Deceased Ventura man Sean McNulty identified as serial rapist by Ventura County task force
VENTURA, Calif. (KEYT) – Sean Patrick McNulty, a former resident of Ventura who died in Michigan in 1997, has been linked to two unsolved home invasion rapes in Ventura in the early 1980s and four other home invasion rapes in other states.
In March of 2024, two sexual assault kits collected from two home invasion rapes in Ventura in 1982 and 1983 that matched the perpetrator to both crimes were found to match DNA profiles previously uploaded to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) for the following home invasion rapes: one in 1994 in Okemos, Michigan; another in 1995 in Birmingham, Michigan; and a thirs in Columbus, Ohio in 1997 stated a press release Thursday from the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
In all five cases, the identify of the perpetrator was unknown and an investigator and prosecutor with the Ventura County Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (VCSAKI) contacted law enforcement agencies in Michigan and Ohio to begin a joint investigation shared the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
Part of the investigation relied on an investigative genealogist with the Columbus Police Department who researched the collected samples and identified McNulty as a potential suspect explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
To verify the results, members of VCSAKI located McNulty's headstone at a cemetery in Ventura County, but learned his remains had been cremated and were unknown after McNulty's death in Emmett Township, Michigan in 1997 noted the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, while working the investigation alongside VCSAKI, a crime analyst with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP) located a 1993 rape case from Bloomington, Indiana where McNulty was named as a suspect.
Investigators contacted the Bloomington Police Department and learned that McNulty had committed suicide after he was named as a suspect in the case added the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
Bloomington-based investigators then located a biological sample taken from McNulty during the investigation and the Columbia Police Department's Crime Lab found his DNA was an exact match to the 1997 Columbus, Ohio rape kit sample detailed the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
Those results were forwarded to forensic investigators in Ventura County and Michigan and it was confirmed McNulty was the perpetrator of both Ventura County home invasion rapes as well the 1994 and 1995 rape cases in Michigan stated the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
"I am proud of the dedicated work of our Forensic Services Bureau and the strong collaboration with our local, state, and federal partners that made these identifications possible," shared Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff. "The results show the importance of testing every kit and pursuing every lead, no matter how old or how long it takes. While nothing can erase the pain and trauma these victims endured, I hope today’s announcement brings them a measure of closure.”
The investigation into McNulty is ongoing shared the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.
McNulty was born in Burlingame, California and spent most of his childhood in Ventura and graduated from Buena High School in 1977 noted the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
In 1978, McNulty was arrested by the Ventura Police Department for making obscene phone calls to a woman.
McNulty went on to serve as a diver in the U.S. Navy from 1979 to 1992 and was married in 1988 before later divorcing just before his death detailed the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
Members of the VCSAKI team tried to speak with his ex-wife to verify his whereabouts during his life, but she declined to speak with them added the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
McNulty is believed to have lived or spent time in the Philipines and the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, and Virginia noted the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
Anyone with information about additional crimes perpetrated by McNulty is asked to contact District Attorney Investigator Yumi Kirk at 805-477-1638 or at yumi.kirk@venturacounty.gov.
VCSAKI was able to locate and notify one of the California survivors of McNulty's crimes about the results of the investigation and she told investigators that she had, "waited forty years" for closure.
"This case demonstrates why the Ventura County Sexual Assault Kit Initiative is so important to sexual assault survivors," said District Attorney Erik Nasarenko. "Every kit tested has the opportunity to bring critical knowledge to these women, including the knowledge that their perpetrator is deceased and therefore no longer able to harm others. The knowledge that undergoing an exam is not a futile exercise but rather a crucial piece of evidence that can help to identify violent offenders. And, perhaps most importantly, the knowledge that law enforcement and prosecutors recognize that each one of these kits represent a courageous survivor and the enduring voice of a savage crime."
