Cranberry Police Use DNA Evidence to Make Arrest in 2002 Rape Case

Using new DNA evidence, Cranberry police have arrested and charged Ralph S. Skundrich in the 2002 rape of a woman in the Village of Laurelwood Apartments complex in Cranberry Township.

Skundrich, 45, who has resided in Valencia in Butler County and in Westmoreland County, currently is behind bars on unrelated charges following a four-year manhunt. According to WTAE, Skundrich was on house arrest in South Greensburg in 2005 and awaiting trial in connection with a plot to rob an Indiana County businessman of $1 million when he disappeared.

After Skundrich was featured in an episode of America’s Most Wanted, a tip from a viewer led to his arrest in 2009 in Pompano Beach, FL.

Sgt. Chuck Mascellino said testing performed after Skundrich's arrest showed his DNA matched evidence in the Cranberry case.

State police contacted Cranberry on March 8, 2010 after lab work showed DNA from Skundrich could not be eliminated from consideration in the 2002 assault. After obtaining a search warrant and taking more DNA samples, Cranberry police filed charges against Skundrich.

In the 2002 assault, the victim told officers she was asleep in her room about 2 a.m. on June 6 when she was awakened by a man standing over her, police said. The man threatened to kill her and her young child, who was asleep in the nearby living room, police said.

After he raped her, the man said he would come back and hurt the woman and her child if she called the police, the woman told investigators. She called 911  after he left the apartment.

Evidence collected from the scene was submitted to the Pennsylvania State Police Crime and DNA laboratories for testing. At the time, the evidence did not match samples already collected and filed by law enforcement agencies, police said.

Skundrich has been convicted on drug and other charges in Butler and Westmoreland counties.