‘Stinky Rapist’ Arrested in California Mansion After Decades on the Run

After 17 years on the run, a sex offender who escaped during his trial was finally arrested.

The New York Post reported on May 30 that the man had sexually assaulted a female restaurant employee with a weapon back in 2005.

Though he was masked while committing the crime, the man was identified through his bad breath; as the victim testified, “his breath was horrendous.” The man earned the nickname “stinky rapist” as a result, and the local police were able to apprehend him by piecing together DNA evidence.

In 2007, the jury found the man guilty of rape and kidnapping, but by then, he had already fled the state.

Authorities tracked the man for several years, and his case was even featured on a US public-wanted TV program.

The police recently found the man after years passed in a multimillion-dollar home owned by a flower shop owner in Diablo, California. The surveilling police stopped a vehicle carrying two people under the pretext of a routine traffic check.

At the time of arrest, the man gave a fake name but later admitted his real identity, confirmed by his fingerprints.

The story went viral when viewers learned that the flower shop owner lived with him for 15 years without knowing who he was.