Judge Ofcially Charges Edwards

HILLSBOROUGH -- An Orange County District Court judge found probable cause to try Dwayne Russell Edwards on 23 charges related to sexual assaults in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, based on official testimony.

Investigators offered detailed accounts of the crimes before the judge's decision was made. Edwards' next court date has not yet been set.

Prosecutor Jim Woodall said the judge kept Edwards' bond at $3.1 million and officially charged Edwards, 33, of 100 Rock Haven Road, M-304, with a total of 23 offenses relating to the three sexual assaults that happened in Carrboro and Chapel Hill in late December and January.

The judge officially charged Edwards, a former UNC employee, with three second-degree sexual offenses for his alleged role in a Dec. 23 sexual assault at Ridgehaven Townhomes. Carrboro investigator Matthew Dean testified that Edwards lived "a couple hundred yards away" from the victim.

Dean said a cellular phone stolen after the Dec. 23 incident was found in Edwards' apartment. Investigators linked the phone to the victim's roommate, who reported the phone stolen following the sexual assault.

The phone found in Edwards' possession had personalized settings programmed by the roommate, Dean said.

Dean also told the court that after each Carrboro assault, the victims were forced into the shower so the assailant could leave without being detected.

Investigators also testified about a second assault in Carrboro, which occurred at The Village Apartments on Dec. 26. Dean said Edwards was charged with the assault, first-degree rape and the armed robbery of a former co-worker who lived in the apartment complex.

The victim's 28-month-old son was in the apartment asleep while the assault occurred, Dean said.

Dean also cited police reports in his testimony that included a statement from the Dec. 26 victim, in which she said the attacker smelled "clean" -- a scent the victim said was reminiscent of a former co-worker she named as Edwards. Dean said the Dec. 23 victim also noted a similar "like baby powder" scent. During follow-up interviews with Carrboro investigators, the Dec. 26 victim implicated Edwards by name and said she felt "strongly that it was him," Dean said.

Carrboro investigator Jim Lau said the Dec. 26 incident investigation determined a bedroom window as the point of entry but provided "no usable prints."

But Edwards' defense attorney, Steve Freeman, emphasized the lack of evidence. "None of the prints taken Dec. 29 matched (Edwards')," Freeman said.

Edwards also was charged with the rape of a UNC student that occurred Jan. 9. He also was charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon and kidnapping of both the rape victim and a male who was in the victim's home at the time.

Lau testified that Carrboro police had Edwards under surveillance Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 based on suspicion from the two sexual assaults in Carrboro.

Warrants allowed the search of Edwards' home and business Jan. 9 and Jan. 10 by Carrboro police.

But Chapel Hill police spokeswoman Jane Cousins said no attempt was made at his arrest until Jan. 9 by Carrboro police. Cousins said Carrboro police stopped Edwards in his car for fitting the description of the rape of the UNC student.

Woodall said the next step for the prosecution will be to submit indictments to the grand jury by March.

The City Editor can be reached

at citydesk@unc.edu.