WILMINGTON — A man connected to a 1996 rape and kidnapping case was convicted by a jury and sentenced to prison Tuesday.
Judge Thomas R. Wilson ordered 61-year-old Timothy Craig Iannone to serve 48 years.
Iannone was found guilty for crimes against a female he held against her will as a sex slave. WHQR reported the victim told the judge at Tuesday’s sentencing: “Timothy Iannone may have left me alive and breathing that day, but he took my life just the same.”
The incident took place June 8, 1996, though it wasn’t until 25 years later in November 2021 that Wilmington Police Department announced Iannone’s arrest. WPD noted DNA evidence tied Iannone to the case.
The evidence was made possible by the state and Attorney General Josh Stein’s push to spend more than $6 million in 2019 to lab-test rape test kits that had been shelved for decades.
Iannone was charged with first-degree rape and kidnapping after being apprehended by the US Marshals Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force in Monkey Junction.
On Friday, Dec. 9, three weeks into the trial, District Attorney Ben David brought forth two forensic scientists to link Iannone. The jury deliberated a little over an hour Tuesday before returning its verdict.
Iannone, a former Port City cab driver, was also a prime suspect in two other cases WPD has been working for more than a decade: the murders of Allison Jackson Foy and Angela Rothen, whose remains were found in 2008.
According to previous Port City Daily reporting, Iannone frequented Junction Pub and Billiards where Foy was last seen. He also matched the description of the cab driver who was spotted picking up Foy.
READ MORE: After 14 years, family still hopes for justice in Allison Foy’s murder
To date, no arrests have been made in either the Foy or Rothen cases, as there has not been enough evidence to charge Iannone.
WHQR reported Foy’s daughter, Courtney Jackson-Hix, attended Iannone’s sentencing Tuesday, in support of the victim.
“[L]istening to the testimony, there are a lot of similarities that I’ve noticed,” she said. “And it took [the victim] 26 years to get the justice that she has very much deserved. And we’ve been waiting 16 years for ours. And I just, I really hope that if anybody has any information, that I encourage them to come forward, because we would like our own day in court as well. And this definitely gives me some hope in that.”
Anyone with information regarding the Foy or Rothen cases should contact the Wilmington Police Department at 910-343-3620.
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