Investigators in California announced Friday that they had identified a former US Navy diver a a serial rapist who committed at least six home invasion rapes in four states between 1982 and 1997.
Sean Patrick McNulty committed suicide in 1997 in Emmett Township, Michigan, after he was named the suspect in a 1993 rape in Bloomington, Indiana, according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office. He was 38 at the time.
The district attorney’s office said that a years-long investigation connected McNulty, who was originally from California, with two unsolved home invasion rapes in the early 1980s. As the investigaton continued, DNA also connected him to four more cases — the Indiana case, where he was already a suspect, a 1994 rape in Meridian Township, Michigan, another in 1995 in Birmingham, Michigan, and a fourth in 1997 in Columbus, Ohio.
Investigators believe there are likely more victims. McNulty lived or spent time in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Virginia and the Phillippines.
VCSAKI Identifies Serial Rapist Brings Long Awaited Answers to Victims 1 by kc wildmoon
The district attorney’s office provided details about the investigation, revealing that they uploaded DNA from sexual assault kits collected after the 1982 and 1983 rapes to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) in 2024 and found that the two matched with each other. The sample also matched the rapist in the two Michigan cases and the Ohio case, but in all five, the identity of the rapist was unknown.
Working with investigators in those locales, detectives used investigative genealogy and identified McNulty as a suspect.
Then came the discovery of the 1993 rape in Indiana, in which detectives had ultimately named McNulty as the suspect. Detectives in Bloomington had secured a biological sample from the suspect, and it was found to be an exact match with the other five cases.
Detectives are still tracking his movements. He graduated Buena High School in Ventura in 1977 and the following year was arrested for making obscene phone calls to a woman. From 1979 until 1992, he was a US Navy diver, and was married in 1988 until his divorce just prior to his death.
Investigators attempted to speak with his ex-wife but she declined.
Detectives were able to locate only one of the two Ventura victims of McNulty’s rapes. She told them that she had “waited 40 years” for closure. They also spoke with the Indiana victim, who said that she was “grateful after all these years you didn’t give up.”
The other victims were contacted by the respective investigating agencies.
“I am proud of the dedicated work of our Forensic Services Bureau and the strong collaboration with our local, state, and federal partners that made these identifications possible,” said Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff. “The results show the importance of testing every kit and pursuing every lead, no matter how old or how long it takes. While nothing can erase the pain and trauma these victims endured, I hope today’s announcement brings them a measure of closure.”
The DA’s office asked anyone with information to contact District Attorney Investigator Yumi Kirk at (805) 477-1638 or at [email protected].
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[Featured image: Sean Patrick McNulty/Ventura County District Attorney’s Office]
