New DNA testing helps identify suspect in 15-year-old rape cold case, NC cops say

New DNA testing led police to a suspect in a 15-year-old cold case involving a series of kidnappings and rapes, according to a North Carolina police department.

Officers arrested Christopher Jame McMillan, 38, on Dec. 14 in connection with three rapes in 2007, according to a news release from the Fayetteville Police Department.

The case had been unsolved due to “limitations in DNA technology,” the release says. But a National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance provided funding for sexual assault kits from the case to be submitted for testing.

The testing revealed a DNA match with McMillan, leading police to identify him as a suspect. He was charged on Nov. 7 with three counts of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree sexual offense and communication of threats, according to police.

In August 2007, police said McMillan offered rides to his alleged victims before driving them to secluded locations and raping them.

At least two women were threatened with a gun during the assaults, according to the Fayetteville Observer.

McMillan is being held at the Cumberland County Jail on a $200,000 bond, according to the police department. Fayetteville is about 60 miles south of Raleigh.

This story was originally published December 14, 2022 at 4:34 PM with the headline "New DNA testing helps identify suspect in 15-year-old rape cold case, NC cops say."