Suspect in 2003 St. Paul rape charged 20 years later

A man long-suspected of raping a woman 20 years ago in St. Paul has now been formally charged thanks to newly completed DNA testing.

Monday, Ramsey County prosecutors charged 48-year-old Shawn Phillips Skie with first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

He’s accused of drugging and raping a friend who’d gone to a bar near Stryker Avenue and Dodd Road on Dec. 29, 2003, to say goodbye before Skie moved to California.

Charging documents state that the woman reported having two drinks at the bar but then became lightheaded and disoriented and only remembered ending up in a car with Skie, unable to stop him from raping her. Eventually, after Skie had left, she was able to call a friend for help and was taken to a hospital, where she underwent a sex assault exam.

The woman also realized that all of her items from her purse were scattered across the floor of her truck and $2,000 in cash was missing. Other friends later learned that Skie had claimed a girl just gave him the cash.

While authorities and the woman believe Skie may have drugged her, court documents note that toxicology results from the woman’s exam didn’t pick up any indication of the drug in her system, which was expected because the drug typically only shows up for a couple of hours after ingestion.

By the time the test results from the sex assault exam came back a year later, Skie was believed to be in California. Police issued a “pick-up and hold” notice for him but didn’t find him before it expired in early 2005.

Thanks to the Statewide Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, which is helping the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension get through backlogged sex assault kits, DNA from the victim’s exam was further analyzed earlier this year and linked Skie to the assault, according to court documents.

RELATED: BCA says it’s done testing all sex assault kits from 2015 inventory

Police then contacted the victim, who reiterated her desire to press charges against Skie, saying the assault “has ruined her life.” The friend who picked the victim up and took her to the hospital told police that she used to be “bubbly” and “full of life” but some of that was lost because of the assault, a criminal complaint states.

“This offender’s actions took a permanent toll on the victim’s spirit and future,” Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said in a prepared statement Monday. “The determination and partnership of the Saint Paul Police investigators, the BCA lab and the dedicated sexual assault prosecutor in our office made this outcome possible.”

Skie made his first court appearance Monday morning and has another hearing set for Nov. 2. He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

Choi’s office notes that fewer than 30 sex assault kits from Ramsey County are still backlogged.