Ex-convict arraigned in South End rape

A man released from state prison June 23 was arraigned yesterday in a Boston courthouse, charged with raping a 67-year-old woman in the South End apartment building where both were living, according to court records and authorities.

Raymond M. Epps Jr., who just finished a seven-year prison term and has a criminal record dating to 1974, pleaded not guilty in Boston Municipal Court to aggravated rape, kidnapping, assault and battery on a person over 60, unarmed robbery, and threatening to commit a crime.

Judge Sally Kelly set bail at $750,000 cash for the 50-year-old Epps, who was accused of attacking the woman July 24.

"You scream . . . I will kill you," Epps allegedly told the victim as he screamed a profanity during the attack, according to a Boston police report filed in municipal court.

Prosecutors said DNA found inside the victim's apartment was matched to Epps's DNA profile taken while he was in prison.

"This type of behavior is so aberrant that it is highly unlikely, in my view, that this would have been an isolated incident," said Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley in a telephone interview. "I think about the women who were saved by our ability to get this guy quickly off the street."

Epps pretended to be a maintenance man checking on a smoke detector when he pushed his way inside and taunted the woman, the police report stated.

"You shouldn't have left the door open downstairs," he told her, according to the report.

After forcing his way into the apartment, Epps grabbed the woman by the neck and put a cloth with some type of scent over her face, according to police. Still holding her by the neck, Epps forced the woman into the bedroom and demanded money and her name, according to the police report.

The woman said she had no cash because she is on Social Security and gave Epps a fake name, police said. He would not let the woman alone, not even when she asked to use the bathroom, police said.

The woman also told him that she was diabetic and needed water, a request that the suspect complied with by handing her a bottle of water from her refrigerator.

He forced her back into the bedroom, where he raped her, according to the report.

Before leaving, he stole a pair of pearl earrings, a mother's birthstone ring, a diamond ring, and some costume jewelry, according to the report.

Epps, according to Assistant Suffolk District Attorney Susan Terrey and a police report, was released from the state prison system last month after completing a seven year and one day sentence for breaking and entering convictions in Suffolk Superior Court.

Terrey said Epps's criminal history includes convictions for robberies and break-ins.

Police recovered a stolen towel and Epps's clothes inside the apartment of Epps's former wife, who lives in the same building as the victim and who was sharing her home with Epps, according to police reports.

Epps's former wife could not be reached for comment.

Epps's lawyer, Christopher Skinner, said outside the courtroom that he will attack DNA evidence allegedly linking Epps to the crime. He said the DNA match came from the State Police crime lab now under fire for not processing thousands of cases and for misplacing other cases.

"That's the only thing that's tying him to this case," Skinner said of the DNA evidence. "Mr. Epps denies it. He denied it to the police."

Boston police first identified the suspect as Monty Garrett, but officials said that was one of three names Epps has on his criminal record. He is due in court Sept. 5.