An alleged serial rapist suspected in cases in Fort Worth, Dallas and Houston was arrested earlier this month in southern Texas, Fort Worth police said Wednesday.
Donnell Franklin Oduah was arrested Oct. 15 in Refugio County and is currently in the Refugio County jail in lieu of $30,000 bail. He faces a charge of aggravated sexual assault.
Fort Worth police were first made aware of Oduah's crimes in March 2015, when they say he met his victim at a cabaret in on Belknap Street near downtown Fort Worth, officials said in a news release.
The victim told police that Oduah went to the club often and said his name was "T." He gave the victim a ride home and ended up going to a local motel. He didn't have any ID, so the victim rented the room, the news release says.
Oduah then forced the victim to perform sex acts at gunpoint, according to police.
Oduah used the same method for his crimes at least five more times, according to the Fort Worth police. His DNA was a match in a case the Dallas police were investigating in July 2020, and Dallas police told Fort Worth cold case detectives that Oduah's DNA was in their system from several instances in 2012 and 2013 where he committed similar crimes.
Houston police also told the Fort Worth police they had five cases that matched Oduah's description from 2005-2013 and was convicted of one of those cases in 2018. As a result, he was required to register as a sex offender and was living in Houston.
He was arrested Oct. 15 in Refugio County, 350 miles away from Tarrant County.
Fort Worth police are asking anyone who may have been a victim of sexual assault at the hands of Oduah to contact Crime Stoppers at 817-469-TIPS or submit a tip at www.469tips.com. Victims can also call 817-392-4351 or email SCRAM@fortworthtexas.gov.
