Sacramento County man accused in ‘Cloverleaf Rapist’ case makes first court appearance
A Sacramento County man accused of kidnapping and raping three people made his first court appearance since his arrest last week, when investigators announced they used DNA evidence to link him to violent sexual assaults committed several years ago.
JD Wallace Simien, 40, spoke briefly during his arraignment hearing Monday afternoon in Sacramento Superior Court. Simien, wearing orange jail inmate clothing, listened intently through the bars of a holding cell inside the courtroom during the five-minute hearing. A few times, he asked for some of the details listed in his criminal complaint to be repeated as they were read aloud in court.
Simien faces 11 felony charges of rape, kidnapping, sexual assault by force and robbery in connection with the attacks, according to a criminal complaint filed Nov. 4 by the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office. The victims are identified in the complaint as J. Doe, T. Doe and H. Doe.
The first reported attack occurred Sept. 19, 2013. Prosecutors alleged in the complaint that Simien kidnapped, raped, sexually assaulted and robbed J. Doe. Simien also is accused of kidnapping, raping and robbing T. Doe on Dec. 10, 2013.
In a Jan. 8, 2014, attack, Simien is accused of kidnapping, raping and sexually assaulting H. Doe, according to the filed complaint. The charges in the attack on H. Doe also include enhancements for allegedly using a deadly weapon, a knife, to commit sexual assault by force.
The investigation into the sexual assaults had gone cold until investigators identified a suspect using the same DNA genealogy techniques used to identify and capture the Golden State Killer and the NorCal Rapist, according to a joint news release from the District Attorney’s Office and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators over the years referred to the suspect, unidentified at the time, as the “Cloverleaf Rapist” because of the proximity of the crime scenes to freeway entrances and exits that resemble a cloverleaf pattern, according to the news release.
District Attorney’s Office investigators and sheriff’s detectives used Investigative Genetic Genealogy “to develop fact-finding leads which led them to JD Wallace Simien,” according to the news release. Officials said this was the same investigative tool used to identify Joseph James DeAngelo as the Golden State Killer, also known as the East Area Rapist, and Roy Waller as the NorCal Rapist. Both men were prosecuted in Sacramento County.
On Monday, Simien remained in custody at the Sacramento County Main Jail, and he was being held there without bail. No further arrests were anticipated in this case, authorities said last week. Officials said they would not be releasing any additional information, including Simien’s jail booking photo.
Court Commissioner Ken Brody allowed news cameras in the courtroom Monday for Simien’s arraignment. But Brody ordered news photographers to only photograph Simien from his shoulders down; not his head.
Brody scheduled Simien to return to court Nov. 29 for further proceedings in his case. The county Public Defender’s Office was appointed to represent Simien in court, but Simien said he was looking into hiring his own attorney.
