s-james-selby.htm


	A Personal view of the Internet Subculture Surrounding the JonBenet Ramsey Murder case

This web page is part of a series covering found materials regarding individuals, items or events that apparently became part of what is commonly known as the vortex of the JonBenet Ramsey murder case Christmas night 1996. The webmaster of this site claims no inside official Boulder police information as to who has been interviewed, investigated, the outcome or what information is actually considered official evidence. These pages outline found material which can include but not limited to materials found in books, articles, the Internet, transcripts, depositions, legal documents, Internet discussion forums, graphics or photos, media reports, TV/Radio shows about the JonBenet Ramsey murder case. Found materials are here for historical archive purposes. (www.acandyrose.com - acandyrose@aol.com)

This webpage series is for historical archive and educational purposes on found materials

James Selby
Oct 2001

James Selby
March 2002

James Allen Selby
Convicted Serial Rapist

Was Wanted In
Tucson, Arizona - San Diego, California
Norman, Oklahoma - Sparks, Nevada
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Jailhouse Confession
to JonBenet Ramsey and
Danielle Van Dam Murders

[James Selby 2004 Arizona Driver's License]

James Selby
Arizona DL 2004

JonBenet Ramsey Murder Case
James Allen Selby (Download "s-james-selby17pg.pdf" (.PDF 88kb) File HERE)

Individual

Date

Reference

Key ?

Gave Prints

Gave Blood

Gave Hair

Handwriting

Got DNA

Cleared or Alibi

James Allen Selby
(Tucson, Arizona)
(Convicted Rapist)
(Bankers Hill Rapist)
In the Jail Letters, Selby admitted to several other crimes, including Danielle vanDam and the murder of JonBenet Ramsey

b10-16-1966
d11-22-2004
Committed Suicide
Hanging
Pima County Jail
Tucson Arizona

News Articles:
Serial Killer
Jail letters confessed to Danielle vanDam
Murder and JonBenet Ramsey

---

September 2002
Rape charge
Colorado Spr

Also wanted in Oklahoma, Nevada, Arizona and California

RECAP OF INFORMATION ABOUT JAMES ALLEN SELBY:

01. Selby served in US Army 7 years, Persian Gulf War veteran, w/honorable discharge
02. Selby was a divorced father of three, worked as a handyman and machinist
03. Selby traveled often between San Diego, California and Tucson Arizona.
04. Selby is 5-foot-9 inches tall, 180 pounds, has brown hair, blue eyes
05. Selby has a tattoo on his upper right arm of a skull with a cowboy hat and handkerchief

06. 2001 Selby was dubbed the "Bankers Hill Rapist" by San Diego police in California
07. Authorities believe Selby was a drifter who came to San Diego in 2001

08. 2001-04-00 Selby was a maintenance worker in Sparks, Nevada w/on-site apartment.
09. DNA from toothbrush in Selby's apt. linked him to sexual assult of 12yr old, Sparks, Nevada
10. Featured on the television program "America's Most Wanted" in Tucson, Arizona
11. Selby is believed responsible for 15 sex crimes in Tucson, San Diego, Oklahoma and Nevada
12. 2002-08-16 Tucson Police charged Selby with four campus area assaults
13. 2002 Tucson charges include attempted murder, sexual assault, aggravated assault, kidnapping
14. 2002 Selby was believed to be driving a 1985 tan Chrysler New Yorker.

