Troy Graves | |
---|---|
Born | Minnesota, U.S. | May 4, 1972
Occupation(s) | Maintenance worker, U.S. Air Force airman |
Criminal status | Incarcerated |
Spouse | Amy Graves (2001-2004) |
Parent(s) | Earl Clayton Graves (d. 2001), Michal B. Graves |
Conviction(s) | First degree murder Rape |
Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment without parole |
Imprisoned at | Sterling Correctional Facility |
Troy Graves (born May 4, 1972) is an American serial rapist and murderer of Shannon Schieber. He committed a series of rapes in Philadelphia from 1997 to 1999, where he was known as the "Center City rapist". He also committed rapes in Fort Collins, Colorado in 2001, where he was arrested in 2002. He is serving a life sentence in the Sterling Correctional Facility in Sterling, Colorado.
Troy 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.[1]
His 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 and the couple later settled into a home a few blocks west of the Colorado State University campus in Fort Collins.[2]
On April 23, 2002, Fort Collins police arrested Graves for a series of six rapes near Colorado State University. Graves' DNA matched that of the Center City rapist and that left at Schieber's murder scene, a link made in May 2001 that had 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 to at least one of the Colorado crimes through fingerprint evidence.[4]
Graves pled guilty to the Fort Collins assaults on May 17, 2002 and to the Philadelphia crimes on May 30, 2002, in order to prevent a possible death sentence in Philadelphia. He was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole in both states, but will serve his time in Colorado because he pleaded guilty there first.[5][6]
Television shows about the case include: