KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Authorities using DNA technology have charged a man in connection to a 1983 West Side rape.
Arthur J. Romero, 51, faces charges of Forcible Rape, Robbery 1st Degree and Armed Criminal Action in connection to the December 2, 1983 rape in a home on West 21st Street. Romero is currently serving a sentence for an unspecified felony in Colorado, and will be extradited to Missouri after he is released on parole.
According to court documents, a 51-year-old woman reported that when she walked into her home on the morning of December 2, 1983, a man in a ski mask grabbed her and placed a knife to her throat, saying, “Don’t scream or I’ll kill you.”
The woman was then beaten and stabbed before being raped. Her home was then ransacked and her vehicle stolen, authorities said.
Prosecutors say that DNA collected from the scene matches Romero. There is no word on when he will be returned to the metro from Colorado.
