The Hunt for 'Britain's Most Wanted Man'
Police now have an artist's impression of serial rapist who stalks the elderly.
LONDON, July 4, 2008— -- He wears a black balaclava and preys on the elderly late at night, breaking into their homes, robbing them and, in some cases, sexually assaulting them. Eighteen years and more than 100 offences later, British police are still struggling to find the "Night Stalker."
Randomly named Operation Minstead, it is Scotland Yard's biggest hunt ever for a serial rapist. Officers have dubbed the stalker "Britain's most wanted man."
Officials believe he has an obsession for the elderly; his victim's ages range from the mid-60s to early 90s, and 10 have been men.
But after nearly two decades of terrorizing the elderly, the Minstead man has shown his face and police have their biggest breakthrough yet. A recent spate of attacks in London led to one women being able to produce an artist's impression of her attacker. Until now, no one had ever seen his face.
Detective Superintendent Simon Morgan is leading the investigation and has been working with the Minstead team for the past eight years.
He told ABC News that the artist's drawing is a big leap forward. "We've got 107 previous victims who haven't seen his face. Since releasing the image we've had a massive amount of phone calls into the inquiry, suggesting possible names, all of which we are currently working through. We've also identified an area where we think he probably lives; it's a small area in southeast London and we're obviously focusing a massive amount of resources down there."
The Minstead stalker is believed to have first struck in 1992, and there is also the possibility that he was active as early as 1990. He was picked up on police radar in 1997 following the forensic link of two rape cases. Despite more than 100 cases now forensically linked, police still haven't been able to catch the night-time predator.
Morgan said it's his toughest case yet. "The man is victimizing the elderly because he knows his chances of being caught are slim. He said at the end of his attacks, 'Thank you. Please give me time to get away before you call the police,' and because they are from a generation where they see the best in everyone, they actually do that."
