‘Malibu Rapist’ Linked to Dozens of Cold Case Rapes

A man serving a life sentence in Florida for a “notorious” series of rapes spanning two different decades has been linked to at least 26 additional sex crimes, according to the Orlando Police Department.

George Girtman, 67, was given the moniker of the “Malibu Rapist” over multiple sexual batteries he committed during the 1980s and 1990s in the suburbs. Girtman’s rap sheet indicates that he previously served time for an “unspecified” sexual battery in 1976 and is also convicted of numerous burglaries and one weapons charge.

George Girtman

According to Orlando, Florida-based CBS affiliate WKMG, the string of sex crimes targeted “the Malibu Homes subdivision in Orlando.”

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Gail Gardner is one of those alleged victims and the namesake of a propsed law that would provide for the mandatory testing of decades-old, backlogged rape kits that had never undergone DNA analysis by law enforcement agencies in Florida. The bill would also create a statewide database.

“I was raped by someone who had broken into my home,” she told local ABC affiliate WFTV in February of this year. {snip}

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“I think about how he could have killed me then, in the dark,” she told local NBC affiliate WESH. “How he could have killed, went in the other room, and killed my son. I shudder, at how close to death I was. He did leave a knife mark on my face.”

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Authorities have indicated that charges are forthcoming in 15 of those additional cases. {snip}