A serial rapist who targeted vulnerable victims in Calgary who were home alone with young children at the time they were attacked has been convicted of his crimes more than 40 years after the fact.
Richard Hubert Jones, 72, was found guilty of nine offences stemming from the rapes of a 13-year-old girl and two single mothers in 1984 and 1985.
Calgary police investigated, but the case went cold.
Jones got away with his crimes for more than four decades until advances in investigation techniques led Calgary Police Service detectives from cold case and sexual assault units to track down Jones via family members who’d submitted DNA to genealogy databases.
In May 2023, Jones was arrested and charged after those investigators matched his DNA to samples collected from the victims, their clothing and the crime scenes.
One of Jones’ victims died before she could see her rapist charged and convicted.
Last month, a hearing took place during which Jones admitted that his DNA was a match to the samples collected by police in the 1980s and signed an agreed statement of facts that detailed the crimes against each victim.
Defence lawyers Julie Grivel and Lance McClean called no evidence and did not argue against a conviction.
On Tuesday, Justice Christopher Simard ruled the Crown had proven all of the elements of each offence, including the identity of the rapist.
“I find the Crown has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Jones is guilty of all the charged offences,” said Simard. “I convicted you.”
The way in which the case proceeded — in contrast with a guilty plea — protects Jones’ path to appeal the pre-trial decisions relating to admissible evidence.
But first, Jones will be sentenced for his crimes. A date for that hearing will be set later this week. In the meantime, he remains on bail.
The Crown indicated there will be victim impact statements filed as part of the sentencing process. A publication ban protects their identities. CBC News will use their initials.
The details of what happened to each victim come from the agreed statement of facts.
On Feb. 20, 1984, T.N., then 13, was babysitting her little brother when Jones broke into her Thorncliffe house.
Jones took the eight-year-old boy by the hand and led him to a bedroom, returned and removed T.N.’s nightgown and proceeded to rape her.
When he was finished, he left, threatening to return and kill her if she told anyone.
T.N. grabbed her brother and ran to a neighbour’s home for help.
A month later, Jones struck again. This time, he broke into the home of C.T., a 30-year-old single mother who’d fallen asleep beside her nine-year-old son while reading him bedtime stories.
C.T. woke up to Jones standing at the foot of her bed. She told police she ran to get him away from her son.
Jones attacked, first in the living room, and then led her by her neck to her son’s bedroom, where he raped her.
After he finished, he threatened to return if she tried to identify him.
The third attack took place more than a year later in the city’s southwest.
N.C., a 33-year-old single mother fell asleep on her sofa in June 1985 and woke up to a man’s hand over her mouth.
It was Jones.
He told her he’d been watching her for three days. He held her by her hair, pushed her to the stairs, removed her clothing and raped her.
N.C.’s 12-year-old daughter woke up and came to the top of the stairs. Her mother yelled at her to stay where she was.
After Jones left, the child came downstairs to find her mother “in shambles.” They called police.
N.C. died in 2007.
