Daytona Beach, FL - A Wisconsin man tied to a cold case rape through DNA will spend the rest of his life in prison for it.
44-year-old Robert S. Haar was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole today (March 29th) in a Volusia County courtroom.
Florida 7th Circuit State Attorney R.J. Larizza says his prosecutors managed to link Haar to the October 1997 gang rape of a teenage girl, one he labeled as "violent".
"The success of this case hinged on the marriage of forensic science, old-fashioned investigation, passionate prosecution and the courage of a victim who confronted her brutal rapist to ensure that he was held accountable all these years later," Larizza added after the sentence was handed down by Circuit Judge Matt Foxman.
Haar was formally convicted of one count of sexual battery with special circumstances (threat/coercion) following a three-day trial in January.
Prosecutors say the case remained unsolved for over 20 years until Haar was arrested on an unrelated domestic violence crime, leading to his DNA being entered into the nationwide CODIS database.
