‘NorCal rapist’ found guilty in attacks on nine women over 15 years

A California monster who raped nine women in their homes over a 15-year span was found guilty this week.

Roy Charles Waller — who previously worked as a safety specialist at the University of California in Berkeley —  was found guilty Wednesday on all 46 counts he faced by a Sacramento jury that deliberated for just over two hours the day before, the Sacramento Bee reported.

Waller, 60, of Benicia — nicknamed the “NorCal rapist” —   now faces life in prison at his scheduled sentencing on Dec. 18. He looked down at the defendant’s table as the verdict was read and showed no emotion, the newspaper reported.

Authorities and jurors said DNA evidence was critical to the case.

Waller had insisted he was innocent since his arrest in September 2018, despite genetic material found at all but one of the crime scenes that linked him to the attacks in cities from Rohnert Park to Chico to Sacramento, according to prosecutors Chris Ore and Keith Hill.

“We’re just grateful that justice has been done for the victims through DNA,” Ore told the newspaper.

Waller’s first known victim, Nicole Earnest-Payte, who was attacked inside her Rohnert Park home in 1991, said she was “grateful to all involved” in Waller’s conviction.

“A lot of work went into solving this case,” she told the newspaper. “It’s a good day.”

Waller’s testimony was particularly damning, especially how he failed to explain how his DNA was found at the crime scenes, one juror said.

“That really hurt him, his testimony he could not prove nothing,” the juror told the newspaper. “And DNA don’t lie. That was the reason why.”

Prosecutors said Waller kept “rape kits” comprised of duct tape, zip ties, handcuffs and other items found in two storage lockers that belonged to him.

Waller also targeted Asian women and studied their routines before breaking into homes and raping them, prosecutors said.

Investigators identified Waller as a suspect in the string of rapes using public genealogy website GEDmatch, which was also used to arrest “Golden State Killer” Joseph DeAngelo, NBC News reported.

The 75-year-old former police officer is now serving multiple life terms after pleading guilty in June to 13 murders and 13 rape-related charges from the 1970s and 1980s.

“DNA technology is the greatest tool given to the justice system to exonerate the innocent and convict the guilty,” Sacramento County Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Grippi said in a statement. “Justice in this case was a long time in the making.”

Waller’s attorney, Joseph Farina, declined to comment Wednesday, the Sacramento Bee reported.

With Post wires