Trigger Warning: Rape

Man Serving Sentence for 1994 Cold Case Rape Pleads Guilty to 1992 Rape Thanks to DNA Testing From VA OAG Sexual Assault Kit Initiative

NORFOLK, Va. — Linwood Scott Jr., 72 — who is currently serving a 30-year sentence for a 1994 cold case rape of which a jury found him guilty in 2022 — pleaded guilty on Monday, Oct. 28, to having raped another woman in a 1992 cold case. Mr. Scott was sentenced per his plea agreement to serve 30 years in prison for the 1992 case, five years of which will be served consecutively to his sentence from the 1994 case.

The identification of Mr. Scott in the 1992 case was made possible thanks to the grant-funded Virginia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) by the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia and its partners, which implemented new and comprehensive procedures in recent years for testing a statewide backlog of physical evidence recovery kits (PERKs) from cold cases.

During the early morning hours of Sept. 27, 1992, Mr. Scott entered the apartment of Shawn Kuzel*, in the Ghent section of Norfolk while Ms. Kuzel was sleeping. Mr. Scott took a knife from the kitchen, stole cash from inside a purse, and went into Ms. Kuzel’s bedroom. Mr. Scott awakened Ms. Kuzel and took her to her living room, where he raped her at knife point. Mr. Scott cut Ms. Kuzel’s hand with the knife as she attempted to fight him off. Mr. Scott asked if there was anyone else home, and Ms. Kuzel said no in order to protect her roommate, who was asleep in another bedroom. After the attack, Mr. Scott left the apartment, and Ms. Kuzel awakened her roommate and called the Norfolk Police.

Ms. Kuzel was treated at a local emergency room where she received stitches for the wound to her hand and underwent a sexual assault nurse examination, during which the nurse recovered Mr. Scott’s semen. The DNA testing done at the time produced no leads on a suspect for the police to investigate, and the case went cold.

The national SAKI program has been awarding grant funds to the Virginia OAG since 2016 to identify untested DNA evidence from PERKs, inventory them, have them tested, and support the prosecution of criminal cases that emerge from them. After another round of funding in 2020 to enhance those statewide capabilities, Norfolk Police investigators conducted a hands-on inventory of PERKs from 1990s cold cases and identified any that needed additional testing to locate a suspect. That inventory included Ms. Kuzel’s PERK from the Sept. 27, 1992, incident.

In 2023, Norfolk investigators submitted that 1992 PERK for re-testing. This time, the semen produced a DNA match with Mr. Scott. Based on that information, and after speaking with Ms. Kuzel and the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, the investigators secured charges against Mr. Scott for rape, attempted forcible sodomy, burglary, abduction with intent to defile, and malicious wounding.

By then, a Norfolk jury had convicted Mr. Scott in 2022 of rape, burglary, and abduction with intent to defile in a similar cold case from 1994. The DNA from that case was tested at the behest of the victim, who called Norfolk Police in 2019 after she had heard about modern re-testing of PERKs on television. Mr. Scott was sentenced to serve 30 years in that 1994 case.

On Oct. 28, Mr. Scott entered an agreement to plead guilty as charged in the 1992 case and serve 30 years in prison with another 10 years suspended conditioned on Mr. Scott’s good behavior for 10 years if he were to be released. Five of those 30 years Mr. Scott will serve in addition to the 30 years he is serving from the 1994 case.

“I am deeply grateful to Ms. Kuzel for her bravery and strength. Without her help we would not have been able to hold Mr. Scott accountable for his crime,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “The Attorney General’s SAKI initiative rights a historic wrong: The existence of evidence, that could convict dangerous individuals, sitting on a shelf instead of in court. Justice was delayed for far too long for the survivors of these crimes, but it has finally arrived.”

Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Michelle L. Newkirk led the prosecution of both Mr. Scott’s 1992 and 1994 cases, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney George M. Afentakis aided Ms. Newkirk in the prosecution of Mr. Scott’s 1992 case, and Norfolk Police Sergeant Brian C. Williams led the re-opened investigation of the 1992 case.

 *We disclose Ms. Kuzel’s name at her request.

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Nov. 18, 2022

Norfolk Man Sentenced to 30 Years for Cold Case Rape From 1994

NORFOLK, Va. – Nearly 30 years ago, Linwood Scott Jr. burglarized a sleeping woman’s home and raped her, but DNA evidence at the time could not assist Norfolk Police in finding a suspect. After watching a television special about retesting rape kits, the woman asked Norfolk Police to try again. Today, a now 70-year-old Mr. Scott was finally held accountable and sentenced in Norfolk Circuit Court to serve 30 years in prison for his crimes.

In the early morning hours of March 18, 1994, a 19-year-old Norfolk woman was asleep in her home on Stockton Road when she was awakened by Mr. Scott standing over her with a knife to her throat. Mr. Scott and the woman were not acquainted and, at the time, her husband was away working overnight. Mr. Scott took her from her bedroom down the hall to the bedroom of her then-2-year-old daughter, who was sleeping. There, Mr. Scott pointed out a broken window, told the woman that was how he was able to enter her home and, tauntingly, advised she get the window fixed before someone could hurt her and her family.

Mr. Scott continued toying with the woman, forcing her into her kitchen where he showed off her phone lines that he had already cut. Mr. Scott then told the woman to get down on the living room floor and checked to see if anyone was outside. He then proceeded to rape the woman twice. After, Mr. Scott forced her back into her room and into her bed. He pulled the covers up over her head, instructed her to count to 100 and to not get up until she finished counting. Mr. Scott also threatened to kill her if he later saw police in front of her house.

When the woman heard Mr. Scott leave, she got up, retrieved her daughter, and fled to a trusted neighbor’s residence for help. After police responded, the woman was transported to Sentara Leigh Hospital, where she completed a Physical Evidence Recovery Kit (PERK) — commonly referred to as a rape kit — to be submitted for DNA testing.

The woman was unable to identify Mr. Scott at the time but was able to provide a general description of a Black male who was taller and of a darker complexion than her. Sperm was identified in the PERK, but there was no suspect to compare it to at that time. After police continued the investigation into 1995, the case was placed in inactive status and effectively went cold.

In June 2019, the woman reached back out to Norfolk Police for a follow-up after seeing a television special about old rape kits being retested. A detective from the Cold Case Unit pulled her case file and the evidence and, upon retesting, the PERK returned Mr. Scott as an investigative lead.

Detectives interviewed Mr. Scott and, after bringing up the 1994 rape, Mr. Scott began to cry and slump over in shame. He then told detective, “Y’all do what you got to do.” Mr. Scott’s DNA was obtained via search warrant and submitted for comparison. A forensic specialist determined that out of two DNA profiles found in the PERK — one matching Mr. Scott’s DNA and one matching the survivor’s — Mr. Scott’s made up the majority of the sample.

On June 9, 2022, a jury of his peers found Mr. Scott guilty of burglary, rape, and abduction with the intent to defile. On Friday, Judge Michelle J. Atkins sentenced Mr. Scott to serve 30 active years in prison. The details of Mr. Scott’s sentence include 10 years with five years suspended for burglary; 40 years with 20 suspended for rape; and 10 years with five suspended for abduction. Mr. Scott’s suspended sentences are conditioned upon 10 years of indeterminate supervised probation upon his release from prison and no contact with the survivor.

“The wheels of justice sometimes move slowly, but they never stop, and today we have secured justice for the victim of this terrible crime,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Our heart goes out to the victim in this case, who had to wait so many years for a break in the case. Once the case broke, we were here for her, and we cheer for her as she continues her journey.”

Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Michelle L. Newkirk led the prosecution of Mr. Scott’s case on behalf of the Commonwealth.

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