Donald Eugene Younge convicted in '96 Utah rape

A jury has convicted Donald Eugene Younge of raping and roughing up a University of Utah student in 1996.

Now Younge faces sentencing in that case and also is headed for trial in a separate case — the 1999 slaying of another U. student that potentially carries the death penalty if he is convicted.

Younge, 43, was found guilty on Wednesday of two counts of aggravated sexual assault, a first-degree felony, and one count of robbery, a second-degree felony. He is set to be sentenced Jan. 15 before 3rd District Judge Deno Himonas.

The female student who was raped reported it to police and DNA samples were taken and stored, but no attacker was identified at the time.

However, Younge was arrested in Illinois and held for some time in a jail there in connection with the deaths of three women in that state, as well as a sexual assault of a fourth woman. Those cases fell through for several reasons, including the death of the alleged sexual assault victim in an unrelated crime.

But the DNA stored for years in Utah matched DNA taken from Younge in Illinois, according to Utah prosecutors. Utah law enforcement officials then charged Younge with the Utah sexual assault and extradited him from Illinois.

He also was charged with the 1999 stabbing death of Amy Quinton in her Salt Lake apartment, along with several other felonies associated with allegedly attacking and robbing her roommate and a friend who was visiting that evening.

— Linda Thomson