Troy Graves

Case record: Troy Graves

Background

Troy Graves was born May 4, 1972. He was an American serial rapist and murderer of Shannon Schieber.

Graves was born to Earl and Michal Graves in Minnesota. He grew up in New York and Pennsylvania, living with his mother and older brother, Marc, following his parents' divorce in 1986. He dropped out of Bensalem High School in 1989 and worked various jobs in the Philadelphia area while living in the neighborhoods of West Philadelphia and Center City.

Graves's whereabouts were unknown throughout July–October 1999, when he reported for basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. Following training, he was assigned to F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming in April 2000 as a maintenance worker on missile silos.

In March 2001, Graves was married in Larimer County, Colorado. The couple later settled into a home a few blocks west of the Colorado State University campus in Fort Collins.

The offence

Philadelphia attacks (1997–1999)

• June 20, 1997: a woman on South 21st Street was the target of an attempted sexual assault by a home intruder.
• July 11, 1997: a woman on Pine Street was sexually assaulted by a home intruder.
• August 6, 1997: a woman on Pine Street was sexually assaulted by a home intruder.
• August 13, 1997: a woman on Pine Street was raped by a home intruder.
• May 7, 1998: Wharton School doctoral student Shannon Schieber was raped and murdered by a home intruder.
• August 28, 1999: a woman on Naudain Street was forced to perform a sex act by a home intruder.

Fort Collins attacks (2001)

• May 10, 2001: a woman on Raintree Drive was sexually assaulted.
• June 13, 2001: a woman on Raintree Drive was assaulted.
• June 24, 2001: a woman on Battlecreek Drive was forced to perform a sex act by a home intruder.
• July 26, 2001: a woman on Prospect Road was forced to perform a sex act by a home intruder.
• August 5, 2001: a woman on University Avenue was assaulted by a home intruder.
• August 23, 2001: a woman on Landings Drive was forced to perform a sex act by a home intruder; she scared the intruder away as he savagely attacked her roommate.

Investigation

On May 7, 1998, Wharton School doctoral student Shannon Schieber was raped and murdered by a home intruder.

Law enforcement made a link between Graves and the crimes in both states through investigative work that included DNA and fingerprint evidence. Graves's mother's DNA matched that of the Center City rapist and that left at Schieber's murder scene. That link was made in May 2001 and led law enforcement in both states to work together to create a list of individuals who had connections in Fort Collins and Philadelphia. Fort Collins authorities also linked Graves's mother to at least one of the Colorado crimes through fingerprint evidence.

Arrest

On April 23, 2002, Fort Collins police arrested Graves for a series of six rapes near Colorado State University.

Trial

Graves pleaded guilty to a Fort Collins robbery on May 17, 2002.

He also pleaded guilty to the Philadelphia crimes on May 30, 2002. He entered the pleas “in order to prevent a possible death sentence in Philadelphia.”

Sentencing

He was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole in both states.

He would serve his time in Colorado because he pleaded guilty there first.

The legal outcomes referenced were: sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole in Pennsylvania and Colorado.

Outcome

Graves was serving a life sentence in the Sterling Correctional Facility in Sterling, Colorado for attempted robbery.

Aftermath

Television shows about the case included:

• Dateline NBC, episode “Justice for Shannon”, first aired 2003-03-04
• Forensic Files, episode 137: “All Charged Up”, first aired (date needed)
• Cold Case, episode “Our Boy Is Back”, first aired 12 October 2003