Rape Victim Identifies Alleged Serial Killer as Her Attacker

SAN FRANCISCO —  A 22-year-old woman has identified suspected serial killer Wayne Adam Ford as the man who picked her up in Santa Rosa in August and raped, beat and robbed her, a spokesman for the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department said Monday.

Lt. Mike Brown said the department is seeking charges, including kidnapping and rape, against Ford, who is being held in Humboldt County Jail in lieu of $1-million bail.

Accompanied by his brother, Rodney Ford of Vallejo, Wayne Ford walked into the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department last week carrying a severed breast, and allegedly confessed to murdering and dismembering four women in Humboldt, Kern, San Joaquin and San Bernardino counties.

The 36-year-old trucker pleaded not guilty Friday in Humboldt County to a murder charge involving the killing one year ago of an as-yet unidentified woman.

On Monday, Superior Court Judge Bruce Watson issued a gag order to keep the prosecution and defense from discussing the case publicly. Ford’s court-appointed attorney requested the order.

Two Sonoma detectives interviewed Ford on Friday. Brown said Ford is suspected of picking up the 22-year-old woman, whom police identified as a prostitute, in Santa Rosa about 11 p.m. Aug. 23. Ford allegedly bound, gagged and raped her before dumping her in a ditch beside U.S. 101 north of Healdsburg. Police said the woman picked Ford’s picture out of a photo lineup Sunday at her home in San Pablo.

Ford is suspected of carrying around the bodies of his victims--sometimes for days--before throwing them in waterways. In some instances, he is believed to have stored body parts in his freezer.