DNA technology links Indiana prisoner to 1981 Byron Township cold-case rape

BYRON TOWNSHIP, MI -- DNA technology has helped link a 54-year-old Indiana prisoner to a 1981 rape in Byron Township, police say.

Kent County prosecutors plan to pursue charges against Joseph Blackmer, who has been in prison since the early 1980s for a similar crime in Elkhart, Indiana.

Police identified Blackmer as the assailant in the 1981 rape after a Kent County sheriff's detective began reviewing several cold-case sexual assaults to determine if evidence was available to submit for lab DNA testing.

The detective decided the Byron Township case -- a rape at a home in the 7100 block of Houndstooth Street SW -- offered a good opportunity.

In that case, a 23-year-old woman was raped after she answered the door on Dec. 17, 1981 to a man who had knocked. The man, estimated to be 18 or 19, asked for directions.

Moments later, the man pushed his way inside and put a gun to the victim's head. He ordered her into a bedroom and sexually assaulted her.

Police gathered evidence from the crime, but ended up closing the case in March 1982 for lack of leads.

The recent decision to submit DNA from the rape to the state police crime lab ended up generating a match to Blackmer. State police obtained a DNA profile in the labl and submitted it to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).

Blackmer was caught the same day as a June 2, 1982 sexual assault in Indiana and ended up pleading guilty.

Court records show his earliest possible release date is in June 2023.

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DNA technology links Indiana prisoner to 1981 Byron Township cold-case rape