ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Opening statements were heard Tuesday in the trial against Edward Duran, accused in of multiple rape cases from the 1990’s. Duran is charged with 15 counts of first degree criminal sexual penetration stemming from rape cases from 1990 to 1997.
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The state began their opening statement by describing two cases; one from 1992 and another from 1994. In both cases a masked man broke into a first floor apartment and threatened the victim with a knife, sexually assaulted them multiple times and left. The women had evidence collected at the hospital, but the rape kits were not tested until decades later. The new testing led police to Duran as a suspect after DNA evidence from a fork that Duran used at an Albuquerque restaurant matched DNA from multiple rape kits.
Duran’s lawyers argued there was an issue with the rape kits and the decades to took to process them. Both sides wrapped up opening statements Tuesday, and moved on to testimony.
