Man linked to 4 rapes accused of hiding woman's body in Durham

Four rapes over 11 years. It's a history tied to one man who is behind bars on Wednesday night.

Dennis Speed, 65, is also accused of secretly disposing of the body of a woman.

Speed, who's being held at Durham County Detention Center, has some charges going back for years.

Speed was arrested in late October on misdemeanor drug charges and resisting arrest. Speed also faces charges of rape and kidnapping of four women between 2009 and 2020.

Warrants in Durham County Court show a search for a serial rapist spanning 11 years. That same man is now charged with hiding the body of another woman.

• In 2009, a woman told police she was assaulted off Old Oxford Highway, and pushed out of the rapist's still-moving car near Hamlin Road.
• In 2010, another woman said she was assaulted near Lake Michie Dam Road, and was let out of the car off Old Oxford Highway.
• In 2015, a woman told police a suspect offered her a ride, and raped her at an abandoned building off Midland Terrace.
• In 2020, a woman told police Dennis Speed offered her a place to stay at a local hotel - she woke up naked and in pain.

All four women went through sexual assault exams.

In the case of the 2015 rape, the warrant says the state lab sent a report to Durham police in 2019, confirming a match of that DNA to a specimen from Speed. In the case of the 2020 rape, the warrant says the state lab sent a report to Durham police in March of 2022, with a high probability match to a sample from Speed.

Those warrants for Speed's DNA were served earlier in the week.

Speed was also indicted on a felony charge of secretly disposing of the body of Laresa Garcia. That charge said he knew she did not die of natural causes.

Search warrants show Speed's DNA has been in the system since a 2001 felony conviction.

We're still trying to find out why it took so long to match his profile to the DNA in the rape kits along with why it took police so long to arrest him after being notified of the matches.

Speed is in court Thursday on the misdemeanor charges and on Dec. 5 on the felony charge and rape charges.