15. 2002-09-00 James Selby is arrested at a VA Clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado
16. 2002-09-00 DNA tests showed Selby's sperm was on the victim's shirt in Co.Springs case
17. Selby claimed he met woman before July 25 outside the Safeway on South Nevada
18. Selby claimed he and the victim had a thing going and that sex was consensual
19. Selby claimed met woman when her grocery bag broke but he couldn't answer: Paper or Plastic?
20. 2002-09-15 Selby convicted, July 25, 2002: burglary, rape of Ivywild woman in Colorado
21. Deputy District Attorney John Armstrong asked for a 50-year to life sentence for Selby
22. 2002-09-15 Selby sentence in Ivywild woman case, 20 years to life in prison
23. Under Colorado law, convicted sex offenders can be incarcerated indefinitely if deemed risk
24. Selby is convicted of unsolved rape in the Brookside neighborhood of Colorado Springs

25. Selby is transported to Tucson, Arizona, 9 counts of rape, 1 assult murder.
26. 2002-10-07 James Selby guilty of charges in Tucson, Arizona, gets life sentence.
27. San Diego was going to extradite Selby from Arizona for Bankers Hill rapes in 2001

28. 2003-08-05 Selby said he killed both JonBenet Ramsey and Danielle Van Dam

29. 2003-08-05 Selby sent confession letter to "Crime Unit" San Diego, Ca, ATT: Any Detective
30. 2003-08-05 Selby's letters sent from El Paso County jail in Colorado Springs, Colorado
31. Selby also sent confession letters to the Tucson Citizen newspaper

32. 2004-04-00 Selby claimed to have $18,000 in a bank account (source:Tucson citizen)
33. 2004-04-00 Selby claimed he makes $1,500mo from an Internet business he started 2yrs ago

34. 2004-11-22 Selby committed suicide, hanging, Pima County Jail, Tucson Arizona

35. The "David Westerfield Review" sent alleged Van Dam confession to the "Innocence Project"

36. Selby's mother, Betty Brewer of Oklahoma City said Selby should be military cemetery
37. Selby's family will pay for his body to be returned to Oklahoma for burial
28. Selby will be buried in Fort Sill National Cemetery, Elgin, Oklahoma.

CHAIN OF EVENTS 2002

2002-08-26: Manhunt on for alleged serial rapist

Manhunt on for alleged serial rapist
Monday August 26, 2002
http://wc.arizona.edu/papers/96/1/01_2.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manhunt on for alleged serial rapist
By David Halperin
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Monday August 26, 2002

Detectives link James Allen Selby's DNA to five local sex crimes, plus ten other assaults

A warrant issued for a man suspected in several campus area sex crimes has left UA students and the campus community with heightened concerns for safety as police engage in a multi-state manhunt.

The Tucson Police Department charged 35-year-old James Allen Selby on Aug. 16 in connection with four campus area assaults beginning last October. The charges include attempted murder, three counts of sexual assault, one count of aggravated assault and one count of kidnapping.

Selby was seen in Tucson on Aug. 16 and is considered "very dangerous," said Lt. Brett Klein, sex crimes section commander for the Tucson Police Department.

Flyers of Selby are now located in residence halls, garages and local bars asking the public to assist in his apprehension.

He is 5-foot-9 inches tall, 180 pounds, has brown hair, blue eyes, and a tattoo on his upper right arm of a skull with a cowboy hat and handkerchief. He is believed to be driving a 1985 tan Chrysler New Yorker.

The television program "America's Most Wanted" has also come to Tucson to report on Selby, who is believed to be responsible for 15 sex crimes over the past four years against women in Tucson, San Diego, Oklahoma and Nevada.

The attention to security of returning and incoming UA students', as well as their parents, has been raised as a result of such crimes.

"(The sexual assaults) are a major concern for parents sending their kids away for the first time," said UA parent Beth Schnepp, "You hope security systems here will be on top of everything."

"A lot of people might not know about (Selby), everyone needs to be aware," said political science senior Michelle Smith, "(Police) need to do everything they can to catch this guy."

Police were able to obtain a warrant for Selby's arrest after the Cleveland County Sheriff's Department near Norman, Okla., entered information in a DNA database from a sexual assault there.

That information matched with DNA that Tucson police had from the five assaults in the Tucson area and the other similar crimes in San Diego.

Investigators contacted police in Norman and were able to match the DNA with Selby.

