Guthrie man arrested for 1997 Christmas Day rape of elderly woman

DNA evidence has led to an arrest of a Guthrie man in the case involving a Christmas Day rape and beating of an 85-year-old woman in 1997.

OSBI agents arrested David Jerome Stephens, II, 35, for sexually assaulting and beating an 85-year-old woman. He was arrested Wednesday evening at his home located at 11775 Red Cedar Road in Guthrie.

Accoriding to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations, an OSBI DNA analyst alerted the OSBI case agent of a DNA hit on the case from the Combined DNA Index System. Days before the statute of limitations would have run out, that agent filed a John Doe warrant based off a DNA profile collected from the rape victim. The warrant allowed the case to legally remain active.

“Someone has been charged, and his DNA is what has been charged,” OSBI spokeswoman Jessica Brown said in a 2009 press conference. “That is a profile. That is him. That is only him. And that is why we filed this ‘John Doe’ warrant.”

Moena House was beaten with a pipe and sexually assaulted Christmas morning inside her Guthrie home after giving in to her attacker’s demands for money ($80 in cash from a Christmas present).

House who was an avid gardener, died in 2008.

DNA was collected from Stephens for a 2013 conviction of possession of a controlled dangerous drug within 1000 feet of a school/park/child. He pled guilty to four charges and was sentenced to 15 years with the Department of Corrections with the term suspended except for 120 days in jail.

Stephens has a lengthy arrest record starting in 1997.