While federal grant money can mean better equipment, faster processing and overtime pay, the backlog of DNA cases at two East Valley police departments is unlikely to go away without additional staffing.

An admitted rapist on Wednesday vowed to rehabilitate himself in prison and figure out what drove him to attack three women from Scottsdale and Phoenix.

Hundreds of Scottsdale’s cold criminal cases will be revived with a DNA sequence detection system courtesy of a $224,000 federal grant, police said.

In an effort to increase efficiency and turnaround time, the Biology Unit at the Mesa crime lab, which analyzes DNA, switched to an electronic system as of January 2013.

The word rape strikes terror in the hearts of women who are most often the targets of a rapist. Rape, often called sexual assault, is one of the vilest crimes that can be committed. It’s a crime I found in my career that can be uglier than a murder and often more difficult to investigate and solve.

Jaime L. Cruz had 54 days left to serve in prison on an aggravated drunken-driving conviction when a database spit out his name in connection with three unsolved rapes — one in Phoenix and two in Scottsdale.

A Phoenix ex-con was charged Monday with 17 counts in connection with a Sept. 20 attack on two women that was attributed to the Baseline Killer.

A Phoenix ex-con was charged Monday with 17 counts in connection with a Sept. 20 attack on two women that was attributed to the Baseline Killer.

WASHINGTON - President Bush challenged a wary Congress on Thursday to "put partisanship aside and focus on saving Social Security," promoting his idea that would combine reduced government benefits for younger workers with the prospect of higher retirement checks from personal investment accounts.

February 2, 2005