California Department of Justice forensic lab work key to identifying suspect

“California DOJ criminalists consistently assist law enforcement investigators with identifying potential suspects to further their investigations and assist with prosecutions.  This is important work as it contributes to the safety of all of us.”

–CSLEA President Alan Barcelona

BUTTE COUNTY – Following a preliminary hearing, on July 9, 2024 a Butte County Superior Court judge ruled that Francisco Gutierrez-Gomez, 38, of Chico, will stand trial on charges of attempted rape during a home invasion.

On May 3, 2024, at approximately 2:45 a.m., Chico Police officers were called to an apartment complex in the 1000 Block of E. Lassen Avenue in north Chico. There officers located a 22-year-old woman who reported she had just been assaulted within her apartment by a masked stranger. She had suffered multiple injuries including cuts, bruises, and indications she had been strangled. The woman told investigators she lived alone and when she got up to get a snack, she was surprised by a shirtless man wearing a ski mask who immediately began to violently assault her, including attempting to strangle her, smother her with a pillow, disrobe her, and striking her repeatedly in the head with a rock. 

The woman fought back against her attacker and he ultimately fled from the apartment leaving behind a hat and pocketknife. The hat and pocketknife were sent to the California Department of Justice (DOJ) forensic laboratory for DNA analysis. A few weeks later DOJ provided investigators with a potential “hit” for Gutierrez-Gomez’s DNA from a nationwide database where DNA profiles from past criminal cases are logged. Officers and DOJ further confirmed a DNA match on the items left behind by the assailant from a DNA sample Gutierrez-Gomez gave during a Butte County Jail booking a few days before the apartment attack. Evidence was also presented linking Gutierrez-Gomez’s DNA to male DNA found in a bite mark on the victim’s hand.   Gutierrez-Gomez lived in the same apartment complex as the victim, less than 100 feet from her front door and with a clear line of sight to the stairs leading to her home. 

Gutierrez-Gomez will next appear in court on August 7, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. to set a jury trial date. If convicted, Gutierrez-Gomez faces life in prison.