A 75-year-old man convicted of rape and murder in the 1980s died in hospice care Wednesday, according to the Oregon Department of Corrections.
Frank Ali Abdul-Rahmaan, formerly known as Frank Hopkins, was serving his sentence at Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla with an earliest release date of Sept. 30, 2043.
Before coming to Oregon, Abdul-Rahmaan was accused of sexually assaulting and killing a woman in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1985, and was convicted four years later, according to court records and reporting from the News-Sentinel. His case marked the first time DNA evidence was used to identify a murder suspect in Indiana, the news outlet wrote.
The victim, Sharon Lapp, was stabbed several times and had her throat cut, according to the News-Sentinel. An Allen Circuit Court judge issued Abdul-Rahmaan a 60-year sentence for the killing.
Abdul-Rahmaan was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Portland on July 1, 1985, after Lapp’s death in Indiana. Police at the time said that Abdul-Rahmaan was helping the Oregon woman with yard work. He asked if he could wash his hands inside her home and then threatened the woman with a pocket knife, tied her up and raped her, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported at the time. He also asked the woman for money.
He was arrested in Seattle, and sentenced to 60 years in prison for the rape.
