Alexandria, Fairfax Co. Lifeguard Rapes Lead To 65-Year Sentence

ALEXANDRIA, VA — A man was sentenced in Alexandria City Circuit Court to 65 years in prison for two sexual assaults of lifeguards in Alexandria and Fairfax County.

Jesse Bjerke of Arlington County was identified as the suspect in the August 2014 sexual assault of a lifeguard in the West Falls Church area of Fairfax County and September 2016 sexual assault of a lifeguard in Alexandria. Fairfax County transferred venue to Alexandria City Circuit Court for a joint plea agreement and sentencing. Bjerke received 35 years for the Alexandria sexual assault and 30 years for the Fairfax County sexual assault.

The Fairfax County incident happened on Aug. 1, 2014 in the area of Yarling Court in West Falls Church. A lifeguard had been working when the suspect approached and started a conversation. He then displayed a gun, zip-tied the victim's hands together, injected her with Ketamine and sexually assaulted her.

The victim sought help and called police before being evaluated at a hospital. Evidence was collected and taken to the Department of Forensic Science for analysis, but it only determined the DNA belonged to an unknown man.

The identification of the suspect came after a separate Alexandria sexual assault at a condominium complex's pool on Sept. 3, 2016. Prosecutors said the suspect showed up to look for missing shoes, and returned to look a half hour later. The second time, he allegedly pointed a gun at the lifeguard, zip-tied her hands, and gagged her.

According to prosecutors, he told the victim "I am going to rape you, kill you, or I will do both." He went on to remove her clothes, apply pressure to her throat, strike her in the head several times, and rape her.

After the sexual assault, the suspect fled, and the victim called for help. Officers found the victim zip-tied so tightly, her hands were turning blue. Upon being taken to the hospital for an examination, a nurse found multiple bruises and abrasions, including internal injuries.

There were no DNA matches at first. However, the DNA in both cases were linked and confirmed the same suspect committed the sexual assaults in Alexandria and Fairfax County.

After unsuccessfully trying to identify a suspect, Alexandria Police worked with Parabon NanoLabs to make a list of relatives and narrow it down to a suspect using genetic genealogy. After identifying Bjerke as a suspect, a detective took DNA from straws left at a restaurant and garbage outside his home. That led to a match with the crime scene DNA.

Alexandria Police arrested Bjerke in February 2019, and the investigation continued. Bjerke's employment records were subpoenaed from Alexandria INOVA Hospital, where he had worked as an emergency room nurse. On the day of the Alexandria offense, he left work an hour and a half into his shift and drove around Alexandria and Fairfax County. Phone location data showed the cell tower closest to his phone, but he turned his phone off during the time of the offense, from 1:23 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. His last known location before turning it off was a cell phone tower 600 feet away from the pool.

His cell phone records also showed he would read and then delete articles about how genetic genealogy has been used to solve cold case rape offenses. A search warrant upon his email account showed that during the same time he tried to delete accounts that tracked his location and remove his name from public records databases.

In October 2019, Bjerke pleaded guilty to charges of rape, sexual penetration, abduction with the intent to defile and three counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony related to the Alexandria sexual assault.

In March 2020, he was indicted in Fairfax County on charges of rape, object sexual penetration, abduction with intent to defile, and the use of a firearm in commission of a felony. Detectives from both jurisdictions worked together to ensure both cases would be successfully prosecuted.