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Cases solved
  
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By Jamie Nash
Three suspects in two unrelated sexual assault cases and a bank robbery case that date back several years have been arrested after they were linked to unsolved cases using DNA testing.
William Michael Proctor, 30, was charged with aggravated robbery of a bank, a first-degree felony; David Early Cooksey Jr., 25, was charged with burglary of a habitation with intent to commit sexual assault, a first-degree felony; and Galen “Buddy” Dwayne Baugus, 29, of Conroe, was charged with sexual assault, a second-degree felony.
The investigations were conducted by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Squad and were funded under an October 2007 federal grant from the National Institute of Justice, said Capt. Bruce Zenor. The Cold Case Squad investigates unsolved homicides and select violent crimes where DNA evidence may exist.
The robbery case resulting in Baugus’s arrest was “good police work,” Zenor said, since there was little evidence to test.
“Technology has become so precise,” Zenor said. “At one time, you had to have a large stain and now a sample can be the size of the head of a pin.”
Proctor was allegedly one of three men who robbed Klein Bank inside the Kroger grocery store on Sawdust Road on March 12, 2003. Evidence collected from the abandoned getaway car included a ski mask, which was subsequently tested for DNA and produced a “hit” in the Combined DNA Index System. The DNA allegedly linked the mask to Proctor, who was already incarcerated in Harris County in connection with a 2008 murder that occurred during a robbery in Houston, according to a press release from MCSO Cold Case Detective Thomas Duroy.
MCSO detectives are investigating the possibility that Baugus is linked to another armed robbery at the same bank, the release stated.
Cooksey was charged in relation to an Oct. 1, 2006 incident at a residence on Research Forest Drive in The Woodlands when a 19-year-old woman was sexually assaulted. The rapist cut the teen with a box cutter and stuffed a rag in her mouth, then covered her face with a ball cap to muffle her screams.
Evidence from the cap was sent to Sorenson Forensics in Utah, which forwarded the findings to the Texas Department of Public Safety lab in Houston. When the DNA profile was entered into the database, there was a “hit” on Cooksey, who was already serving time for three sexual assaults in Harris County during the same period.
He is believed to be a serial offender, according to Duroy’s release.
Baugus was arrested on Sept. 9 at his Conroe home in connection with the June 3, 2001 sexual assault of a 19-year-old female at a residence on Curry Road in Conroe. The attacker left the scene and the case went cold until this year, when the Combined DNA Index System linked evidence from the case to a 2003 sexual assault in Harris County, listing Baugus as a suspect.
After detectives obtained a DNA sample from Baugus, the connection was verified and Baugus was arrested.
Since its formation in March 2006, the Cold Case Squad has solved six cold cases and has one that should be cleared soon, according to Zenor.
The increase in funding, which came through a September 2007 federal grant, has been a “tremendous help” in making progress in cold cases, primarily because private labs can be used instead of sending everything to the Texas Department of Public Safety crime lab that is already inundated, Zenor said.
Anyone with information concerning an unsolved homicide or other violent crime is urged to call (936) 760-5837 or contact Montgomery County Crime Stoppers, 1-800-392-STOP (7867), www.montgomerycountycrimestoppers,org.
Jamie Nash can be reached at jnash@hcnonline.com.
William Michael Proctor, 30, was charged with aggravated robbery of a bank, a first-degree felony; David Early Cooksey Jr., 25, was charged with burglary of a habitation with intent to commit sexual assault, a first-degree felony; and Galen “Buddy” Dwayne Baugus, 29, of Conroe, was charged with sexual assault, a second-degree felony.
The investigations were conducted by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Squad and were funded under an October 2007 federal grant from the National Institute of Justice, said Capt. Bruce Zenor. The Cold Case Squad investigates unsolved homicides and select violent crimes where DNA evidence may exist.
The robbery case resulting in Baugus’s arrest was “good police work,” Zenor said, since there was little evidence to test.
“Technology has become so precise,” Zenor said. “At one time, you had to have a large stain and now a sample can be the size of the head of a pin.”
Proctor was allegedly one of three men who robbed Klein Bank inside the Kroger grocery store on Sawdust Road on March 12, 2003. Evidence collected from the abandoned getaway car included a ski mask, which was subsequently tested for DNA and produced a “hit” in the Combined DNA Index System. The DNA allegedly linked the mask to Proctor, who was already incarcerated in Harris County in connection with a 2008 murder that occurred during a robbery in Houston, according to a press release from MCSO Cold Case Detective Thomas Duroy.
MCSO detectives are investigating the possibility that Baugus is linked to another armed robbery at the same bank, the release stated.
Cooksey was charged in relation to an Oct. 1, 2006 incident at a residence on Research Forest Drive in The Woodlands when a 19-year-old woman was sexually assaulted. The rapist cut the teen with a box cutter and stuffed a rag in her mouth, then covered her face with a ball cap to muffle her screams.
Evidence from the cap was sent to Sorenson Forensics in Utah, which forwarded the findings to the Texas Department of Public Safety lab in Houston. When the DNA profile was entered into the database, there was a “hit” on Cooksey, who was already serving time for three sexual assaults in Harris County during the same period.
He is believed to be a serial offender, according to Duroy’s release.
Baugus was arrested on Sept. 9 at his Conroe home in connection with the June 3, 2001 sexual assault of a 19-year-old female at a residence on Curry Road in Conroe. The attacker left the scene and the case went cold until this year, when the Combined DNA Index System linked evidence from the case to a 2003 sexual assault in Harris County, listing Baugus as a suspect.
After detectives obtained a DNA sample from Baugus, the connection was verified and Baugus was arrested.
Since its formation in March 2006, the Cold Case Squad has solved six cold cases and has one that should be cleared soon, according to Zenor.
The increase in funding, which came through a September 2007 federal grant, has been a “tremendous help” in making progress in cold cases, primarily because private labs can be used instead of sending everything to the Texas Department of Public Safety crime lab that is already inundated, Zenor said.
Anyone with information concerning an unsolved homicide or other violent crime is urged to call (936) 760-5837 or contact Montgomery County Crime Stoppers, 1-800-392-STOP (7867), www.montgomerycountycrimestoppers,org.
Jamie Nash can be reached at jnash@hcnonline.com.
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