ISP gets a DNA 'hit' and a 1997 city rape is closed

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- It’s been a 28-year nightmare for the victim since she was grabbed from behind on a trail in Shoaff Park, dragged into the weeds, raped and beaten at knifepoint.

While the woman is unknown; her pain is not. 

David Mark Kerner has been charged for a 1997 rape at Shoaff Park.

Luckily for law enforcement, she had the foresight to go to Parkview Hospital and the Sexual Assault Treatment Center where evidence was collected in a kit and sent to the Indiana State Police laboratory.

Now, 28 years almost to the day of the attack- May 29 - the FWPD Crimes Against Persons Section has made an arrest.

It would have been interesting to see the expression on David Mark Kerner’s face when Det. R.J. Sutphin showed up with cuffs in hand to take him into custody for the rape of this woman.

Kerner, now 56, doesn’t appear to have a record, at least nothing apparent in court documents. He lives in Indianapolis where FWPD detectives Sutphin and Charles Volz went to arrest him at his Near East Side home, according to an FWPD news release.

It’s unclear from the probable cause, written by Sutphin, if he ever lived in Fort Wayne, but 28 years ago Kerner allegedly surprised a woman on the trail near the boat ramp at Shoaff Park. The police report says the attack occurred at 9:45 p.m. so it would have been dark.

After she was dragged into the weeds, he “pulled her pants down and pulled up her shirt,” court documents said. With his knife “he cut her bra and underwear.” He told her if she screamed he would kill her while he held the knife at her neck and hit her on the back of the head.

He forced her to the ground and raped her and then inserted something into her, but she didn’t know what it was. He also bit her on her right arm. Her left eye was bruised and she had abrasions and bruises on her body because of the violent encounter. 

Did he ever think he might be traced someday by DNA? DNA forensic testing has become crucial in many cases.

The Indiana State Police forensic laboratory, where the CODIS or Combined DNA Index System Unit is located, is the one that identified Kerner’s profile. 

In 2023, the biology lab received 4,103 cases and completed more than 3,800 of those including “searches of the offender database for matching profiles,” according to the 2023 annual ISP laboratory report available online.

Five years ago, The Bureau of Justice Assistance, part of the federal U.S. Department of Justice, greatly increased the amount of funding for agencies to use in solving DNA cold cases, according to a November 2024 DOJ report.

Because of the funding, 94 suspects, who were unknown, were identified; 20 cases resulted in convictions, 39 suspects were identified through forensic genetic genealogy work, 66 cases were charged or indicted and 83 cold cases were resolved since 2019, the report stated.

In Kerner’s case, the ISP contacted the FWPD on March 12 to say it had a match or “hit” from CODIS. 

Kerner was charged with Rape Class A, the equivalent of a Level 1 felony; criminal deviate conduct Class A; Battery with a deadly weapon Class C (Level 3 or 4 felony); and, battery Class A misdemeanor. The letters rather than numbers on the felonies reflect Indiana’s prior system of classification.

Kerner is being held at the Allen County Jail in lieu of $40,000 bail. His next hearing is June 2.

• 
  
  •