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Oak View man faces charges in rape-murder
By Bret Bradigan
Oak View resident Douglas Edward
Dworak, 37, was charged today with the 2001 forcible rape and
murder of an 18-year-old woman.
Dworak was arrested Tuesday morning in Ventura after a 26-month-long
investigation into the death of Crystal Hamilton, of Port Hueneme,
who was 18 at the time of her April 22, 2001 rape and murder.
Hamilton's body was found floating in the early morning hours
by a fisherman along the shores of Mussel Shoals Beach.
The Ventura County Medical Examiners Office discovered seminal
fluid in her body, which was then submitted to the county's crime
lab for DNA analysis. That DNA profile was then matched against
the U.S. Department of Justice Combined DNA Index System, or
CODIS. The profile, according to media release from the Ventura
County Sheriff, matched up with a DNA profile of Dworak.
This is the first "hit"
on the CODIS system for county crime lab since it implemented
the system in January 2002. There have been three more since.
Hamilton's rape and murder investigation was assigned to the
Major Crimes Division. Detective Ernie Montagna said that the
CODIS "hit" was not enough to arrest Dworak, "but
it gave us a very obvious direction." Lead detectives Montagna
and Deborah Rubright then interviewed witnesses, conducted searches
and pursued other leads.
According to the media release, it appeared that Hamilton was
visiting friends in Ventura earlier that day, and called her
father for a ride home later that evening. When he arrived, she
was missing.
Montagna said it appeared to the investigators that Hamilton
and Dworak were not known to each other before the crimes.
The arrest involved staff from Major Crimes, Bureau of Identification,
West County Patrol, Aviation Unit, a K-9 unit, and officers from
the Ojai Police Department. Detective Joe Evans with the Ojai
Police Department described their involvement in the case as
minimal, involving some surveillance of the Oak View residence.
Dworak, a registered serious sex offender, has lived in Oak View
for "several years" said Montagna.
© 2003
The Ojai Valley News
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