MCASA in the News: DNA Evidence Connects Parkville Man to 1980s Cockeysville Rapes

A Baltimore County jury has convicted 73-year-old James Shipe Sr. of rape, sex offenses and burglary tied to two 1980s sexual assaults in Cockeysville, after decades-old biological evidence was matched to his DNA.

This is another conviction stemming from an archive of evidence assembled by Dr. Rudiger Breitenecker, an emergency-room physician and forensic pathologist at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. Between 1977 and 1997, before modern DNA testing was widely available, Breitenecker preserved biological material from more than 2,000 sexual-assault cases on microscope slides.

1,408 of these cold-case slides have been transferred to Baltimore County police for testing since 2023, and that the evidence has produced 49 criminal convictions to date.

MCASA has long supported rape kit reform in Maryland, including supporting 2023 legislation that increased mandatory rape-kit retention period from 20 years to 75 years, and 2019 legislation that created rape kit testing requirements. The longer retention period and testing requirements do not guarantee a DNA match or prosecution, but they do ensure all eligible rape kits are tested and preserved for the possibility of future testing as technology and investigative priorities change.

Maryland’s rape kit reform progress is admirable but still has a long way to go, as more than 4,500 untested rape kits currently remain in law enforcement’s possession. Survivors undergo invasive sexual assault forensic exams in hopes that DNA testing will be completed and help them get justice. The timely testing of these kits is essential to supporting survivors and holding offenders accountable.

For more rape kit testing data in Maryland, visit this site from the Governor's Office of Crime Prevention and Policy.