A cold case turns into an arrest over 5 years later

Las Vegas police say they have new DNA evidence that links a man accused of luring women by pretending to be a Chicago officer to a sexual assault cold case in 2017 from two separate Illinois sexual assault cases.

Jodie Madison, 59, was arrested after DNA tied him to a 2017 sex assault, according to an arrest report from the Metropolitan Police Department.

The victim said she met Madison on Aug. 25, 2017, when he falsely introduced himself as a Chicago police lieutenant, according to the arrest report. They met up in a Caesars Palace hotel room the next day, the report said.

At one point in the evening, the other guests had left the room and the victim said she was ready to return to her home, but Madison forced her onto a bed in the hotel room and raped her, she told police.

She also told police that he threatened to kill her if she resisted, the report said.

When police interviewed Madison, he said he was a private security agent for a person from Chicago. The case was closed on Dec. 6, 2017, according to the report, because the detectives believed the encounter was consensual.

Metro reopened the case on Sept. 18, 2021, after Madison’s DNA matched two Illinois sexual assault cases — one that occurred in 2018 and the other in 1997.

In the Sept. 5, 2018 case, a woman told police Madison blocked her from walking, Metro wrote in the most recent arrest report. The woman said Madison was dressed in a police uniform and displayed a police badge and gun in his belt.

He led the woman to his apartment, where she told police Madison undressed and placed his gun on the nightstand before raping her. Fearing for her life, she said she complied and was raped. The victim escaped and got a sexual assault exam, the report said. Madison was later convicted of aggravated sexual assault with a weapon and is now serving a 20-year sentence, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

On July 18, 1997, police alleged Madison identified himself as a police officer to a woman and pointed a gun at her. She was forced into a vehicle and was sexually assaulted, police said. No additional details were immediately available.

As of Thursday, Madison was being held at Clark County Detention Center on $250,000 bail. He is facing a felony charge in connection to the 2017 sexual assault. A preliminary court hearing is slated for Oct. 25 at 9 a.m.

Contact Jimmy Romo at jromo@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0350. Follow @jimi_writes on Twitter.