Man in prison 16 years may be acquitted after DNA links crimes to serial rapist

Associated Press in Los Angeles
Monday 23 November 2015 16.41 GMT

A Los Angeles judge was expected Monday to exonerate a man convicted of three rapes after DNA evidence linked the crimes to a serial rapist wanted for assaults dating back two decades.

Luis Vargas has been in prison for 16 years for crimes he didn’t commit, according to the California Innocence Project at California Western School of Law, which took up his case in 2012.

Spokesman Chris Saunders said judge William Ryan was expected to throw out Vargas’ convictions during an afternoon hearing.

DNA tests found that the crimes Vargas was convicted of were actually committed by the so-called Teardrop Rapist, who is known for a tattoo of a teardrop under his eye, Saunders said. Witnesses linked Vargas to the crime because he had a similar tattoo.

The Teardrop Rapist is linked by DNA to 11 crimes and suspected of 35 in total across the Los Angeles area, the Innocence Project said. He is on the FBI’s most wanted list.

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