Cold Case Arrest 25 Years Later: Riverside County Serial Rapist

CORONA, CA — A serial rapist who terrorized his female victims and eluded capture for nearly 25 years in Riverside County has been arrested in Arizona after DNA helped crack the case, it was announced during a Wednesday morning press conference held by Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin, Corona Police Chief George Johnstone and Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez.

Darin Edward Cooke, 50, has been charged by the Riverside County District Attorney's Office with 16 felony counts, including six counts of forcible rape, four counts of forcible oral copulation, three counts of assault with the intent to commit rape or oral copulation during a first-degree burglary, two counts of kidnap with the intent to commit rape or oral copulation, and one count of forcible sexual penetration.

If convicted, each of the 16 counts carries a potential life sentence.

"These were extremely violent assaults," Hestrin said during the briefing at the DA's headquarters in downtown Riverside. "The victims suffered. These were tremendously horrible incidents, and for some of them, their lives will never be the same."

A resident of Chino Valley, Arizona, Cooke was arrested May 26 in nearby Prescott. He had been living in Arizona for several years, the DA's office said. He was extradited to California on June 14 and arraigned Wednesday where he pleaded not guilty to all counts. He is scheduled back in court July 31 for a preliminary hearing.

Cooke is accused of committing the crimes between 1996 and 1998 in Riverside, and in Corona during 2007, and it wasn't until years later that the case began really coming together with the help of DNA.

In 2015, a "John Doe" DNA profile was compiled using evidence collected from the victims and other crime scenes. Then in early 2019, Corona police started looking into several sexual assault cold cases and contacted Riverside police about similar crimes in their jurisdiction, according to the DA's office.

With help from the FBI Los Angeles Forensic Genetic Genealogy Team, Cooke became a suspect. A surveillance of his Arizona home got underway — investigators collected trash bags from the residence, which were then examined for DNA.

A match was made.

Hestrin declined to cite more specifics about how the investigation unfolded, but said the state's DNA database, where forensic material from each attack was stored, proved pivotal in eventually gaining a "hit" last year on evidence that pointed to Cooke.

"This individual was a true predator," Hestrin said. "He was stalking, watching victims, waiting for them to be alone, when he would then have a chance to hold them at gunpoint or knifepoint and violently rape and assault them, over and over again."

According to the district attorney, the prosecutors assigned to the case will have to bring all evidence to the fore, relying on the victims' testimony in court, in the hope of winning a conviction.

"DNA is powerful evidence, but it's not the only evidence," Hestrin said. "We will go into court and prove this case."

"This man terrorized the community. The victims were terrorized," Hestrin said. "It was some great detective work that led us to this point."

Some of the victims resided in the same Riverside apartment complex — now known as Corona Pointe — where Cooke once lived, according to the DA's office.

Six victims have been identified — five of them were forcibly raped, and in all the crimes Cooke used either a knife or handgun, the DA's office said.

The arrest was a combined effort involving the Corona and Riverside police departments, the Yavapai County (Arizona) Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI Phoenix Violent Crimes Task Force which is made up of the Phoenix, Peoria, and Scottsdale police departments; the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office; the Maricopa County District Attorney’s Office; and the FBI.

“We appreciate the great work done by our partners at the Corona and Riverside police departments and the FBI in identifying and locating this serial rapist,” Hestrin said. “But it is most important to keep in mind the victims of this serial rapist. Because of the diligent work by law enforcement, the victims of these horrible crimes may now rightly hope — even though it has been many years — that we will finally be able to bring them justice.”

The investigation is ongoing, and investigators are continuing to follow up on any other crimes that may involve Cooke. If anyone believes they have been a victim, contact Supervising DA Investigator Ryan Bodmer at (951) 955-5400.

—City News Service contributed to this report.