.
Several psychics were involved, one parading through a crime scene before police even processed the scene.
Mr. Landwerlen said that Mr. Hessler was very cautious, wiping down crime scenes and taking items that he had touched with him.
Mr. Hessler was sentenced to 10 years in prison for rape in Decatur County, Ind., in 1990. Mr. Landwerlen said that he was released about two months before inmates were required to submit DNA samples.
Mr. Hessler wasn't linked to the assaults until investigators sent his saliva from the last crime scene to a Virginia company that uses DNA technology to solve cold cases.
The company subpoenaed a utility company for Mr. Hessler's water bill so that they could get his genetic information.
Mr. Landwerlen said that investigators obtained a second sample from Mr. Hessler's cheek, which confirmed the link.
35 years after his last known attack, investigators searched Mr. Hessler's home and found more evidence linking him to decades-old assaults, including photographs that had been stolen from a victim, coats with ski masks in the pockets, and handcuffs.
Mr. Landwerlen said that a search of Mr. Hessler's computers showed that he had tracked two of his victims online and downloaded a photo of one of them.
There were about 30 pairs of women's underwear in individual bags at Mr. Hessler's home. Mr. Landwerlen said that some of his victims could not identify underwear he had stolen because they had been there so long.
Several of the victims came to court to hear the verdict read aloud, and they are very pleased with the convictions.
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