WAMU 88.5 : News

Filed Under:

Alleged East Coast Rapist's Plea Deal Is Off

Suspect tells judge he's 'not sure' about pleading guilty

By: WAMU Staff // November 13, 2012
Play associated audio
comments

The man accused in series of rapes along East Coast has backed out of plea deal, telling a judge he wasn't sure he knew what he was doing, according to the Associated Press.

Aaron Thomas of New Haven, Conn. has been accused of a series of rapes and assaults of women along the East Coast. He was expected to plead guilty for the first time to one of those attacks in a Prince William County court today. But the deal was called off when Thomas revealed hesitation at his plea hearing this morning, the AP reports. 

Thomas' jury trial is now scheduled for Jan. 14.

This morning's hearing dealt with charges filed against Thomas from 2009. He was charged with abducting three teenage trick-or-treaters in 2009 and raping two of them. 

Those assaults were the last of 17 that authorities attributed to the East Coast Rapist, who was linked through DNA and other evidence to 17 assaults and rapes on women going as far back as 1997. 

Thomas was arrested in March 2011. His lawyers had been pursuing an insanity defense before dropping those plans and scheduling Tuesday's plea hearing.

Arts & Culture

NPR

Meet London's Master Architects In Jell-0

London duo Sam Bompas and Harry Parr have made names for themselves with their wild, experimental food installations. From pineapple islands and banana vapors to re-creations of famous architectural monuments, their work playfully pushes the boundary of how we experience food.

Food

NPR

Meet London's Master Architects In Jell-0

London duo Sam Bompas and Harry Parr have made names for themselves with their wild, experimental food installations. From pineapple islands and banana vapors to re-creations of famous architectural monuments, their work playfully pushes the boundary of how we experience food.

Politics

NPR

Stunned By Military Sex Scandals, Advocates Demand Changes

As the nation prepares to mark Memorial Day, outrage has been building on Capitol Hill and beyond over the military's failure to repair a system that has placed service members in more danger of sexual assault than of battlefield injury.

Technology

NPR

Google Reportedly Faces FTC Antitrust Probe Over Display Ads

The Federal Trade Commission is in the early stages of opening an antitrust probe into how Google runs its online display advertising business, according to a report by Bloomberg News, citing sources who want to remain anonymous because the FTC has not announced the probe.

Leave a Comment

Help keep the conversation civil. Please refer to our Terms of Use and Code of Conduct before posting your comments.