L.I. Man Pleads Guilty To 1997 Home Invasion, Rape After DNA Link

NEW YORK -- A Long Island man has pleaded guilty to the 1997 home invasion rape of a 34-year-old Queens Village woman.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said the defendant's arrest and prosecution are the result of a DNA cold hit, where the DNA crime scene evidence matched the defendant's DNA profile.

Brown said that after nearly eight years of avoiding arrest in the case, the defendant, Gregory Stovall of Medford, ultimately was done in by his own DNA and will now serve a lengthy prison term.

The 38-year-old defendant pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree rape in Queens Supreme Court. He faces 23 years in prison when he is sentenced on March 2nd.

Brown said that on Dec. 11, 1997, the defendant entered the Queens Village home of the 34-year-old victim and waited for her to come home from work.

When she arrived, Brown said, the masked defendant lunged at her and held a knife to her throat. When the victim attempted to escape, the defendant allegedly tackled her in the driveway and dragged her back inside the house, where he blindfolded her and bound her feet.

After allegedly raping her, he fled in her car after taking other personal items, including a mink coat, a VCR, fax machine and Christmas presents.