Rapist Finally Done In —by His Dentures

Thomas Maupin pleads guilty to 2001 rape in Memphis
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 27, 2017 10:00 AM CDT
He Was a Rape Suspect for 16 Years. Now, a Conviction
Thomas Maupin   (Shelby County District Attorney's Office)

While in prison for a murder for which he was twice convicted and later acquitted, Thomas Maupin had a set of dentures made. Years later, that set would become a key piece of evidence helping to put him behind bars again. According to Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich, dentures bearing Maupin's name were found at the scene of a rape in Memphis, Tenn., on Aug. 19, 2001. But for 15 years, they went untested due to a department backlog, reports the Commercial Appeal. Only in 2016, when a partial DNA profile was developed from the dentures and found "to be consistent with that of Maupin," was he finally arrested, according to a release.

Twice convicted of the 1988 murder of 6-year-old Tricna Cloy in Spokane, Wash., Maupin served 12 years in prison before his convictions were overturned; he then traveled to Memphis. On Aug. 19, 2001, he began walking alongside a 31-year-old woman, per the release. Maupin then forced the woman into an alley, where he stabbed her under the chin with a metal object that went all the way up to the roof of her mouth. He also used the object to rape the woman after forcing her to perform oral sex. Now 67, Maupin pleaded guilty to rape charges on Monday and was sentenced to eight years in prison. (More rape stories.)

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