Cold case solution found amidst Houston rape kit backlog

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The Houston Chronicle has an update on the evaluation of Houston PD's rape kit backlog, highlighting a cold case solved by testing mislabeled samples ("Mislabeled rape kit from 2003 linked to other assaults," Oct. 10). The article opened:

In August 2003, an elderly woman was paying bills in the dining room of her Braeswood apartment when a man grabbed her from behind, dragged the kicking and screaming woman to her bedroom and raped her.

But just months ago, nine years after the attack, the rape kit used by the Houston Police Department was finally tested, and a man has been charged with aggravated sexual assault in the case. The evidence, stored in the police property room, had been mislabeled, officials said Wednesday.

The kit was one of thousands collecting dust at the HPD facility. Currently, the department's backlog stands at 6,663.

Two months after that 2003 incident, the man charged, Wesley Bernard Gordon, was implicated in another attack - this time in the rape of a homeless woman.

And since 2003, Gordon has been charged with several sexual assaults. Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos said Wednesday that the 2003 case further exemplifies problems with HPD's crime lab operations.