NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A man who lived a Jekyll-and-Hyde lifestyle as he sexually assaulted women from Virginia to Rhode Island over 12 years asked, “Why haven’t you picked me up sooner?” when he was arrested last week, a prosecutor said Monday in court.

Aaron Thomas, 39, appeared in New Haven Superior Court on a charge of raping a woman in front of her baby in her New Haven home in 2007.

Prosecutor David Strollo said the unemployed truck driver described himself as having “a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” personality regarding women.

Over the weekend, investigators searched a yellow Colonial with blue shutters where neighbors said he lived with his girlfriend and 5-year-old son.

Strollo said Thomas made incriminating statements to a marshal about his involvement in numerous rapes. Thomas also asked investigators, “What took you so long to get me?” Strollo said.

Authorities say DNA from a cigarette butt confirms Thomas is the so-called “East Coast Rapist” wanted for attacks in Connecticut, Maryland, Rhode Island and Virginia. Thomas lived previously in Maryland and Virginia, according to public records.

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Investigators say there are 17 victims, with 14 sexual assaults, two abductions where victims either escaped or were not assaulted, and one peeping offense where DNA was found.

Authorities recently put up electronic billboards in the states where the attacks occurred and neighboring states. Police and prosecutors at a news conference Monday in Manassas, Va., credited Thomas’ arrest to a detailed, anonymous tip from Prince George’s County, Md., that was generated from the publicity campaign combined with a relatively new, highly detailed police database.

Authorities in Virginia’s Prince William County, where the news conference was held, are charging him with rape, abduction, being a fugitive and using a firearm while committing a felony. Thomas has not been charged in Maryland or Rhode Island.

Courtroom spectators gasped as Strollo described the cases, which include the 2007 New Haven case and the rape of two teenage trick-or-treaters in 2009 in Woodbridge, Va.

Thomas’ public defender, Joe Lopez, said he tried to waive his client’s appearance at the court hearing, which a judge denied. Bail was set at $1.5 million.

Strollo said DNA from a cigarette that police saw Thomas discard after leaving a local court was used to confirm that Thomas was the man wanted in the attacks, which began in 1997. He said Thomas has lived in New Haven for about four years.

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Thomas was arrested Friday on Connecticut charges of first-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. Authorities said he tried to hang himself Saturday in his cell but was returned to jail after a brief hospital stay.

Police continue to investigate whether Thomas might have been responsible for other attacks that were never reported, Fairfax County Police Chief David Rohrer said in Virginia. Thomas faces multiple life sentences in Virginia, but Connecticut will likely prosecute him first, Prince William County prosecutor Paul Ebert said.

Ebert, a prosecutor for more than 40 years who has handled high-profile cases including the conviction of D.C. sniper John Allen Muhammad, said the arrest of Thomas was one of the happiest days of his career.

“This case concerned me almost as much as the D.C. sniper case did,” he said. “I’m hopeful the public is now more at ease.”

 


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