Burglar to get a parole rehearing in 2029

The man police say is the Parkway Rapist will spend at least another 25 years in prison before being considered for parole.

The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole deliberated the fate of Rudy Romero on Wednesday and decided that DNA evidence linking him to five rapes and abductions was information too significant to ignore. Romero, a convicted burglar, was supposed to have been released from prison in July, but that date was rescinded after the DNA connection was made by Salt Lake City police and the state crime lab.

Romero, who could not be charged with the crimes because the statute of limitations had expired, refused to answer any questions about the allegations at two parole hearings.

The board set a rehearing date to consider Romero's release from prison for July 2029, board chairman Mike Sibbett said.

"The five rapes that he's been implicated in, to us that was new and significant information that would suggest (Romero) would pose a significant and unacceptable risk to society," Sibbett said. "So we affirmed his recision and set this 25-year rehearing . . . We'll let whatever board is around 25 years from now, we'll let them sort that out."

Romero, 40, was served with papers informing him of the board's decision early Wednesday afternoon, board administrator John Green said. Green said he did not know how Romero reacted to the news.

Romero was identified as the so-called Parkway Rapist last spring, after Salt Lake City police detective Cathy Schoney reopened 13 unsolved rapes and abductions that occurred along the Jordan River Parkway between 1990 and 1993. The state crime lab matched DNA evidence from five of those cases to a DNA sample taken from Romero in the state DNA database.

Schoney took that information to the board of pardons after learning Romero could not be charged in the crimes but that the parole board could look at new information when considering an inmate for parole.

Salt Lake police Capt. Roger Winkler had not yet heard officially from the board with contacted by the Deseret Morning News on Wednesday but was elated with the news of its decision.

"I think they are being very circumspect in their actions and they are doing what we as the public expect of them. Good for them," Winkler said. "As soon as I get it officially, we're going to tell these victims."

The parkway rapist had 13 known victims at the time of the crime. Schoney was able to contact all of the 12 who remain living.