Man charged in 2003 rape

Eight years ago, a 25-year-old Chico woman went home to her Normal Avenue apartment one evening with groceries, inadvertently left the key in her front door, and woke up with a knife to her throat. A man had entered her house, and she was raped. No suspects were arrested at the time, though police were able to gather DNA evidence at the scene.

This week, the Chico Police Department arrested Glenn Leland Simpson after his DNA turned up on a national database as a match to the 2003 crime. Simpson, a 31-year resident of Paradise, was required to supply a DNA sample after being convicted recently in Utah for transportation of marijuana.

“He did not come up on our radar until recently,” explained Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey. Simpson, 58, has no criminal history in Butte County. He is charged with seven felony counts in connection with the Aug. 11, 2003, sexual assault and is scheduled to enter a plea in court today (July 21).