Inset: Timothy Dubois (Collinsville Police Department). Background: The Illinois Starbucks where Timothy Dubois abducted his victim (KTVI/YouTube).
An Illinois man has been ordered to spend more than a century behind bars after he abducted a woman at knifepoint from a Starbucks parking lot and then raped her on Veterans Day — telling the victim, "I deserve this," because he served in the military.
Timothy Dubois, 42, was sentenced to 40 years for one count of aggravated criminal sexual assault, 40 years for another count of aggravated criminal sexual Assault, 30 years for aggravated kidnapping, five years for one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and five years for another count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
Dubois must serve a minimum of 68 years of his 120-year sentence. His lawyers reportedly asked for a sentencing break due to him being a military vet.
"We put a monster away today," Collinsville Police Chief Brett Boerm told local Fox affiliate KTVI and other media outlets after Dubois' sentencing hearing.
Dubois abducted his victim on Nov. 11, 2022, from a Starbucks parking lot in Collinsville. He got into the victim's car "with a large knife" and ordered her to drive to a residential area in Troy, where he sexually assaulted her, according to the Madison County State's Attorney's Office.
Dubois then drove the woman back to the Collinsville business district, "put a coat over the victim's head, ordered her to count to 100, and vanished," an SAO press release says, announcing Dubois' sentence.
"Do you know what today is? It's Veterans Day," Dubois told the woman after abducting her, according to court testimony reported by KTVI. "I deserve this because I'm a veteran."
A Madison County jury convicted Dubois in May. During his trial, the victim testified that she feared he would kill her.
"The victim was not familiar with the Troy location, but investigators were able to track the movement of her Apple Watch to a general area," the SAO release says. "Investigators combed the area and, on a gravel roadway in Troy, found a discarded condom. The condom contained male DNA and the DNA of the victim. The male DNA, however, did not match any profiles in a police database."
Collinsville police investigators used Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy to come up with a list of close relatives of the male DNA profile, according to prosecutors, with the information eventually leading authorities to Dubois.
"Today's sentence brings a measure of justice for a victim who endured an unimaginable ordeal," Boerm said in a separate statement. "While no sentence can erase the trauma that was inflicted, we hope this outcome provides some sense of closure and reassurance that the person responsible has been held accountable."