Earlier this week, the Midland County Prosecutor’s Office (Michigan) filed a one-count criminal complaint for First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct (forced sexual intercourse during the commission of a Kidnapping offense), against Douglas Larry Weber, 58. The charges arose from a reported incident in January 1996.
According to the complaint, during the early morning hours of Jan. 7, 1996, the 18 year-old female victim was driving home when her car broke down. A young male stranger stopped and helped her push her vehicle off the roadway and offered her a ride to her nearby home. But instead of going to her home, the suspect drove to a field and sexually assaulted her. The suspect then told the victim to get dressed and drove back to the road.
Upon seeing the overhead emergency lights from a police vehicle, the suspect stopped his car and the victim was able to get out and run away. The victim ran to her home and immediately told her mother she had been raped, and the police were called. She subsequently went to the MidMichigan Medical Center Emergency Room where she was treated and a rape evidence kit was collected.
With no suspect then being identified, the rape evidence kit remained in the MCSO evidence room until 2016, when a project resourced by the State of Michigan made resources available to examine all untested rape kits.
The evidence kit was outsourced to Sorenson Forensics, who was able to determine a full male suspect DNA profile. That profile was then entered into the State of Michigan CODIS system in January 2018, with no suspect identified.
After further consultation with the MSP labs, MCSO Det. Brent Benzing then arranged for a genetic genealogy DNA analysis with Parabon Nanolabs. This analysis eventually led to information that was provided to Gene by Gene, the parent company of Family Tree DNA, which was able to identify a family tree related to individuals in the Midland, Michigan, area.
A kinship analysis was then undertaken to eliminate and/or identify potential male subjects in the Midland area. By process of elimination and further investigation into the most likely bio characteristics of the suspect, such as eye color, Douglas Weber was identified as a likely match.
On July 22, 2022, Benzing met with Weber at the Law Enforcement Center in Midland to interview him regarding the alleged sexual assault in 1996. During the interview, the detective collected a DNA buccal swab sample from Weber pursuant to a search warrant authorized by the court a day prior. This sample was subsequently analyzed by the MSP Crime Lab, which resulted in a positive match between the new DNA sample and the evidence sample collected from the victim during her examination on Jan. 7, 1996.
Weber was arrested on the warrant and arraigned in 75th District Court on Nov. 2, 2022. His bond was set at $500,000 cash or surety, and he was remanded to the Midland County Jail. His case is currently set for a Probable Cause Conference on Nov. 15, 2022, and a Preliminary Examination on Nov. 22, 2022.
Republished courtesy of Midland County Prosecuting Attorney.