In Tucson, Selby is linked to four campus area assaults plus a fifth one in May south of UA.

The first reported sexual assault occurred on Oct. 3 when a 20-year-old woman was sexually assaulted near campus on East Adams Street.

Earlier that day, a man had entered the home of a woman living across the street to demand money.

A 22-year-old woman was sexually assaulted in her home on East Blacklidge Drive on Oct. 31.

The fourth incident occurred Jan. 11, at about 12:35 a.m., when a man entered a home near North First Avenue and Roger Road, and physically assaulted a juvenile female.

Police believe Selby is most recently responsible for a May 30 assault in which a 27- year-old woman said a man entered her home near East 22nd Street and South Fifth Avenue and sexually assaulted her.

From 1997-2001, the combined number of sexual assaults and attempted sexual assaults reported to UAPD never exceeded six in a single year.

In the 2001-2002 academic year, nine sex crimes were reported, including six in a single week in late April.

At that time, Sgt. Mike Smith of UAPD had said it was the most serious group of sex crimes he had seen in his ten years with UAPD.

"Detectives are investigating about 170 leads all over the city," said Officer Kathy Wendling of the Tucson Police Department's Office of Public Information.

Commander Brain Seastone of the UAPD said that although a suspect has been named for several assaults, there are still no leads in other campus area sex crimes at the Park Avenue Garage and La Paz Residence Hall.

"I think (students) need to be worried about Mr. Selby definitely, and people always need to be aware of their surroundings, " Seastone said.

"Safety and security is at a more heightened awareness than in the past," said Patrick Call, Associate Director of Residential Education.

Call said residence life encourages students to utilize basic safety measures while in and around residence halls as well as campus programs such as SafeRide, a nightly escort service that provides rides for students on or near campus.

"It's scary that at anytime and any place there can be someone wanting to take advantage of a girl," said Andi Lee, an undeclared freshman.

2002-09-13: New photos aid hunt for rape suspect

http://wc.arizona.edu/papers/96/14/01_1.html
New photos aid hunt for rape suspect

By James Kelley
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 13, 2002

The Tucson Police Department unveiled a new photo of serial rape suspect James Allen Selby yesterday, the second in four days.

Thus far, TPD has released three photos of Selby, the latest of which was taken in March. The new photo shows him with a mustache, unlike the two previous ones.

Police would not say how they got the photos.

"All we can say is we obtained them through the investigation," said Sgt. Judy Altieri, Tucson Police Department spokeswoman.

Selby, 35, was charged with attempted murder, three counts of sexual assault, one count of aggravated assault and one count of kidnapping in connection with four campus area assaults beginning last October. Selby was charged on Aug. 16, the day of his last confirmed sighting in Tucson.

Selby's whereabouts are still unknown.

"At this point, we have no reason to believe he is in town or in another town," Altieri said. James Allen Selby

Selby is described as 5-foot-9 inches tall, 180 pounds, with brown hair, blue eyes and a tattoo on his upper right arm of a skull with a cowboy hat and bandanna. He is believed to be driving a tan 1985 Chrysler New Yorker and is considered very dangerous.

TPD asked citizens with information on Selby's location to call 911 immediately. Anyone that has information relating to the string of sexual assaults can call the 24-hour Sexual Assault Hotline at 791-4939 or 88-CRIME.

2002-11-26: Suspected serial rapist charged in local attack

Suspected serial rapist charged in local attack
Police in Oklahoma, Nevada, Arizona and California want James Allen Selby
November 26, 2002
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4191/is_20021126/ai_n10010499

Suspected serial rapist charged in local attack
Gazette, The (Colorado Springs),
Nov 26, 2002
by DEEDEE CORRELL

Police in Oklahoma, Nevada, Arizona and California want James Allen Selby.

Colorado Springs police caught the suspected serial rapist in September - and now realize they want him, too.

The 35-year-old thought responsible for multiple sexual assaults in four other states is suspected of raping a 55-year-old woman here one month before his capture.

