Officers of the Ketchikan Police Department concluded a 1993 cold case investigation by arresting MICHAEL J. WILLIAMS (52 YOA of Saxman) for Sexual Assault in the First Degree and Sexual abuse of a Minor in the Second Degree on June 24, 2021.
On January 24, 1993, the Ketchikan Police Department responded to a report of a 14-year-old female who was sexually assaulted at Dudley Field, adjacent to Ketchikan High School. The perpetrator was a stranger to the victim.
Despite a diligent and lengthy investigation by the Ketchikan Police, no viable suspect could be developed and the case went cold. A sexual assault kit was obtained from the victim’s body, and forensic evidence was collected.
Due to developments in the field of DNA, in 2004 the Alaska Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory tested the sexual assault kit obtained in this case. The Lab was able to develop a genetic profile of an unknown male suspect from a sperm fraction collected in the kit. That unknown profile was placed into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a nationwide database of DNA profiles from known individuals as well as unknown suspects. The unknown profile did not “hit” to another case in the CODIS database but remained in the system.
In 2018, the Alaska State Legislature designated $2.75 million in capital funds for the Alaska Crime Lab to test untested sexual assault kits collected by local law enforcement agencies around the State.
In 2021, a kit collected in the course of another law enforcement agency’s investigation was tested as part of this capital project. The DNA profile obtained from the testing of that kit, in which Mr. Williams was the named suspect, was entered into CODIS. Based on the similarity of the DNA profiles between that case and the unknown profile in the 1993 Ketchikan case, Mr. Williams was investigated as a potential suspect in the 1993 Ketchikan case.
Using this information, on June 23, 2021, the Ketchikan Police Department obtained and executed a search warrant on the person and residence of Mr. Williams. The Alaska Crime Lab conducted DNA analysis of the known DNA sample and confirmed that the known DNA profile obtained from Mr. Williams matched the unknown profile obtained from the sexual assault kit conducted on the 14-year-old victim in this case.
Mr. Williams was contacted on 6/24/21 and placed under arrest for Sexual Assault in the First Degree and Sexual Abuse of a Minor in the Second Degree. He was transported to the Ketchikan Correctional Center where he was booked accordingly and held without bail.
The charges in this matter are only allegations and are not evidence of guilt. Mr. Williams is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the prosecution must prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. All charges reported in this media release are only accusations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The Ketchikan Police Department would like to thank the Alaska Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, United States Coast Guard, United States Coast Guard Investigative Service, the Alaska State Troopers, the Alaska Bureau of Investigation, the Sitka Police Department, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Office of Law Enforcement, for their assistance in this investigation.
