Philadelphia Daily News
Saturday, April 27, 2002

DAs pursue alleged Center City Rapist

Daily News Staff Report

Troy Graves is being stalked.

The man authorities say once stalked and raped women is now finding out what it's like to be pursued.

By prosecutors.

Troy Graves - the alleged Center City Rapist - was charged yesterday in Colorado with several counts of sexual assault and first-degree kidnapping for a string of attacks.

Graves, 29, is being held in the Larimer County jail on $1 million bail. He was also charged with second-degree burglary and robbery in the seven attacks, which occurred near the Colorado State University campus between May 2001 and April 2002, Larimer County DA Stuart VanMeveren said.

Charges were also lodged against him Thursday in Philadelphia in connection with the rape and murder of Shannon Schieber, 23, a University of Pennsylvania graduate student, the rape of four other women, and the attempted rape on another. DNA tests linked Graves to those crimes, authorities said.

If convicted in the Fort Collins assaults, Graves could be sentenced to life in prison. VanMeveren said it was possible that a plea agreement could be reached.

Graves was advised of the charges via video conference from the detention center. He was also being held on suspicion of being a fugitive for homicide charges filed in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia DA Lynne Abraham is seeking to have Graves, dubbed the "Center City Rapist," extradited Philadelphia. The DA plans to ask Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker's office to issue a "governor's warrant" and send it to Colorado Gov. Bill Owens.

Earlier this week, Abraham said that although the homicide charge probably outweighs the sexual-assault charges in Colorado, there was no guarantee Colorado authorities would agree to extradite Graves to Philadelphia before he's prosecuted there.

The Colorado governor hasn't made a decision on where Graves should be charged first, a spokesman said. *