That means Selby, over whom out-of-state prosecutors have been fighting for weeks, stays here.

"We were hoping we could be the first one on the bus," said Lt. Ken Lightfoot of the police department in Sparks, Nev., where Selby is accused of attacking a 12-year-old girl in her home April 30, 2001.

Police think he attacked the child, a neighbor in the apartment complex where he lived, placing a pillow over her face as he raped her.

Investigators quickly identified Selby as a possible suspect because he disappeared the same day, Lightfoot said.

CHAIN OF EVENTS 2003

2003-07-26: Bag story trips up rapist

Bag story trips up rapist - July 26, 2003
Suspect convicted after jury decides tale
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4191/is_20030726/ai_n10022915

Bag story trips up rapist / Suspect convicted after jury decides tale
Gazette, The (Colorado Springs),
Jul 26, 2003
by BILL HETHCOCK

Paper or plastic?

That seemingly simple supermarket question helped seal the fate of a suspected serial rapist convicted Friday of breaking into the house of a Colorado Springs woman and assaulting her.

James Allen Selby, 36, faces as long as life in prison at a sentencing hearing Sept. 15. He was convicted of the July 25, 2002, burglary and rape of a 56-year-old Ivywild resident.

DNA tests showed Selby's sperm was on the victim's shirt, and he admitted having sex with her, so the trial hinged on whether the sex was consensual.

Selby testified he had a budding romantic relationship with the woman that started weeks before July 25 outside the Safeway on South Nevada.

Selby said the woman's grocery bag broke. He picked up her apples and bananas and helped carry the bags three blocks to her house.

They saw each other at least four more times, and on July 25 she invited him into her bedroom, Selby said.

Envelope postmarked August 5, 2003
Colorado Springs, CO

FROM:
James Selby
2739 E.Las Vegas
Colo Spgs Co. 80906
(1B2 CSC)

TO:
Crime Unit
1401 Brodway
Sandiego, CA. 92101
Attn: Any Detective

Letter inside on lined writing paper:

Detective,

David Westerfield was not
Responsible for danelle Van dam's
murder. I was. I'm In the
El Paso county criminal Justice Center
in Colorado Springs Coloardo.
(James Selby) you have other cases
against me and are waiting for
me to be sent to you.

2739 E. Las Vegas
Colorado Springs CO.
WaRD 1B2 80906
Phone # (719) 390-2131)

Note: Letter and Envelope graphic from "www.unposted.com" - Trial of David Westerfield.

Webmaster is unaware at this time if the confession on the JonBenet Ramsey murder was in writing by Selby also and if so, where a copy of that might be. (Graphic displayed for handwriting sample)

2003-09-16: Rapist gets 20 years to life - Man also is wanted in four other states

Rapist gets 20 years to life - September 16, 2003
Man also is wanted in four other states
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4191/is_20030916/ai_n10025741

Rapist gets 20 years to life/ Man also is wanted in four other states
Gazette, The (Colorado Springs),
Sep 16, 2003
by BILL HETHCOCK

A suspected serial rapist convicted of breaking into the house of a Colorado Springs woman and assaulting her was sentenced Monday to 20 years to life in prison.

James Allen Selby, 36, was convicted in July of the July 2002 burglary and rape of a 55-yearold Ivywild resident.

Selby also is wanted on suspicion of sexual assaults in Arizona, California, Nevada and Oklahoma, prosecutors said. He's charged with 11 crimes in the four states, prosecutors said.

Deputy District Attorney John Armstrong asked for a 50-year to life sentence for Selby, who he called "a menace to society." Under Colorado law, convicted sex offenders can be incarcerated indefinitely if the Parole Board deems them a continuing risk.

Selby entered a back door and violently attacked the woman, who lived alone, after she'd fallen asleep while watching TV, Armstrong said.

