SHELBYVILLE — Shelby County authorities believe they have the man suspected in a series of rapes, assaults and other crimes dating back to 1982.
Tuesday, Shelby County Prosecutor Brad Landwerlen announced the arrest of 57-year-old Steven Ray Hessler of Greensburg, in neighboring Decatur County.
Through DNA evidence, Hessler was linked to crimes in Shelbyville and Shelby County between 1982 and 1985.
He's being held in the Shelby County Jail and faces a total of 24 charges, including two counts of rape, seven counts of burglary, nine counts of deviate conduct, robbery, theft and criminal confinement.
At an initial hearing Tuesday, Shelby Circuit Judge Trent Meltzer appointed a public defender for Hessler, and set his bond at $20 million.
According to the probable cause affidavit from the prosecutor, there were seven incidents involving 10 victims between August of 1982 and August of 1985—all in Shelby County.
In each case, Hessler allegedly broke into houses at night, often when the victims were sleeping, some with children in the house. Nine of the ten victims were women. At gun or knifepoint, some of the women were raped or assaulted. Hessler allegedly threatened to harm the children if the women did not go along with his demands.
In the last incident, Hessler allegedly broke into a home where he assaulted a woman and repeatedly struck her husband with a gun, causing permanent brain damage.
The victims reported Hessler being in their homes anywhere from five to just under two hours. He would often lecture the women on financial responsibility and home security and would use a camera he had to take photos of his victims.
Local, county, state and federal agencies worked on the cases for years, but it was through recent DNA evidence that Hessler was connected to the crimes.
According to the probable cause, detectives already had DNA on file from one of the assaults, without a match. But, within the last year, new technology identified Hessler as a possible suspect.
Investigators went back and found an interview conducted in 1986 with a prison inmate who said he had been "associated" with Hessler. In the interview, the informant provided enough information to lead detectives to Hessler as their suspect.
Investigators now needed a recent DNA sample. They got it off a check Hessler had used to make a utility payment. It was a match, according to Prosecutor Landwerlen.
Hessler was arrested in Greensburg. His trial is set for next year, with a pre-trial hearing on October 1.
