A suspected Indianapolis serial rapist assaulted three women in one home and killed their dog almost a year before he was caught, according to police records.
In all, Central Indiana law enforcement officials accused Darrell Goodlow, 37, of sexually assaulting at least eight women during home invasions dating back to August 2020 – including two after police this summer warned the public about a serial rapist.
He was arrested Friday, but formal charges in the case have not yet been filed, public court records indicate.
Police said Goodlow posed as a utility or service worker to gain access to his victims' homes on the east side of Indianapolis and in the City of Lawrence, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police confirmed to IndyStar on Monday. The man told his victims he needed to check utilities inside the home before committing the crimes.
Police in June warned residents a man was assaulting women while posing as a worker but had not identified a suspect. During a Feb. 13 assault, they said, the man wore a utility-worker-style hard hat, clear goggles, a medical-style face mask and a traffic safety vest.
A preliminary probable cause affidavit filed Saturday indicates all of the reported assaults occurred inside the victims' homes. On at least three occasions, victims told investigators the man had threatened to kill them during the assault. In one case from June 28, a woman told police the man had a knife.
All but one case involved a single victim. On Oct. 1, 2020, three people at a home on the east side of Indianapolis reported a man had raped them and killed their dog.
Investigators in each case collected evidence from the scene and developed a DNA profile "of the unknown suspect," investigators said in the affidavit. During the last reported assault, which occurred Sept. 8, detectives were able to recover a finger print they said matched Goodlow's.
Last week, detectives got a DNA swab from Goodlow at his east-side home near the intersection of East 16th Street and North Arlington Avenue. Goodlow's DNA profile "matches the DNA profile of the unknown suspect from all the above described rape investigations," according to the affidavit.
Goodlow is being held in Marion County Jail.
Contact Lawrence Andrea at 317-775-4313 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @lawrencegandrea.
