Alleged serial rapist in custody, accused in Fort Worth 2010, 2011 cold cases
An alleged serial rapist who is accused of attacking women in 2010 and 2011 in Fort Worth was in custody Thursday after detectives say DNA linked him to the crimes.
An additional 2011 Fort Worth case also has been linked to the suspect, Pedro Samarrippas, who lived in the Fort Worth area from 2003 to 2014, Fort Worth police said.
Detectives believe that there could be more victims of crimes committed by the suspect during the time he lived in the Fort Worth area.
Samarrippas also is a suspect in a 2002 sexual assault in McAllen, Texas, where he was recently arrested.
Samarrippas was in the Fort Worth Jail on Thursday after detectives brought him back to Tarrant County to face charges in the sexual assault cold cases.
Samarrippas was arrested Feb. 24 in McAllen on two Fort Worth warrants for sexual assault.
Fort Worth police did not release any details on the two attacks which occurred in 2010 and 2011.
Police officials said that the Texas Rangers had received a grant allowing police agencies like Fort Worth to conduct comparisons of unknown DNA through the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) to help identify suspects in unsolved sexual assault cases.
That’s what was used to track down Samarrippas, Fort Worth police said.
Fort Worth Detective Kerry Adcock and Texas Rangers Lt. T. Gooding began working on the case in May 2020.
“They were able to link the two Fort Worth cases to another cold case that occurred in McAllen, Texas in 2002,” according to a Thursday Fort Worth police news release. “These cases were linked through the same male DNA, but the suspect had not been identified.”
During the cold case investigation, Adcock was able to identify one suspect, Samarrippas, who had lived near Fort Worth and McAllen at the time of the crimes.
In December 2020, Texas Ranger E. Escalon located Samarrippas in San Juan, Texas, and obtained his DNA through a search warrant.
Samarrippas’ DNA was tested and it matched the suspect in the Fort Worth cold cases, according to the news release.
Samarrippas was taken into custody by agents with the U.S. Border Patrol while he was entering Mexico.
Because Fort Worth detectives believe there could be more victims in the area, authorities provided a description of Samarrippas. He would have been 38 or 39 years old in 2010 and 2011, weighing about 220 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. He is about 5 feet 3 inches tall.
Samarrippas has tattoos on the back of both hands, the word “ESPINOZA” in old English letters tattooed on his stomach and the word “PETRA” in script letters tattooed on his chest.
He also has a woman wearing a sombrero tattooed on his right calf and a nude woman tattooed on his left calf, according to Fort Worth police.
Police said they did not release a mugshot of Samarrippas because they may need to use his image in a photo lineup for other potential victims.
Samarrippas was driving a “reddish” 1991 model four-door sedan in 2010 and 2011.
Fort Worth police asked that anyone who may have been a victim of Samarrippas to call at 817-392-4351 or Tarrant County Crime Stoppers at 817-469-8477.
This story was originally published March 4, 2021 at 11:19 AM.
