SALT LAKE CITY -
A man who was found guilty in the brutal rape of a University of Utah student in 1996 was sentenced Friday. Donald Eugene Younge, 43, was sentenced to two terms of 15 years to life which will run consecutively. The victim has attacked in a dark alley in November of that year. She never got a good look at Younge's face, but there was DNA evidence. In 2000, the DNA was compared to a database maintained by the FBI, and police learned the rapist's identity. Younge was extradited from Illinois to Utah in 2009 and convicted of rape in December. Christine Ortega, a Special Victims Unit Prosecutor, said the rape was the most brutal one she had ever seen in her career.
"The community has this vision of what a rape is. This is exactly what it was. It was a stranger in a dark alley, but it became so much more violent," Ortega said. "I think the court did an excellent job of justifying the aggravating factors and finding that [Younge's sentences] should be consecutive."
The DNA evidence collected in 1996 has also been connected to the 1999 murder of Amy Quinton, another University of Utah co-ed. Younge's trial for the Quinton murder is expected to be held in 2011.
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"The community has this vision of what a rape is. This is exactly what it was. It was a stranger in a dark alley, but it became so much more violent," Ortega said. "I think the court did an excellent job of justifying the aggravating factors and finding that [Younge's sentences] should be consecutive."
The DNA evidence collected in 1996 has also been connected to the 1999 murder of Amy Quinton, another University of Utah co-ed. Younge's trial for the Quinton murder is expected to be held in 2011.
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