DNA leads to cold case arrest

PULLMAN – Three women have waited 18 years for the man responsible for invading their homes and raping them to face justice.

Now, a Spokane County man is being held in the Whitman County Jail on $5 million bail on charges stemming from the attacks.

Kenneth D. Downing, 47, of Elk, is being held in the jail, charged with three counts of second-degree assault-sexual motivation, three counts of unlawful imprisonment, four counts of first-degree rape, indecent liberties-using force and two counts of first-degree burglary.

He is accused of entering the local homes of three women and raping them between November 2003 and March 2004, records show.

At about 10:45 a.m. Thursday, March 17, police arrested Downing at his construction job site in Spokane, records show.

“A very thorough and intensive investigation was conducted by the Pullman Police Department seeking the same suspect in both cases. Unfortunately, nobody was identified at that time,” Whitman County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Dan LeBeau said. “However, officers never gave up on the case and new investigative methods became available.”

The investigation continued through the years as a cold-case until DNA matches with evidence collected 18 years ago reportedly matched with Downing, Police Chief Gary Jenkins said.

The case was investigated by a group of law enforcement agencies including the Pullman police, Spokane police, FBI, and the Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory.

The agencies had assistance from the private company Identifinders International, experts in forensic genetic genealogy for law enforcement investigations.