Ferndale Rape Suspect Took Pajamas, Bed Sheets to Hide DNA: Police

FERNDALE, MI — A Detroit man accused of raping a Ferndale woman, stealing her bed sheets and pajamas to hide DNA evidence and threatening further violence if she reported the assault to police appeared in Ferndale's 43rd District Court Thursday on two counts of third-degree sexual assault and larceny in a building.

William Watley, 22, was arrested shortly after the May 29 assault, but was released until DNA from the victim's rape kit connected him to the crime, The Daily Tribune reported. At his hearing Thursday, the judge granted him time to hire his own attorney to replace one who had been appointed by the court.

“The victim was begging the suspect to leave her pajamas,” Ferndale Detective John Thull said during the hearing. “But she said he refused because he said he knew about DNA.”

Watley remains in jail on $125,000 cash bond set at his arraignment July 27. His next court appearance is a preliminary exam in the Ferndale court at 2 p.m. on Sept. 1. The two criminal sexual assault charges are each punishable by up to 15 years in prison, and the larceny chage is punishable by up to four years in prison.

The victim told police that she discovered her large-screen television set and cellphone were missing after Watley left her apartment, where he had been visiting with two other friends.

» For more on this, go to The Daily Tribune.

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