CHAIN OF EVENTS 2004

2004-10-08: Rape convict Selby attacked in jail

http://www.azstarnet.com/video/section.php?section=news
2004-10-08
Rape convict Selby attacked in jail

James Allen Selby, who was convicted in his rape and attempted murder trial on Oct. 7, 2004, was assaulted by another inmate at the jail the previous week.

Eric Kevin Pesqueria, 27, head-butted Selby "out of the blue," said Capt. Greg Gearhart, security operations division commander at the jail. Pesqueria, who is in jail on a first-degree murder charge, told corrections officers he attacked Selby because one of the assault victims was a 13-year-old girl, Gearhart said.

There is no audio track on the video, which was taken from a jail security camera

2004-10-16: The History Channel - COLD CASE FILES: Episode 92

The History Channel
COLD CASE FILES: Episode 92
Monday, October 16, 2004
http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/site/tv_guide/full_details/Crime/programme_2933.php

Mon October 16th at 11:00pm

In September of 1999, a young girl is abducted and sexually assaulted a few hundred feet from her Noble, Oklahoma home. The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office responds to the scene. The young girl, however, is unable to identify her attacker. A semen sample is collected from a rape kit with the hopes of comparing the sample to a suspect.

Sheriff investigators work the young girl's neighborhood looking for leads and a likely suspect. James Allen Selby emerges as a person of interest. Investigators talk with a defensive Selby and learn that he had been charged with a rape in Arizona just one year prior, but was acquitted of the charges. Cleveland County investigators ask Selby if he'd be willing to provide a sample of his DNA for comparison. Selby agrees to provide his DNA, but instead, skips town, causing the investigation to go cold.

In April of 2001, a 12-year-old girl living in Sparks, Nevada is sexually assaulted in her apartment. Semen samples are collected from the crime scene and entered into the statewide DNA database but there are no matches. Detectives from the Sparks Police Department develop maintenance worker James Selby as a possible suspect when they learn that Selby failed to show up to work and also appears to have vacated his on- site apartment.

A search warrant is executed at Selby's apartment where investigators obtain a toothbrush that is submitted for DNA testing. A match is made from Selby's toothbrush to the evidence left behind at the rape scene. An arrest warrant is issued for Selby; but the maintenance man is nowhere to be found and the case goes cold.

In the summer of 2001, a serial rape case has detectives in San Diego stymied. Four women have been raped in their homes, but investigators have no idea who the rapist is. Genetic samples from each of the rape cases link to the same unknown offender but with out a hint of a lead, the San Diego community wonders if and when the rapist will be caught.

From October of 2001 to February of 2002 a serial rapist is on the loose terrorizing young women in Tucson, Arizona. Three women are raped and all cases are connected by DNA. None of the victims know the attacker and cannot identify him.

In March of 2002, detectives from the Tucson Police Department get their first break when the unknown suspect DNA profile is uploaded into the CODIS database and hits with the unknown suspect DNA profile in the unsolved San Diego rape cases.

Investigators from Tucson and San Diego begin comparing notes on their cases with hopes of identifying a viable suspect. Little, however, is gained and the cases remain unsolved. In the months following, the same rapist attacks another Tucson woman and the unsolved rape cases begin to take their toll on investigators.

In August of 2002, investigators from Cleveland County, Oklahoma are given an opportunity to solve their three year-old unsolved rape case. A genetic sample from the case is uploaded into CODIS. The Oklahoma suspect sample hits with Tucson and San Diego and investigators once again, begin comparing notes. Oklahoma investigators notify Tucson that their primary suspect at the time of the attack was James Allen Selby. Selby's name is run through national databases and a warrant for his arrest surfaces out of Sparks, NV.

Investigators working in Tucson, Oklahoma, San Diego and Nevada begin a manhunt looking for James Selby.

In September of 2002 James Selby is arrested at a VA Clinic in Colorado Springs, CO. Colorado detectives sit-down to speak with Selby. They discover Selby might also be responsible for an unsolved rape in the Brookside neighborhood of Colorado Springs. DNA later links Selby to the Colorado Springs attack. Selby is booked on a charge of rape in Colorado and later convicted of the crime.

