Kinnie Ray Smith, a former Durham resident and convicted rapist who preyed on elderly women, will probably spend the rest of his life behind bars, an Orange County Superior Court judge ruled late last month.
Smith, who is already serving a 54-year sentence for a rape in Alamance County, pleaded guilty to three charges of first-degree burglary, three charges of second-degree rape and one charge of second-degree sexual offense. The charges stem from three rapes-two in Durham and one near Hillsborough.
One of the attacks, the Aug. 10, 1998 assault on a Durham woman in her home, occurred near East Campus. The rape coincided with two other assaults in the area, sending shock waves through the community and bringing charges that police were hiding information from area residents.
Last month, Smith was sentenced to between 83 and 105 years in prison, and the sentence will not even begin until he completes his term for the Alamance rape. The 41-year-old Smith, formerly of Maple Street in Durham, would have to live to 177 before he could be released.
"There is next to zero likelihood that he will ever see the outside of a prison," said Orange County District Attorney Carl Fox, who prosecuted the three most recent cases.
Smith was first apprehended in Alamance County, and physical evidence-including DNA and fingerprints-linked him to the other three rapes. Police charged him with the crimes in February.
In all but one of the cases, Smith broke into the homes of elderly women and sexually assaulted them. Fox said the similarities among the crimes led police to suspect that they were connected.
"In all the cases he carried on conversations with them, in which he suggested he was doing something for them they hadn't had in a long time," Fox explained. "Like he was doing them some sort of favor in sexually assaulting them."
In the Swift Avenue case, however, the victim was much younger, only in her 40s. Fox speculated that Smith may have seen the owner of the house, who is elderly, and assumed that she lived there. "The victim reported that he looked surprised when he saw her," Fox explained.
The victim woke in the middle of the night when she heard noises in her bathroom. Although she armed herself with a rock hammer before confronting the burglar, Fox said, " [Smith] knocked her down and grabbed the hammer."
The victim took the witness stand to tell the judge that Smith was sub-human and should never be free again. "He shows no remorse for what he did to those women...," she said, according to the News & Observer of Raleigh. "Society deserves to be protected from violent criminals."
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