DALLAS (NewsNation) — A man was sentenced to two life sentences after pleading guilty in the attacks of four women who were sexually assaulted in their homes throughout the Dallas area, including three women who were alumnae of the same national Black sorority.
Jeffery Wheat, 52, who was dubbed the “Sorority Rapist,” also received 30 and 20 additional years for home invasions that took place between 2003 and 2011.
Wheat’s high-profile cases were the subject of a 2012 episode of “America’s Most Wanted.”
According to investigators, Wheat used his position at a credit card processing company to access the personal information of sorority members who lived in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
For a decade, law enforcement could not match the unknown male DNA profile to a suspect in the four home invasions until 2021 when the Plano Police Department identified Wheat.
Limitations in technology in 2003 led to that case being suspended. But years later, DNA testing linked it to the three cases from 2011, prosecutors in Tarrant County said. Prosecutors in Collin County said investigators then spent two years working with genetic genealogy labs and conducting genealogical research to identify a person of interest.
All of the victims in the 2011 cases were members of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, prosecutors said. Collin County prosecutors said investigators in Plano determined Wheat had access to personal information about them when he worked for a credit card processing company the sorority had used.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.