DNA Links Burglary Suspect to 2010 Dallas Rape Case

Police testing DNA evidence to see if he is connected to other East Dallas attacks

Dallas police say DNA evidence has linked a Lewisville man to at least one rape case from 2010.

Fernando Munoz was arrested late last week in Lewisville on a burglary charge. Court records obtained by NBC 5 showed that police were trying to link Munoz to several rapes dating back to 2008.

Dallas detectives said they are testing DNA evidence to see if he is connected to as many as four rapes in the East Dallas area.

A DNA sample taken from Munoz matched evidence gathered in an October 2010 rape.

Police would not confirm details about the case or say where the assault occurred.

Residents in the Junius Heights neighborhood, where a woman was sexually assaulted in October 2010, say they hope this is the break for which they have been waiting.

"Yeah, of course there's closure, but it just makes you more aware of what's going on every day that you might not know about," said Jasmine Adams, who lives just a few houses down from where the 2010 rape occurred.

Adams, now 18 years- old, said she remembers when the sexual assault happened. Her grandmother wouldn't let her play in the yard alone after the incident.

"As a woman, it makes things reality, you know -- that it could happen to anybody," she said. "Of course, I don't want to be that victim. I'm just more aware now of the people around me. I walk the neighborhoods a lot, so I'm just more cautious."

Sarah Ackerman, who lives down the street from Adams, said the woman living in the home where the rape occurred has since moved. But Ackerman said her family would welcome any positive development in the case.

"It was a shock," she said. "I couldn't believe something like that would happen around here, but it's really relieving to find out that things have been taken care of."

Police said they are still waiting for test results from other cases.

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