Roy Charles Waller is an American man who was arrested in September 2018 as a suspect in a series of more than ten rapes and kidnappings committed between 1991–2006 in six Northern California counties. DNA evidence from crime scenes were matched on the online DNA-matching service, GEDmatch, 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 a total of 40 counts of rape, which took place in five different counties, including Sonoma, Solano, Contra Costa, Yolo and Butte. He is being held without bail and faces life in prison if convicted. He has 45 counts on his charge list. At the time of his arrest he was living in Benicia, was married and was employed as a safety specialist at the University of California Berkeley. He has worked there for 26 years. The same genetic genealogytechnique had been used in the identification and arrest of the suspect known as the Golden State Killer.
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 victim's 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. He would 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.
Waller was originally being charged with 12 counts of forcible sexual assault. However at an August 2019 Court appearance he was being charged with an additional 28 counts. He is now being charged with a total of 46 felony counts. If convicted Waller faces up to life in prison. His trial date was set for May 27, 2020 but has yet to happen.
