Calif. Man Convicted For Kidnapping, Rape In 1999 Case
Calif. Man Convicted For Kidnapping, Rape In 1999 Case
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David L. Slone-
Calif. Man Convicted For Kidnapping, Rape In 1999 CaseAfter a three-day jury trial, Rodriguez Samandes Todd, 53, of La Mesa, Calif., was convicted Sept. 15 in Kosciusko Superior Court I for kidnapping and raping a Logansport woman in Warsaw on Nov. 23, 1999.
According to a news release Thursday from the Office of the Kosciusko County Prosecuting Attorney, prior to the trial two pending counts - felony battery and felony intimidation - were dismissed by the court due to the statute of limitations involving DNA.
The state of Indiana was represented by Prosecuting Attorney Dan Hampton and Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joe Sobek. Todd was represented by Paul Stanko, the release states.
During her trial testimony, the victim testified that prior to her appearance for the trial, Hampton had contacted her to determine whether, after 20 years, she was willing to help him prosecute her rapist. After a few days, she informed Hampton that she was willing and she wanted to “nail him” for what he did to her, the news release states.
At the trial, the victim testified that on Nov. 23, 1999, between 7 and 8 p.m., she was kidnapped by a black man, over 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing between 220 and 240 pounds, with a fake beard and mustache, wearing a green sock cap, an Army jacket, blue jeans, rubber or plastic medical-type gloves and had a deep southern accent, at the Shell gas station formerly located at the corner of Center and Detroit streets.
The victim testified she was traveling from Logansport to Ligonier to visit her father who was gravely ill, the release states. Upon reaching Warsaw, it was necessary for her to pull alongside the gas station to check her transmission fluid due to experiencing previous transmission fluid problems. The victim got out of her vehicle and, while reaching for the transmission dipstick, the man walked up to her, displayed a knife at her and said, “Let’s take a ride.”
The victim testified that the man forced her into her car and took her to a wooded area where he raped her twice. Approximately an hour later, while the victim was crying and sobbing, she realized that the man was no longer around. Not knowing where she was, the victim then drove herself away and was able to navigate herself to her home in Logansports. She woke her husband up and called her sister-in-law. Shortly thereafter, her husband drove her to the Indiana State Police Peru Post where she was advised to be examined at the Logansport Memorial Hospital emergency room. They then went to the hospital.
According to testimony from Ruth Kain, a sexual assault nurse examiner for Logansport Memorial Hospital at that time, a sexual assault kit was collected from the victim and photographs were taken. The kit was then given to ISP Det. Gary Boyles who was present at the hospital. Boyles also interviewed the victim a few days later at the Peru Post. Due to Boyles’ death about a month later, the victim’s statement was admitted into evidence through testimony of Boyles’ supervisor at that time, First Sgt. Robert Land, and ISP transcriptionist Cathy Shiller.
Land testified that as a result of Boyles’ death, the investigation was reassigned to Trooper Brooks Shirk, Bremen Post. Shirk testified that while investigating a possible suspect in 2001, the sexual assault kit collected at Logansport Memorial Hospital was examined for comparison with the possible suspect by the ISP laboratory. The forensic scientists from the lab - Daun Powers and Rebecca Tobey - testified the lab discovered semen in three of the samples obtained from the victim at the Logansport Memorial Hospital. Powers testified that the DNA profile generated by the lab did not match the DNA of the possible suspect. The lab then entered the DNA profile in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a national database, and the case remained a cold case until 2019.
Shirk testified that on April 10, 2019, he was notified by the ISP laboratory that a search of CODIS resulted in a computer match between Todd and a portion of the DNA profile entered earlier in the investigation. Shirk testified that he then discovered the whereabouts of Todd in San Diego, Calif. Shirk further stated he obtained a search warrant for suspect standards of Todd, which was served in California by San Diego Police Department officers.
San Diego Police Det. Carlos Munoz testified he interviewed Todd the day after obtaining Todd’s suspect standards. During the 55-minute interview, which was shown to the jury, Todd admitted that he lived in Kentucky and Tennessee prior to moving to South Bend in 1999. While in South Bend, Todd admitted he had been a probation officer with the St. Joseph County Probation Department. He also admitted he had several “one-night stands” during that time period but couldn’t remember any names. Todd also stated he often had sex in a car, usually in the woods or a secluded place, the news release states.
Shirk testified that as a result of the interview, he investigated Todd’s contact with Indiana. Shirk collected Todd’s Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles records, which showed Todd obtained an Indiana driver’s license in 2002 and that his previous license was from Kentucky. Also, Shirk noticed Todd’s description on the driver’s license records to be substantially similar as the perpetrator’s description by the victim. Shirk obtained Todd’s employment records from the St. Joseph County Human Resources Department, which showed that Todd, during the time period of the crime, was employed at the probation department as a probation officer, but Todd did not pass the probation officer’s exam and was terminated in 2000.
The ISP lab compared the suspect standards from the San Diego Police Department with the DNA from the rape kit and found the DNA profile to be at least 1 trillion times more likely if it originated from the victim and Todd than if it originated from the victim and an unknown person. “This statistical analysis provided very strong support for the inclusion of Todd,” the news release states.
Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office Det. Joshua Spangle testified that on May 2, 2022, following Todd’s appearance in this case at a pretrial hearing in Kosciusko Superior Court I, Todd submitted to a court-ordered submission of suspect standards, which Spangle collected. Rebecca Tobey, of the ISP laboratory, testified that she compared the suspect standards from Spangle with the DNA from the rape kit and found the DNA profile to be at least 1 trillion times more likely if it originated from the victim and Todd than if it originated from the victim and an unknown person. “Again, this statistical analysis provided very strong support for the inclusion of Todd,” the release states. Spangle also provided the court with Todd’s passport, which indicated his birth place in Louisiana.
After an hour and a half of deliberation, the jury convicted Todd of rape, a Class A felony, and kidnapping, a Class A felony. Todd was remanded to the custody of the Kosciusko County Jail where he awaits his sentencing at 1 p.m. Oct. 18.
The possible sentencing range for Todd is from 20 to 100 years and a fine of up to $20,000.
