Massachusetts

Man Accused of 2 Cold Case Rapes in Massachusetts Is Denied Bail

Former Bridgewater, Massachusetts, resident Ivan Kieth was arrested in connection to two cold case rapes from the 1990s after being found under a new identity in Seal Cove, Maine, authorities say

A man arrested this week in connection to two previously unsolved rape cases from more than two decades ago is being held behind bars after he was denied bail on Wednesday.

Charges against 61-year-old Ivan Keith, a former Massachusetts resident authorities say was living in Maine under a new name, were were announced Tuesday. Keith, who lived in Bridgewater, allegedly raped two women in Bristol County in the 1990s.

Keith appeared in court Wednesday to answer to charges of rape and kidnapping in two violent sexual assaults where the suspect wore a mask and gloves — one in Taunton in 1997 and another in Easton in 1998.

"Mr. Keith denies the allegations," said defense attorney Jason Maloney.

But investigators say not only does he match the description of the suspect in those crimes, his DNA is allegedly a match to evidence in those rapes, as well as two more rapes in Quincy and West Bridgewater in 1996.

Earlier this month, investigators tracked Keith to Seal Cove, Maine, where he had been living under an alias. He was taken into custody on Aug. 2.

"He made the statement at that time, 'I get it, my time is up,'" Deputy District Attorney William McCauley said.

Keith spent nearly 16 years on the run.

"He later would indicate he considered running out the back, and made some joke about he thought he had been on the run or been able to evade the police longer than Whitey Bulger," McCauley said.

Investigators say the break in this case came thanks in part to now-retired Easton Police Sgt. William Fulcher.

"Shortly before retiring, [he] kept this investigation alive by informing our investigators about it," said Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III.

"DNA samples were sent to Parabon laboratories in an attempt to identify the perpetrator of these four brutal rapes," said McCauley.

Parabon is the same lab that helped crack the Golden State Killer case with the same type of genetic genealogy. Its findings led police to one of Keith's relatives and, eventually, to Keith himself.

"These women have waited approximately over 20 years for this day," McCauley said.

Keith is being held without bail.

He will likely face additional charges in Norfolk County and Plymouth County for the other two rapes to which he was linked.

The defendant is due back in court Aug. 21.

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