New DNA test links jailed thug to brutal ’97 rapes

A career thug already behind bars for burglary was charged with a pair of brutal rapes that took place in Queens 16 years ago after investigators used DNA to link him to the attacks.

Johnny Dupree, 55, broke into two homes where young women were sleeping in July and November 1997 and raped the victims at knifepoint, according to Queens DA Richard A. Browne.

DNA evidence was collected from the rape victims and crime scenes at the time of the incident and stored in a database. DNA from those two rape cases was positively matched to a DNA sample provided by [Dupree], Browne said Monday.

The evidence was tested more than a decade ago with no results.

But Browne said cold case investigators routinely re-test older samples using newer, more sensitive techniques, and that the new testing revealed the match.

Dupree, already serving 16 years to life in state prison in Fishkill on a 2000 burglary conviction, was charged with two counts each of first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy.

The creep faces another 25 years in the slammer if convicted.

In the first attack, a 23-year-old woman was asleep in her Richmond Hill apartment in July when Dupree broke in at 4 a.m., held a knife to her throat and demanded cash, the DA said. She gave up $20, but he then raped and sodomized her.

In November, he allegedly broke into another Richmond Hill apartment where a 24-year-old woman was asleep, flashed a knife and raped her.

This case underscores the crucial importance of DNA evidence, which is irrefutable proof of guilt or innocence, Brown said.

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New DNA test links jailed thug to brutal ’97 rapes