OXNARD : Arraignment Set for Man Accused of Rape

An arraignment date was set Monday for an Oxnard man accused of armed robbery, burglary and raping a mother and daughter in the same Oxnard home 15 months apart.

Samuel Carl Chester, 28, will be arraigned in Ventura County Superior Court on seven felony counts on June 7, Municipal Judge Barry B. Klopfer ruled following a preliminary hearing Monday.

Chester was arrested April 27 by Oxnard police minutes after a 42-year-old woman reported that she had been raped in her Joliet Street home. Evidence collected in the January, 1992, rape of that woman’s 68-year-old mother also points to Chester, according to testimony at the hearing Monday.

Oxnard Police Detective Don Elliott said a palm print found on the bathroom window of the home on Jan. 13, 1992, matched a sample he had taken from Chester on Monday. He also testified that Chester’s fingerprints were identical to those found on the kitchen window following the April 27 attack.

Chester, who was paroled from prison earlier in April after serving a sentence on an unrelated robbery conviction, is accused of numerous crimes during the morning of April 27.

Police say he robbed a man in his home in the 900 block of Elder Street shortly after midnight, stealing a wallet and leather jacket. He also attempted to burglarize a home on Astoria Place several hours later, but was unable to get into the house, investigators said.

Oxnard police were answering the burglary report on Astoria when they heard the rape report and spotted Chester in the area. The 42-year-old rape victim, who told investigators she did not see her assailant’s face, identified Chester by voice.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Lela Henke-Dobroth on Monday called five investigators to testify at the four-hour preliminary hearing. Each described different aspects of the seven counts against Chester.

Deputy Public Defender Todd W. Howeth called no witnesses during the hearing.

Chester, who remains in Ventura County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail, could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted on all counts.