Kurt Rillema, 51 (Oakland County Sheriff’s Office)
On September 6, 1999, a 22-year-old woman was working at a food stand at the Twin Lakes Golf Club in Oakland Township, Michigan. An unknown male entered into an employee-only restricted area through an employee-only door and violently raped and assault the young woman.
The suspect took off, but left DNA behind at the crime scene. The DNA was uploaded to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) but law enforcement investigators could not find a match.
Nine months later, on July 27, 2000, a 19-year-old woman was jogging near the 18th hole of the Blue Course at Pennsylvania State University when she was approached by a man who asked if she had a Band-Aid and knew directions to the clubhouse. The young woman told the man she couldn’t help him and tried to continue jogging, but the man held a knife to her throat and dragged her off toward a wooded area. The woman told police the man punched her in the stomach and raped her.
The suspect demanded the victim keep quiet and took off — leaving behind his DNA at the crime scene.
In 2004, CODIS linked the DNA from the 1999 rape in Michigan to the 2000 rape in Pennsylvania — but no specific match could be made to the suspect.
In two separate press conferences last week, investigators confirmed that in July 2021, the Penn State Police Department began working with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office to see if they could nail down a suspect using advanced DNA technology. Detectives partnered with Parabon Nanolabs, which is a “vertically integrated DNA technology company that develops next-generation therapeutic and forensic products by leveraging the enormous power of DNA.”
Genealogy results narrowed down the DNA to three potential suspects — all brothers, according to police. When detectives began investigating the brothers, they zeroed in on Kurt Rillema, 51. At the time of the Michigan rape, court documents show Rillema allegedly lived near the Twin Lakes Golf Course and was potentially visiting his brother, who attended Penn State, at the time of the 2000 rape case.
DNA extracted from a styrofoam coffee cup Rillema had been drinking out of matched him to the DNA collected from both golf course rapes, investigators said. Rillema is currently living in West Bloomfield, police confirmed in a press conference.
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In Michigan, Rillema has been charged with first and second degree felony criminal sexual conduct. In Pennsylvania, Rillema will be charged with felony counts of rape, sexual assault and aggravated indecent assault.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael K. Bouchard said Rillema is an “avid golfer” and has golfed all around the country. He is asking any potential victims who may have been assaulted in similar circumstances at similar locations to file a police report and reach out to the sheriff’s office.
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