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A Georgia man is charged in connection with the rapes of five women in Queens, New York, in the 1990’s, officials said.
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A Georgia man’s DNA collected from a discarded cup linked him to the violent rapes of at least five women in New York City between 1995 and 1997, authorities said.
A 17-count indictment charges Michael Benjamin, 57, of Conyers, with multiple counts of rape, sodomy, sexual abuse, burglary and robbery, according to the Queen’s District Attorney’s Office in New York. Conyers is about a 25-mile drive southeast from Atlanta.
Benjamin’s defense attorney did not immediately return McClatchy News’ request for comment Oct. 19.
He is represented by Joseph Amsel, who told WSB-TV that Benjamin “vigorously, vehemently, and vociferously denied these allegations.
Benjamin is accused of raping five women during four separate attacks in the Queens neighborhoods of Jamaica, St. Albans, Laurelton and Brookville, the district attorney’s office said in an Oct. 16 news release. Queens is a borough of New York City.
The first incident occurred in July 1995, when authorities said Benjamin broke into a sleeping woman’s home and “pulled a sheet over her head.”
Benjamin tied the woman up, raped her and stole cash and jewelry from her home, then fled, according to the district attorney’s office.
More than a year later, he similarly broke into another woman’s home while she was asleep, prosecutors said.
Benjamin covered the woman’s head with a jacket and raped her, according to prosecutors.
The next month, in September 1996, prosecutors said Benjamin ambushed a woman as she arrived at her front door and forced her inside her home at gunpoint.
He “threatened to kill her husband and child — who were home — if she did not comply with his demands,” prosecutors said.
Benjamin raped the woman, stole cash from her and then left, according to the district attorney’s office.
In February 1997, Benjamin is accused of raping two women inside their home at gunpoint.
He broke inside their house while armed, raped them and stole money and jewelry, prosecutors said.
Authorities in Georgia arrested Benjamin on Sept. 22, according to the district attorney’s office. He was extradited to New York on Oct. 15 and appeared in court for an arraignment on Oct. 16.
Before law enforcement identified Benjamin as a suspect, he was initially indicted in the rapes as “John Doe” in 2005, prosecutors said.
His DNA was ultimately collected from a cup he used while he was at the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia, according to prosecutors. Then his DNA was submitted in May 2024 and linked to the rapes.
“After several decades, this defendant will finally face charges of violently raping at least five women, some at gunpoint, between the years 1995 and 1997 in southeast Queens,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement.
“Although decades have passed, these cold cases were not forgotten,” Katz added.
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Julia Marnin
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