Man Charged With 5 Counts Of Rape In 1990s Muskogee Cases

Tulsa Police arrested a man Tuesday who investigators said raped five women in Muskogee in the 1990s.

District 15 District Attorney Orvil Loge said he had some very emotional conversations with the victims about the arrest, almost 30 years after the crimes.

One of the women has since passed away, but the DA said her family can now breathe a sigh of relief, too.

Loge became emotional announcing an arrest in the decades-old serial rape case.

"I want to thank everybody in my office. It took a long time to get here but we did it,” Loge said during a news conference.

Investigators said Leroy Smith raped five women who he did not know. His arrest affidavit said the victims were either at home or leaving work when they were raped.

Back in the early 90s, a drawing was the only lead in the case.

"We knew a suspect was in common with all of these cases but we did not have an identity,” OSBI Director Rick Adams said.

Two weeks ago, the DA said they first found out about Smith from a DNA lab.

Back in 2005, Smith was charged and later acquitted of homicide in Tulsa. TPD still had Smith’s saliva sample.

Last Friday, June 5, investigators confirmed that DNA was consistent with the DNA that was collected from the Muskogee rape victims back in the 90s.

News On 6 spoke with one of the victims in 1995, who we called “Janet.”

"I was thinking that he was going to kill me. Especially if I looked at him and could identify him,” she said.

Muskogee Police Chief Johnny Teehee was a corporal when the first rape happened in 1993.

"As we continued through the process and there was more and more of these that took place, there was a fear that gripped Muskogee like I've never seen before,” Chief Teehee said.

Teehee said he knows there are more victims, who did not want to report what happened at the time.

"I truly believe that there will be more cases from this, whether from Muskogee or in Tulsa, that this man is responsible for,” Teehee said.

The district attorney said prosecutors will be seeking life in prison and encourage any additional victims to come forward.