Man accused in rape, slayings of two women charged in 2014 rape

A 23-year-old man accused in the rape and strangulation deaths of two North Texas women just days apart has been indicted in the 2014 sexual assault of a third woman, this time in South Padre Island.

Reginald Gerald Kimbro was indicted Wednesday on charges of aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault, confirmed Yvette Vela, a spokeswoman for the Cameron County district attorney’s office.

The charges stemmed from a 20-year-old Tuttle, Okla., woman’s claim that Kimbro had choked and sexually assaulted her on March 21, 2014, at the Isla Grand Beach Resort on South Padre Island.

Police arrested Kimbro, but charges were later dismissed by the Cameron County district attorney’s office. Cameron County officials have since stated that the charges were dismissed “pending further investigation.”

Vela referred any questions why the 2014 case had only recently been presented to a grand jury to District Attorney Luis Saenz. Saenz is out of town this week and not available for comment, she said.

Records show the sexual assault charge was added Tuesday against Kimbro, who remains in the Tarrant County Jail.

His total combined bail is now set at more than $2.1 million.

Pending capital murder cases

Kimbro has been jailed since April 24, when he was arrested in connection with the sexual assault and strangulation death of 22-year-old Molly Matheson of Fort Worth, a woman he had dated.

Matheson’s body was discovered in the shower of her Fort Worth apartment by family members on April 10. Police have said it appeared that Matheson’s body, as well as her clothes and bedding, were washed in an attempt to destroy evidence.

The two had dated while Matheson was a student at the University of Arkansas in 2014.

In an interview with Fort Worth police on April 14 — 10 days before his arrest in the case — Kimbro denied killing Matheson. He acknowledged hanging out with Matheson at her apartment but said he left early on the morning of April 10 after she declined to have sex with him.

Hours after being questioned by Fort Worth police, Plano police allege, Kimbro attacked Megan Leigh Getrum, 36, as she hiked at the Arbor Hills Nature Preserve in Plano.

Getrum’s body was found April 19 in Lake Ray Hubbard, about 30 miles away, in Dallas.

Police allege Kimbro raped Getrum and killed her by “compressing her neck and dumping her in a lake, which resulted in lethal blunt force trauma and indications of drowning.”

Kimbro has been linked by DNA to both slayings, police allege.

Previous sexual assault claims

In addition to the other cases, Kimbro was accused of choking and sexually assaulting a woman in Plano in September 2012.

Kimbro was never arrested or charged in that case, however, because “there came a point during the investigation in which [the victim] no longer wished to pursue the case,” Plano police have said in an arrest warrant affidavit.

That victim now wants to pursue charges, the affidavit said, and police are investigating.

Matheson’s father has expressed anger that Kimbro was allowed to skirt prosecution in the two rape accusations.

“It is extraordinarily frustrating to know that neither of these senseless murders should have ever happened if our judicial system had done its job properly,” David Matheson said in a statement after the Plano capital murder case was added.

“Twice Mr. Kimbro was accused and investigated by police for sexual assault by two brave young women. And unexplainably, both cases were dropped, thus allowing Reggie Kimbro to continue his predatory ways.”

This story was originally published June 15, 2017 at 11:33 AM with the headline "Man accused in rape, slayings of two women charged in 2014 rape."