Two women were sexually assaulted within a short time of each other at a Rochelle senior citizen apartment complex during the spring of 2001.
Police had no leads, no suspects, “and we didn’t know if the offender was going to stop,” said Rochelle Police Chief Eric Higby, who was a young detective at the time.
Authorities did have a fingerprint recovered by Joe Rangel, a state crime scene investigator, who submitted the print to the state crime lab in Rockford.
Within two hours, forensic scientist Ed Rottman identified a potential suspect using the state’s automated fingerprint identification system and handed that person’s name over to Rochelle police.
A short time later, Rochelle police had Philbert Pendleton in custody. The then-25-year-old was charged with home invasion and aggravated criminal sexual assault and later convicted. Pendleton is now serving a 75-year prison sentence in the Big Muddy River Correctional Center.
Rottman, who was recently recognized as the Illinois State Police’s 2020 Forensic Scientist of the Year, said the 20-year-old case is still memorable to him because of the severity of the crimes, the urgency of the case and because police had so little to work with, the Rockford Register Star reports.
That case is one of many the latent fingerprint analyst has has worked on across his 31-year career.
“I think the most rewarding part of this job is giving the answers to the investigating officers, so that they can give answers back to the victims,” Rottman said Tuesday from the fourth-floor of the E.J. “Zeke” Giorgi Center in Rockford where the Illinois State Police houses one of six crime labs.
Typically, when police turn evidence into the lab, they have a suspect or suspects in mind, Rottman said. The scientists’ job is to either confirm the person’s identity and their connection to a crime or exonerate them.
“There’s times that exonerating people from crimes, at least with the evidence that we have, is just as rewarding as trying to identify somebody,” Rottman said.
Testifying in court as an expert witness remains a challenging part of the job, Rottman added.
“Even after all these years it still gets you a little nervous going in there,” he said. “But the man who trained me and other examiners who I have nothing but respect for said if you don’t get a little nervous going in there, then you know that something’s not quite right.”
Rottman, 57, of South Beloit, said his interest in law enforcement stems from his father’s career as a 23-year officer retired from the Des Plaines Police Department.
The 1987 Southern Illinois University grad said he was hired by the ISP in January 1990 and trained for two years in Carbondale before landing a job in Rockford.
“I’m fortunate that I’m working at a job that I really enjoy,” he said. “The people in this lab have been phenomenal to work with ever since I got here in ’92.”
While his latest recognition as Forensic Scientist of the Year speaks to the quality of his work in 2020, the medallion just as easily could have been substituted with a lifetime achievement award.
“Throughout his career, Rottman has been a model of professionalism, knowledge, and service,” said Beth Hundsdorfer ISP’s chief public information officer.
Rottman has been lauded by police agencies throughout northern Illinois for his role in solving crimes from the Lee County Sheriff’s Department, which was able to solve a string of car burglaries last year in Ashton, and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, who linked an individual last year to a double homicide.
“Rottman has consistently been a highly productive analyst and his commitment to providing high-quality services to the criminal justice system has been exceptional,” Hundsdorfer said.
Rottman also is vice president of the South Beloit School Board. He and his wife, April, are parents to two adult daughters, Meagan Walker and Sara Rottman.
by Chris Green, Associated Press.
Photo credit: ISP.