DNA in 2000 case leads to indictment in 1998 rape, robbery

DNA evidence seized from a man convicted of a sex crime in 2000 has linked him to the rape and robbery of a woman in 1998, a Baton Rouge prosecutor said.

An East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury on Thursday indicted Marice Nalls, 31, 5459 Prescott Road No. 165, on one count each of aggravated rape and armed robbery.

Aggravated rape carries a mandatory life sentence; armed robbery is punishable by 10 years to 99 years in prison.

Prosecutor Will Morris said Nalls was armed with a gun when he broke into a woman’s apartment in a complex in the 7000 block of Airline Highway at 5 a.m. Sept. 24, 1998.

“He raped her and then demanded that she give him money,” Morris said. “When she didn’t have enough money to satisfy him, he raped her again.”

A Baton Rouge police arrest warrant says Nalls got upset because the victim had only $10.

The warrant also says that during the second sexual assault, the victim heard the assailant talking to another man who was standing outside her apartment. The woman told police that her purse and television were missing.

After the attacker left, the woman went to Woman’s Hospital, where evidence from the assault was collected, the warrant says.

The warrant says the victim told police she had never seen Nalls before the sexual assault.

Morris said the 1998 case “went cold.”

In an unrelated crime, Nalls was convicted in 2000 of carnal knowledge of a juvenile. Because he was convicted of a sex crime, Nalls was ordered to give a DNA sample. His DNA profile was placed in a police database.

The arrest warrant says that on Feb. 7, 2005, State Police notified the Baton Rouge Police Department’s Sex Crimes Division that DNA recovered from the 1998 rape matched Nalls’ DNA profile.

Parish Prison records indicate Nalls was booked on June 19. Police spokesman Cpl. L’Jean McKneely said Thursday he needs to check into the case to see why it took nearly two-and-a-half years to arrest Nalls.

Morris said Nalls does not yet have an attorney. Nalls remains in Parish Prison on a $500,000 bond.

The case has been assigned to state District Judge Todd Hernandez.