The following is a brief synopsis of some of the serial violence
multi-agency task forces with which the Gainesville Police Department has had involvement:
1996
A Florida/Georgia Task Force was formed
to investigate the serial rapes of twenty (20) young women in and around
Athens, Georgia and Gainesville, Florida. The joint investigation began in
October 1996 and led to the "first cross-state DNA match in the
United States". This DNA match led to the arrest of John Alexander Scieszka, W/M, 02/08/51, in Alpharetta, Georgia on January 29, 1997. Scieszka is incarcerated in prison in Georgia.
1992
Deportation proceedings of convicted
Florida rapist Sharif Sharif , W/M, 09/16/46, which were begun by the
Gainesville Police Department in May of 1992, led to the eventual
incarceration of Sharif in Mexico in March, 1999. The information was
brought to the attention of the Gainesville Police Department by a local
citizen and led to Sharif being identified as a serial rape and murder
suspect within the United States and Mexico. He is currently incarcerated
in prison in Juarez, Mexico. Other states and the FBI continue to consider
him a suspect in as many as sixty (60) deaths.
1991
The Gainesville Police Department became
the host agency for a national Church Arson Task
Force formed between area fire departments, the State Fire Marshall, the
Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the federal Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms agency (ATF) in October, 1991. Church arsons were being committed
in Florida, Tennessee and Colorado. Thirty (30) church fires occurred in
Florida with as many as twelve fires occurring within two months, which
created the need for significant law enforcement coordination and intense
media attention. The case was cleared in February 1992 with the federal
indictment of Patrick Lee Frank, W/M, 10/24/50. Frank was ultimately
committed to a mental institution in Florida.
1990
The Gainesville Police Department served
as the host agency for a serial murder investigation which received
international media attention regarding the murders of five college
students, Sonja Larson, Christina Powell, Christa Hoyt, Manuel Taboada and
Tracy Paules in August of 1990. The case was solved with the arrest of
Danny Rolling, W/M, 05/26/54, in January 1991. Rolling was executed at Florida State Prison
in October 2006.
A Florida/Georgia Task Force was formed
to investigate the serial rapes of twenty (20) young women in and around
Athens, Georgia and Gainesville, Florida. The joint investigation began in
October 1996 and led to the "first cross-state DNA match in the
United States". This DNA match led to the arrest of John Alexander Scieszka, W/M, 02/08/51, in Alpharetta, Georgia on January 29, 1997. Scieszka is incarcerated in prison in Georgia.
The Gainesville Police Department became
the host agency for a national Church Arson Task
Force formed between area fire departments, the State Fire Marshall, the
Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the federal Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms agency (ATF) in October, 1991. Church arsons were being committed
in Florida, Tennessee and Colorado. Thirty (30) church fires occurred in
Florida with as many as twelve fires occurring within two months, which
created the need for significant law enforcement coordination and intense
media attention. The case was cleared in February 1992 with the federal
indictment of Patrick Lee Frank, W/M, 10/24/50. Frank was ultimately
committed to a mental institution in Florida.
