"I wasn't lying:" Accused serial rapist's victim says no one believed her...until now
“I wasn`t lying:” Accused serial rapist`s victim says no one believed heruntil now
"I wasn`t lying:" Accused serial rapist`s victim says no one believed heruntil now
RACINE (WITI) -- Talk to any lawyer, and they will tell you there is no certainty when it comes to a jury. A rape victim says she was sure authorities caught her attacker -- but he walked free! Now, new DNA technology may finally convict the accused serial rapist.
Michael Dixon is accused of raping multiple women over a span of more than a decade. One woman thought his terror was finally over. Now, she says the system that failed her may finally bring justice.
"I was coming home from my grandmother`s house. It was plenty of traffic going on. All of a sudden, someone came from behind me," the woman said.
For her protection, we are not naming this woman.
For nearly two years, she says it's been hard to find people who will believe her story.
"The person put me in this car. What I noticed he had was a knife. Put the knife right up to the temple of my chest," the woman said.
The woman says after being forced into the car at knife-point, she was raped.
"Literally my life flashed before my eyes," the woman said.
She was dropped off near her mother's house.
"That night, I was like a little kid when I went to home, and she called the police," the woman said.
After catching half of his license plate, police tracked down 38-year-old Michael Dixon. He admitted to sex, but his story was much different.
According to a criminal complaint, Dixon told authorities the woman was a prostitute who became angry when he "couldn't find the money."
The woman had no history of prostitution, and investigators found a knife in Dixon's car.
In January of 2013, a jury of his peers found Dixon not guilty on four felony charges.
"My family didn't believe me," the woman said.
For two years, there has been doubt...until now.
Dixon was charged last week after new DNA technology linked him to several rapes over a span of more than a decade. Prosecutors say they now have the evidence needed to prove Dixon is a serial rapist.
"I was sleeping in the bed with my momma for almost seven months after this happened," the woman said.
The woman says she will never be the same. After doing everything right and coming up empty, the woman says when it comes to that old saying about truth -- that it will set you free, she may have some renewed faith.
"Now my family really knows I wasn't lying," the woman said.
Prosecutors say they were finally able to nab Dixon using a new technology called "familial search software."
Prosecutors say they knew several women were victims of a serial rapist, but the suspect's DNA wasn't on file with the Wisconsin Crime Lab. Instead, one of Dixon's relatives was.
The new software was able to pinpoint Dixon as the suspect.
This is the first time this technology has been used in Wisconsin.
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