A man was sentenced to life without parole and three other life sentences this week in Gwinnett County after he was convicted of raping a woman who lived across the street.
In May 2015, D’andre Satcher forced his way into the home of the 33-year-old Snellville woman, repeatedly raped her and threatened to kill her if she told police about the incident, according to a summary of trial evidence provided by prosecutors.
The case was “one of the most horrifying stories I’ve heard in all my years,” Judge Robert Mock Sr. said.
The woman called 911 as she hid in her closet after Satcher entered her home, according to testimony, but the phone was hung up during the call. Responding Gwinnett officers could not find the location of the incident.
The woman made a report to police, but no suspects were found at the time.
However, 18 days after the incident, the victim’s father went to the home, where she no longer lived, to meet with an alarm company, according to evidence. The father was accosted by a man who said he was a friend of the rapist who was sent to “take care of business.”
The man held the father at knifepoint in a bathroom until the father convinced the man to leave.
The next day, police got a fingerprint belonging to Satcher, who lived across the street, from the rape scene, according to testimony. When police searched Satcher’s home, they found a shirt belonging to the victim, a pair of gloves with the victim’s father’s blood on them, and a note instructing the victim to call the detective and recant her story.
Police also got samples of Satcher’s DNA, which matched blood found on the woman’s broken window and in the closet where the rape occurred, prosecutors said.
When Satcher was interviewed by police during the search, he said he had never met the victim and had never been to her house.
Satcher also was convicted of three counts of aggravated sodomy, burglary and false imprisonment after the four-day trial. He is to serve the sentences consecutively.
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