California officials on Thursday identified a man they say was responsible for half a dozen rapes across four states decades ago.
The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office said they had connected former Navy diver Sean Patrick McNulty to two unsolved home invasion rapes in the county and four other home invasion rapes in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana from 1982 to 1997 through DNA evidence.
“The results show the importance of testing every kit and pursuing every lead, no matter how old or how long it takes,” Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said in a statement. “While nothing can erase the pain and trauma these victims endured, I hope today’s announcement brings them a measure of closure.”
Sean Patrick McNulty in a 1978 booking photo. Ventura County Sheriff’s Office
McNulty died by suicide in 1997.
County officials said that DNA from an unknown perpetrator in the two California rapes — later determined to be McNulty — were put in the Combined DNA Index System in March 2024.
The same perpetrator DNA profile in the California cases matched DNA recovered from rapes in 1994 in Okemos, Michigan; in 1995 in Birmingham, Michigan; and in 1997 in Columbus, Ohio, officials said.
Through that DNA, investigators were able to identify McNulty as a potential suspect, according to the release. However, they could not match his DNA to the DNA they had collected because McNulty’s body was cremated.
A crime analyst with the FBI’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program who was working with state investigators was then able to locate a 1993 rape case from Bloomington, Indiana, where McNulty was the named suspect.
Once contacted, authorities from Indiana revealed that McNulty killed himself shortly after being named a suspect in that case.
Indiana authorities then recovered DNA material from the case, which was determined to be an exact match to the unknown perpetrator’s DNA in the five other cases.
The victim in the Indiana rape case, who officials did not name, said in a statement that she was “grateful after all these years” that authorities “didn’t give up.” Another said she “waited forty years” for closure.
McNulty grew up in Ventura County, which lies just north of Los Angeles and encompasses Santa Barbara, according to officials. He was married in 1988 and divorced shortly before killing himself.
The district attorney’s office said he lived in 14 states throughout his life, including: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Virginia. Officials added that he also lived in the Philippines for a period of time.
Officials said that an “investigation into other crimes that may have been committed by McNulty both within Ventura County and elsewhere remains ongoing.”
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support.