"Psychopath" serial rapist found guilty

Oakland Tribune, Oct 3, 2008 by Paul T Rosynsky

OAKLAND -- During the day, Anthony Bryan Douglas was a contributing member of society, helping people in need as a paramedic in the East Bay.

But at night, a prosecutor said, Douglas turned into a psychopath, kidnapping and raping women he either picked up as prostitutes or met on nights out.

Last week an Alameda County jury found Douglas, 41, guilty of 22 felony crimes including attempted murder, rape and assault with a deadly weapon.

"He comes across as a harmless, friendly guy "... but he is a classic psychopath," said Deputy District Attorney Brian Owens, who tried the case. "He begins by being a nice guy, giving people rides, but he is one of the most severe rapists."

In fact, Owens said, during Douglas' 14-year-long raping spree, he only took one woman by force.

Douglas was eventually caught when one of his victims escaped and then later recognized his car in Oakland. The victim wrote down the license plate number, and police tracked the car to Douglas.

A search warrant was issued in 2006 for a sample of Douglas' DNA. His DNA profile matched that of a DNA profile taken from a rape victim in 1995 and of a 16-year-old rape victim whom Douglas stabbed with a knife in 2006.

Eventually, police matched Douglas' DNA profile to three additional rape victims. A sixth victim surfaced during the more than monthlong trial, but by that point it was too late to charge Douglas with that crime, Owens said.

All the victims identified Douglas during the trial, Owens said.

"The evidence was really overwhelming," Owens said. "It was compelling."

Douglas was charged and found guilty of attempted murder for the attack on the 16-year-old he kidnapped and then tied up in a friend's Hayward house. Douglas was watching while the friend was out of town, evidence in the case revealed.

The girl was stabbed several times and a surgeon at Highland Hospital testified in the trial that he did not believe she was going to survive the attack.

Douglas faces 500 years to life in prison when he is sentenced in December.

Paul T. Rosynsky can be reached at prosynsky@bayareanewsgroup.com or 510-208-6455.