Police made an arrest today in a 14-year-old rape case. Investigators believe Robert Burdick of South Nashville committed more than a dozen rapes since 1994 in Nashville, Brentwood and Mt. Juliet.
Burdick was stopped early Monday morning in the Meadowlake subdivision of Brentwood with a black mask and a flashlight. He wouldn’t allow the police to search his car and was not arrested, but somehow the Brentwood officer was able to retrieve DNA evidence from the 38-year-old man. The TBI crime lab confirmed this morning that the DNA matched that of the so-called “Wooded Rapist.”
Metro Police chief Ronal Serpas says after being picked up on I-24 this afternoon, Burdick hasn’t said a word to investigators.
“DNA evidence has linked him to at least six of the indictments that are forthcoming today. Essentially DNA means this: if it identifies you, that’s against the known population of the history of the world.”
Burdick has not been charged in seven other cases in which he’s a suspect. The most recent is a February 1st rape of a 16-year-old girl in Wilson County.
Police say Burdick is a principal in WB Technologies, a company on Murfreesboro Pike that specializes in burglar alarms.
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