DNA LEADS TO ARREST OF MAN IN 1993 ST. PETE RAPE

The case went cold, but DNA evidence eventually identified Robert Burton, 48, as the suspect.

May 4, 2018

DNA evidence helped Pinellas County deputies arrest a man in a 25-year-old rape case, the sheriff's office said today.

According to deputies, early on Jan. 21, 1993, a 37-year-old woman was walking home from a friend's house in the 2700 block of 50th Avenue in St Petersburg when a man grabbed her arm and showed her a gun.

The man ordered her behind a mobile home and ordered her to strip. He then sexually battered her.

The case went cold, but DNA evidence eventually identified Robert Burton, 48, as the suspect.

Detectives contacted him Wednesday and brought him in for questioning. He denied knowing the victim or assaulting her.

He has been charged with one count of sexual battery with a deadly weapon. Bail was set at $100,000.