Ex-cop pleads not guilty in rape
Former Pasco officer suspect in Spokane killing
A former Pasco police officer pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Franklin County Superior Court to charges he raped a woman at his Pasco home in November.
Richard J. Aguirre, 50, who recently resigned after 27 years with the Pasco Police Department, is charged with third-degree rape.
Last week, Aguirre also was named as a suspect in the 1986 slaying of Ruby J. Doss, 27, a Spokane prostitute who was strangled.
Spokane police say DNA that Aguirre voluntarily submitted during the rape investigation matched DNA from evidence collected at the scene of Doss’ murder.
Police say they also are looking at other similar unsolved homicides in Spokane for any connection to Aguirre.
Aguirre denies killing Doss, though his attorney told the Herald he may have had an encounter with the woman and it’s “no surprise” his DNA was found.
Until he resigned, Aguirre had been on paid leave since the assault allegation was made in November.
On Tuesday, he was released on his own recognizance and is due back in court June 2. He was told not to travel outside of Benton and Franklin counties.
Court documents in the rape case show the woman told police she stayed over at Aguirre’s house and the two shared a bed. She reportedly put a heavy blanket between them to separate them while they were sleeping.
The woman was woken up by Aguirre kissing and touching her, court documents said. She said Aguirre then sexually assaulted her.
“She had consumed alcohol earlier and reported that she was not able to push him off or say no because of shock and the effects of the alcohol,” Franklin County sheriff’s Detective Jason Nunez wrote in the probable cause affidavit.
The woman apparently told Aguirre she had to leave and he drove her to a friend’s house, court documents said.
Aguirre was interviewed by police and gave a voluntary statement, court documents said. He told investigators the woman slept over but there was no sexual contact.
“He said they each slept on their own side and there was nothing sexual about this encounter, and nothing sexual about their prior relationship,” Nunez wrote. “He said he knew no reason why his saliva would be on (the woman’s) clothing.”
Her underwear was sent to the state crime lab, and forensic scientists said they found Aguirre’s DNA profile.
Aguirre is not charged in the Spokane case and is not in custody.