BALTIMORE COUNTY — Baltimore County Police have arrested a suspect in the 45-year-old cold case where five women were raped between 1978 and 1986.
James Shipe Sr., 70, has been charged with first-degree rape and first-degree burglary.
Shipe allegedly raped five women after breaking into their apartments in the Cockeysville area.
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Charging documents show that police identified Shipe as a suspect during a 1979 arrest.
Shipe was charged with assault with intent to rape and several personal items were collected.
These items matched the description provided by one of the victims, including an identification bracelet, inscribed with "Jim."
Police say Shipe was also arrested in 1998 for trespassing "peeping Tom," in the same area as the sexual assaults.
Charging documents say that each incident was within a one mile radius.
Baltimore County Police Crime Lab responded to all five locations and obtained latent prints at four of the crime scenes.
The results revealed that these prints belonged to Shipe.
On June 13, 2023 detectives completed an Application and Affidavit for a search and seizure warrant to obtain DNA from Shipe.
Charging documents show that the DNA profiles that were previously obtained and originally connected the four cases were found to match the DNA profile of Shipe.
He is currently being held without bond.
The Baltimore County Police Department is asking anyone with information about other sexual assaults involving suspect Shipe to contact the Baltimore County Police Department at 410-307-2020.
