The MU Police Department arrested 47-year-old Columbia resident Marvin Leslie Jones in connection to a rape that occurred in Gillett Hall in 1999.
Jones entered Gillett Hall between 5 and 5:30 a.m Oct. 16, 1999, opened the door to an unlocked room where a female student was sleeping and raped the student, MUPD spokesman Scott Richardson said. Jones was 34 years old at the time.
The victim called MUPD at 5:34 a.m. to report the incident and was taken to University Hospital for treatment, according to a previous Maneater article.
Jones was arrested at 5:14 p.m. Thursday. MUPD made the arrest after receiving a tip from the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Lab, Richardson said.
“We received a significant lead from the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Lab that led to the arrest,” Richardson said.
Jones was charged with one count of forcible rape, two counts of forcible sodomy and one count of first-degree burglary, according to a MUPD news release. All four charges are felonies. Jones is currently being held at the Boone County Jail on a $300,000 cash bond.
MU police officers were able to collect evidence from the crime scene and send the evidence to the lab for processing, according to the article. During the initial investigation, MUPD partnered with the Columbia Police Department and sent a copy of the case to the FBI in hopes of identifying the perpetrator.
At the time of the 1999 crime, outside doors to residence halls were locked between 11 p.m. and 7:30 a.m., and the locks at Gillett Hall were working. It is unclear how the suspect gained entry into the hall. Jones was neither an employee nor a student at the time of the incident.
Jones pled guilty to one count of second-degree sexual misconduct Oct. 10, 2010, and was sentenced to two years of supervised probation, according to court documents. Because Jones was convicted of a misdemeanor sexual offense, Missouri law required him to submit his DNA to a database maintained by the lab.
Though MUPD does not keep specific records linking evidence to arrests, this is not the first time forensic evidence has aided the department in making an arrest, Richardson said.
“We have had other cases where we have had DNA profiles or fingerprints done where there have been matches,” he said.
The victim has been notified of the arrest, Richardson said. Further details regarding the evidence that led to the arrest remain confidential because the investigation is ongoing.
Jones, of 1071 N. Kathryn St., will appear in court for a preliminary hearing Dec. 18. He does not yet have a lawyer.
