DNA links Putnam County man to 35-year-old sexual assault case in Virginia

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. – A Putnam County man is behind bars and awaiting extradition after investigators say newly retested DNA linked him to a 35-year-old sexual assault case in another state.

Investigators said the alleged crime happened in 1987 at a service station when a teen tied up a 50-year-old woman and raped her at knifepoint.

Russell Marubbio, 52, is now awaiting extradition to Virginia.

Investigators said the arrest comes after two years of increased focus.

The Prince William County Police Department said when the case was transferred to its cold case unit the investigation was reviewed. And from 2021 to this June, advancements in DNA testing led them to follow new leads and led to the arrest.

According to an incident report, on Dec. 19, 1987, a 50-year-old woman who worked at a gas station went to use the bathroom. That’s when Prince William County Police Department said a 17-year-old followed her.

He tied her up and sexually assaulted her at knifepoint then left the scene, police said.

“Thankfully we had DNA that was collected at that time and so back in the 80s this was investigated pretty thoroughly and unfortunately it didn’t yield any arrest or anything like that,” said Jonathan Perok spokesman for the Prince William County Police Department.

Perok said after that, the case went cold for a few decades. Then the DNA sample was taken to a private lab and retested.

That lab found a family that had a similar DNA profile located in Florida. New DNA was gathered from the possible matches and compared to the evidence collected at the time of the incident.

That led to an arrest on June 14 in Palatka. Marubbio was charged with rape and abduction with intent to defile.

Perok said he wants the arrest gives the victim some hope that justice could soon be on the way.

He also said the case could serve as a model for other cases just like it.

“Technology is only going to advance further and it’s not going to go backwards, so we’re always hopeful that something will come along that will enable us to revisit some of these old cases and hopefully get some closure,” he said.

Perok said a court date has not been set yet for the case but said it will happen in juvenile court since the suspect who they believe committed the crime would have been 17 years old when it happened.