Seventy-two hours after DNA results matched him to a July rape and attempted murder of a graduate student, a State College man was charged with 32 separate criminal offenses and denied bail.
Michael A. Kuhn, 30, of 728 S. Pugh St., was apprehended Aug. 27 after a woman reported him loitering outside her apartment and staring in her window. The State College Police Department said they alerted the rape victim of Kuhn's arrest after matching his description to a composite sketch she had described in July.
"Both crimes were in the same neighborhood, close proximity to where he lives," Centre County District Attorney Michael Madeira said.
On July 4, State College police said the female student reported that a man had entered her Pugh Street apartment through an unlocked fire escape before raping her multiple times and striking her with a blunt object, attempting to kill her.
Kuhn is charged with attempted murder, three counts of rape and burglary, along with 27 other criminal charges. Kuhn, who has been incarcerated since his August arrest, was denied bail yesterday by District Judge Carmine Prestia -- even though that action is typically reserved for those charged with first-degree murder, Madeira said.
"We are very relieved," State College Police Chief Tom King said. "This is a serious crime for any community."
According to court documents, the victim reported that when she awoke at about 6:30 a.m., Kuhn was standing next to her bed, threatening that he had a knife. She reported that he then tied her wrists and ankles with a lamp cord and tape and went into the living room to rob her of personal belongings.
During this time, the documents indicate she realized her head was bleeding and noticed blood on her bed pillows. Kuhn reportedly then came back into the bedroom, covering his face with a cloth and blindfolding the victim. According to court documents, he then proceeded to rape her three times, twice vaginally and once anally.
Before leaving, Kuhn hit her in the head with an object five times, which State College Police Sgt. Dana Leonard would only confirm was a "blunt object." However, the victim reported to police that she saw a wrench fall to the floor during the incident.
The woman was able to free herself and run to a neighbor for help, after Kuhn fled the scene, police said. She was transported to a hospital and treated for three deep lacerations to the head, which exposed the skull and destructed tissue, according to court documents.
Before being treated and released, she completed a rape evidence kit, which was sent to the Pennsylvania State Police crime lab. The samples taken from the victim matched a mix of the victim and Kuhn.
"The combination of DNA types is one in 177 trillion more likely to have originated from the victim and Kuhn [than] from the victim and another individual in the unrelated Caucasian population," according to court documents.
Kuhn was charged with criminal trespass, harassment and stalking in 2002, burglary in 2003 and "several assault- and theft-related incidents over the past 15 years," according to court documents.
Madeira said as far as police are aware, there was no preexisting relationship between the victim and her assailant, and he did not stalk her leading up to the event.
Kuhn's preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 10 at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte.
"If he is convicted or pleads guilty, he will be facing a lot of time," Madeira said, "double digits as a minimum."
