Tulsa Investigators Solve 15-Year-Old Rape Case With Grant-Funded DNA Testing

Tulsa Police Special Victim's unit has solved another old rape case, thanks to grant money that's letting them test old rape kits.

This is the second solved case in the past week and this one, was 15 years old.

Prosecutors have charged Isaias Barron with raping a woman at knife point in 2007, after her rape kit was tested and got a DNA match to Barron, who's already in prison for another rape.

Barron was convicted and sentenced to more than 38 years in prison for raping an 83-year-old woman in her Tulsa home back in 2020. Because he was convicted, his DNA was on file and detectives said that was key to solving the 2007 rape case.

In 2007, the victim told police a man offered her a ride, then demanded sex from her in exchange for money. Police said the victim said no, but said he raped her at knife-point.

That man wasn't identified until six months ago when investigators got a hit from a national DNA database they said connected Barron to the rape.

"Since he was convicted of a sexual assault and sentenced to prison, his DNA was taken at that time ergo now we have this match between this 2007 case and Mr. Barron,” said Lieutenant Darin Ehrenrich with the Tulsa Police Special Victim’s Unit.

Investigators interviewed Barron in prison earlier this year and said, despite the DNA evidence, he denied everything.

"This is a specific example of how testing all kits regardless of the circumstances of each particular case, is going to show us these links and solve more of these cases and get more of these violent offenders off the streets,” said Ehrenrich.

Tulsa Police had 3,000 untested rape kits in 2017 and they've tested nearly 1,000, which has led to three arrests this year alone.

Police arrested Alfred Wilson earlier this year after they said DNA evidence linked him to a 2003 rape.

Police then arrested Christopher Corn last week after they said DNA evidence linked him to a 1999 rape.

Officers said most sex offenders are habitual offenders; it's not a one time thing.

"Sexual assault is not just a one-off crime. It is not something someone does just once. It is a consistent pattern of behavior, generally,” said Ehrenrich. "We are never going to give up on these cases. They are always there and they are always on our minds, and if there's something we can do to bring justice to these cases, we are going to do it."