Bristol Co. rape suspect from the 1990’s held without bail

By: News Staff

Email: news@abc6.com

Twitter: @ABC6

FALL RIVER, M.A. (WLNE) – 61-year-old Ivan Keith was held without bail after arrested in connection with two cold case rapes in Bristol County from the late ’90s.

Keith was said to be living under an alias in northern Maine when new DNA evidence led to his arrest in August, according to prosecutors.

He pled not guilty to the two rapes in Bristol County from 1997 and 1998.

Keith fled Massachusetts sometime in 2003 to get out of giving a DNA sample.

Keith was arrested in northern Maine on his brother’s 50-acre property, living in a cabin.

Prosecutors say Keith brutally raped a woman near the track of a Taunton high school in 1997, and then in Easton one year later he raped a woman at a business.

New DNA technology that led right to Keith started with a first cousin out in California, and after piecing together the facts investigators determined he was the man they were looking for.

Police say Keith told them that he knew this day would come, but his attorney denies the allegations.

Investigators were able to obtain the evidence they needed from a vaping pipe that police took from him during his arrest.

In court, prosecutors said that the entire Earth’s population would have to multiply 500 times before they could find another possible suspect.

Keith’s attorney argued for a substantial bail, saying that just because a case looks strong on day one, it doesn’t mean it would be the same come trial.

A judge ultimately ruled that Keith be held without bail saying that it was a “very strong case with DNA.”

Keith is also being tied to two other rapes out of Plymouth and Norfolk Counties.

Keith was ruled a flight risk and a danger to the public, meaning he will be held until his trial.

He’s due back in court Dec. 9.

© WLNE-TV / ABC6 2019