Roy Charles "Porky" Waller (born January 8, 1960) is an American

serial rapist A serial rapist is someone who commits multiple rapes, whether with multiple victims or a single victim repeatedly over a period of time. Some serial rapists target children. The terms ''sexual predator'', ''repeat rape'' and ''multiple offending' ...

. He was arrested in September 2018 as a suspect in a series of more than ten rapes and kidnappings committed between 1991 and 2006 in six

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

counties (the NorCal Rapist).

DNA evidence Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

from crime scenes were matched on the online DNA-matching service,

GEDmatch GEDmatch is a public website and online service with DNA and genealogy tools for comparing autosomal DNA in personal family research and for law enforcement in forensic investigative research. Users upload their DNA data files from various gen ...

, to a relative of Waller, and he was identified through genetics-based genealogy. Police constructed a family tree and, using the known elements of the rapist, narrowed the suspects down to Waller. After the GEDmatch confirmation, they took about a week to identify and arrest the suspect. He was charged with dozens of counts of rape, which took place in five different counties, including Sonoma, Solano, Contra Costa, Yolo and

Butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

. At the time of his arrest he was living in

Benicia Benicia ( , ) is a city in Solano County, California, located on the north bank of the Carquinez Strait in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It served as the capital of California for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. ...

, was married, and was employed as a safety specialist at the University of California Berkeley. He had worked there for 26 years. He was convicted of 46 counts in November 2020. The same genetic genealogy technique had been used in the identification and arrest of the suspect known as the

Golden State Killer Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. (born November 8, 1945) is an American serial killer known as the Golden State Killer, the Original Night Stalker, and the East Area Rapist, who committed at least 13 murders and numerous rapes and burglaries ...

NorCal Rapist crime details

According to a detective who first worked on the case, in the attacks for which Waller is charged, the rapist had a pattern of behavior. He would enter victims' houses, usually late at night. Sometimes the victim would be asleep. Sometimes they would be going about evening activities. He would overcome and bind the women, then repeatedly sexually assault them and ransack the home. Sometimes he would abduct the victim, taking her to an ATM, and forcing the victim to give him the password, and he would steal money from the account. At "other times, he would steal personal items from their homes," Detective Avis Beery said. He frequently targeted women of Asian descent in their 20s.

Legal proceedings

Waller was originally charged with 12 counts of forcible sexual assault. In January 2019, he was charged with an additional 28 counts. He was later charged with a total of 46 felony counts. His trial date was set for May 27, 2020 but was delayed multiple times. His trial began on October 19, and on November 18, Waller was convicted of 46 counts of rape, sodomy and kidnapping involving nine victims. On December 18, Waller was sentenced to 897 years to life in prison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waller, Roy 1960 births Living people 20th-century American criminals 21st-century American criminals American kidnappers American male criminals American people convicted of kidnapping American people convicted of rape American people convicted of sodomy American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Criminals from the San Francisco Bay Area Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by California Rapes in the United States University of California, Berkeley people Violence against women in the United States