Feb 6, 2008 3:18 am US/Central
Trial Begins For North Side Serial Rapist
One Victim's Chilling Testimony Heard Tuesday
CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―
It's every woman's nightmare.
About 3 a.m. one February morning in 2004, a woman heard a noise downstairs in her Lincoln Park apartment. Then came the sound of footsteps on the stairs. When the intruder got to her room, she begged him not to harm her.
"He said, 'Shut up. I'll hurt you'," the woman testified Tuesday.
Mario Villa, 41, went on trial Tuesday for allegedly raping the woman, now 27. Once dubbed "the North Side rapist," Villa is charged with a series of six rapes that typically followed a pattern: He would break into a woman's apartment about 3 a.m., rape her, then order her to take a shower.
Assistant State's Attorney Patricia Shea said the Lincoln Park woman -- and two other alleged victims -- picked Villa out of a lineup. DNA collected from the Lincoln Park assault matched Villa's, Shea said.
"He was that stranger. He was that intruder," Shea said.
Villa's lawyer Jed Stone told jurors the attack "did not result in bodily harm," though he conceded it was "disgusting."
The 27-year-old victim grew tearful as she described being awakened by a noise in her apartment in the 2000 block of North Cleveland.
"I couldn't move, I was so scared," she said.
During the rape, "he made a comment that I'm pretty, and why didn't I have a boyfriend," the woman said.
After the intruder ordered her into the shower, the woman heard him leave, she said. She got out of the shower and called 911, the woman said. She later discovered her cell phone and $120 were missing.
Two other women also testified Villa broke into their apartments while they were sleeping, raped them and then ordered them into the shower.
Villa, of the 4300 block of South Sawyer, is charged with those nearly identical home invasions and rapes, which took place Oct. 29, 2003, in the 3500 block of North Greenview, and May 26, 2002, in the 1300 block of North Greenview. He will be tried for those rapes later, Shea said.
In all, he is charged with six rapes from 1999 to 2004.
Villa admitted to police he raped the Lincoln Park victim, according to Shea. He could face up to 120 years in prison if convicted in this case, the first for which he is standing trial.
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(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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