One year after a brutal attempted homicide on the Capital City Bike Path, near Livingston Street, Madison Police Chief Mike Koval stood in the same spot Monday, holding a composite sketch of the still yet-to-be-found suspect.
Koval said the incident was one of the worst attempted homicides he had ever seen in his career, and the city has ever seen.
“It was the most heinous crime I had seen committed with a survivor with the extent of her injuries,” Koval said.
The victim, a 33-year-old female University of Wisconsin graduate student, was attacked from behind and dragged into the brush, before being strangled, beaten and sexually assaulted.
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Koval said the suspect probably left her for dead, but she was able to drag herself up from the bramble, where a citizen was able to help her and call 911.
Koval said police are in still in contact with the victim and her mother.
“They’re not just statistics, they’re not just victims,” Koval said. “They’ve become very real to us and extended persons of our family.”
Koval said she is most likely still in recovery not only from some physical injuries, but also emotional trauma. He said she is trying to get some semblance of normalcy in her life.
Last month, detectives helped her gather personal effects as she prepares to move to a new state.
Koval said there are still two detectives actively looking for the suspect. He said the Madison Police Department is hoping the forensic evidence will help find the suspect.
Koval said they found a suspect in Jolietville, Indiana, but the forensic evidence did not match him.
MPD is enlisting the help of the community to identify a person of interest based on a composite sketch from a witness.
“We want to jumpstart and again get some lead action flowing to us,” Koval said. “We are probably working on a week-to-week basis of constantly looking at potential suspects.”
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The person of interest is described as a Latino or light complected black male, about 25 years old, 5’7″ with an average build.
