Arrest made in 1998 home invasion and rape

Thursday, January 29, 2009

By Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Police in Washington County today filed charges in a 10-year-old home invasion and rape.

Reward offered

Anyone with information is asked to Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers at 1-800-4-PATIPS. Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $2,000 for information leading to an arrest.

Charges of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and criminal conspiracy were filed today against Robert L. Marchetti, a prisoner at the State Correctional Institution Forest, in Marienville.

Police said Mr. Marchetti, 41, who is in prison for his conviction in a 2007 homicide in Robinson in Allegheny County, was one of two men who broke into a 64-year-old woman's home in South Strabane on Dec. 31, 1998.

The suspects ransacked the house, and both men raped the woman over several hours before they left with turquoise jewelry, watches, a VCR and other items.

Police said Mr. Marchetti had to give a DNA sample as a result of his homicide conviction.

The state police crime lab in Greensburg matched his DNA with a sample from the South Strabane crime scene.

Police still are looking for the other suspect.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

First published on January 29, 2009 at 1:52 pm