ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Edward Duran stopped his trial before witnesses were able to take the stand, pleading no contest to multiple counts of raping six women.

This isn’t Duran’s first run-in with the law. He had already been convicted of rape in 1979 and 1989. He served six months each time. 

In 2021, the district attorney’s office was able to link Duran to rapes from 1992 to 1997 after getting a federal grant to clear the backlog from the state crime lab.

Law enforcement used family tree databases and genealogy to connect Duran’s DNA back to a 1997 crime scene. Then Bernalillo County District Attorney Raúl Torrez explained the process.

“Usually forensic genealogy will narrow the range of suspects to a particular person or group of individuals within a family line, and then it comes back to our office to then conduct additional investigative work,” said Torrez. 

In this case, law enforcement were able to collect Duran’s used fork from an Albuquerque restaurant.

Prosecutors’ timeline shows Duran committed some of these crimes while awaiting trial for the 1989 case.

Duran is charged with 15 counts of first-degree sexual penetration. The DA’s office says in all of the crimes, Duran broke into his victim’s apartments, threatened them with a knife and raped them.

One of the victims was schedule to testify in court Friday when Duran stopped the trial and pleaded no contest. That means he will accept the charges without admitting guilt. 

He faces up to 270 years in prison. A sentencing date hasn’t been set for Duran yet.