Assault Cold Case Unit have arrested Roger Dale Honeycutt, DOB:
02/23/1950 for a rape which he committed in 1981.
On February 21, 1981 Honeycutt entered the female victim's home in the
2500 block of Eastway Drive through the front or sliding glass door in
the living room. The victim, who was five months pregnant, had fallen
asleep on a sofa in her living room. Her husband and young daughter
were asleep upstairs. The victim was awakened by a man who had
straddled her body, and grabbed her face. He told her that if she
didn't scream, he wouldn't hurt her. The suspect forced the victim to
submit to multiple sex acts while asking her if she was pregnant. She
acknowledged that she was five months pregnant. After the assault,
the suspect rifled through the victim's purse and her husband's coat
before leaving the home. The victim went to the hospital where a
sexual assault kit was performed. The victim described her attacker
as being a W/M, approx. 5' 8" weighing approx. 120 lbs.
The sexual assault kit was examined by the Charlotte Police
Department's Crime Lab in March of 1981. The lab determined that the
kit did contain evidence of the rape. Without a suspect to compare
the evidence to, the case remained open.
In March of 2002 Det. T.A. Armstrong, of the Charlotte Mecklenburg
Cold Case Unit, reopened the case. He submitted the DNA evidence to
the CMPD Crime Lab for DNA testing.
In June of 2006 the Crime Lab generated a report indicating that the
DNA profile had been uploaded into the national CODIS database.
On August 31, 2010 a match was obtained from CODIS identifying
Honeycutt as the suspect. He is a registered sex offender who had
been arrested for Sexual Exploitation of a Minor in 2005. Honeycutt
received a 5 year sentence but was released in 2008. His registration
date in the offender file is November 25, 2008. Honeycutt was
released from a federal prison on November 24, 2008.
On August 31, 2010 detectives with the Cold Case Unit, began searching
for the victim in this case. She was located in another state.
Detectives met with the victim and reviewed the case with her. As a
result of this interview, combined with the physical evidence,
warrants were obtained for the arrest of Roger Dale Honeycutt.
Mr. Honeycutt was arrested at his home in Kannapolis without incident
on Monday, October 18, 2010. He's been charged with: 2nd Degree Rape,
2nd Degree Sex Offense, and 1st Degree Burglary. Mr. Honeycutt is
currently in the custody of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office.
The CMPD Sexual Assault Cold Case Unit has investigated 661 cases
since its inception in 2006 and has solved 98 cases. There have been
20 convictions resulting in total sentences of over 800 years.
The CMPD Sexual Assault Cold Case Unit would like to thank the
Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office, Federal Probation and Parole and
especially the CMPD Crime Lab-DNA Section for their assistance with
this case.
