Coral Springs Police Make Arrest In 36 Year Old Rape Case

CORAL SPRINGS (CBSMiami) - A man accused of raping a Coral Springs woman has been charged 36 years after the crime occurred.

On August 22, 1983, a 24-year-old Timothy Norris found his way into the victim's home through a rear door and raped her against her will, according to police.

At the time of the crime, authorities did not have a strong description of the suspect. He was only described as a young white male, slender build, brown hair with strong cologne and a heavy southern accent.

Investigators did recover evidence from the scene and it was sent to the Broward Sheriff's Office Crime lab, but Coral Springs police said the technology at the time was not able to identify a suspect and other techniques failed as well.

However, on March 14, 2019 detectives and crime scene investigators re-evaluated the evidence as part of a cold case initiative for the Coral Springs Police Department. Using current technology at BSO's lab, on June 27th, detectives discovered DNA on a piece of the victim's clothing which matched Norris, according to the sheriff's office.

Norris, now 60, is serving a federal sentence in West Virginia for armed bank robbery and has been previously arrested for armed burglary, aggravated assault, assault on a female and kidnapping.

He has been charged with sexual battery with a weapon and police have obtained an arrest warrant to bring him back to Florida.