DNA analysis: Suspected Perth rapist linked to gruesome attacks

An Uber Eats driver allegedly responsible for the rape and assault of two teenagers 33 years ago has been released on bail while details of the alleged savage attacks are recounted in court.

Kevin Combes, 54, was arrested and charged by police on Wednesday after genetic genealogy investigations allegedly linked him to the sexual assault of a 17-year-old woman in Kalgoorlie in 1991 and a 19-year-old woman in Perth’s central business district in 1990.

According to police, the 19-year-old victim was leaving a bar on Barrack Street shortly after midnight in June 1990 when she was grabbed and dragged into a dark alley where a knife was pressed to her throat.

She was told to take off her clothes and lie on her stomach before she was raped.

According to police, Combes, then 20, then told the woman, “If you scream, I’ll kill you,” as she tried to negotiate with him until he let her go.

Police allege that Combes, who is now married with seven children, raped the woman before letting her go.

She reported the crime, but police had difficulty finding her attacker until DNA collected on the day of the attack allegedly linked her to Combes, leading to his recent arrest.

Police also linked him to a second sexual assault that took place in Kalgoorlie in February 1991, eight months after the Perth attack.

They say Combes got a 17-year-old girl to give him a ride before forcing her into the trunk of his car at knifepoint and then driving her to a remote area in Boulder where he raped her.