From Colorado, Selby is transported to Tucson where is tried for 9 counts of rape and one count of assaulted murder. In October of 2004, a jury sides with the prosecution and finds James Selby guilty on all counts. On the morning of his sentencing, Selby hanged himself in his jail cell.

2004-11-23: Bankers Hill Rapist' Found Dead In Jail Cell

'Bankers Hill Rapist' Found Dead In Jail Cell
Selby Scheduled To Be Sentenced To Life
http://www.10news.com/news/3943621/detail.html

POSTED: 10:56 am PST November 23, 2004
UPDATED: 11:57 am PST November 23, 2004

TUCSON, Ariz. -- A serial rapist convicted of the sexual assaults of four San Diego women committed suicide in an Arizona jail cell.

James Allen Selby, 38, who was dubbed the "Bankers Hill Rapist" by San Diego police three years ago, killed himself Monday.

Selby was found hanging from the window of his jail cell just a few hours before he was scheduled to be sentenced to life in prison in Tucson for raping five women and a teenage girl there in 2001 and 2002. He used a bedsheet to hang himself.

Selby had been connected by a national DNA databank to the rapes and assaults of 14 girls and women in San Diego; Tucson; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Sparks, Nev.; and Norman, Okla. comma between September 1999 and May 2002.

San Diego prosecutors were planning to extradite him after the Arizona sentencing to face charges that he raped four women between July and September of 2001 in Bankers Hill, North Park and Park West.

Selby was accused of entering his San Diego victims' apartments through windows, covering their faces with a towel and assaulting them, according to court records.

Four days after the last San Diego attack, Selby attacked his first victim in Tucson.

Authorities believe Selby was a drifter who came to San Diego in 2001. At the time of his death, he was serving a sentence of 20 years to life for a Colorado rape conviction and faced multiple life sentences in Tucson.

A convicted serial rapist who faced a life sentenced, was found hanged in his jail cell hours before his scheduled court appearance.

2004-11-23: Rapist's 'cowardly' last act - He hangs himself in jail cell hours before sentencing

Rapist's 'cowardly' last act - Tuesday, November 23, 2004
He hangs himself in jail cell hours before sentencing
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/news/local/112304a1_selby

Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Rapist's 'cowardly' last act
He hangs himself in jail cell hours before sentencing
DAVID L. TEIBEL and A.J. FLICK

Tucson Citizen

Convicted rapist James Selby's suicide in a Pima County Jail cell yesterday was the final act of control and defiance by a man whose criminal life was driven by the same motivations, prosecutors and court officials said.

Selby's victims declined to talk about his death, but court documents released yesterday reveal how his crimes changed their lives.

Micah Schmit, one of two lawyers who prosecuted Selby, said suicide fit the rapist's character.

"It was an 11th-hour cowardly act that deprived the community, deprived the victims (of a chance) to get their retribution," Schmit said. "This is entirely in keeping with the controlling and narcissistic behavior of a serial rapist."

Selby, 38, was found hanging by a bed sheet from the window grate in his cell at 7 a.m., Pima County sheriff's officials said. He had last been seen alive about 15 minutes earlier during a routine inmate check.

Selby was to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. by Pima County Superior Court Judge Howard Fell for crimes against five women and a 13-year-old girl from October 2001 to May 2002 that included seven counts of sexual assault, three counts of sexual abuse and kidnapping, four counts of burglary and aggravated assault, one count each of kidnapping and aggravated assault of a minor under 15, and one count each of attempted first-degree murder. He was convicted Oct. 7.

2004-11-24: Rapist's mom says he deserves burial in military cemetery

Rapist's mom says he deserves burial in military cemetery
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20041124-0903-rapistsburial.html

Rapist's mom says he deserves burial in military cemetery
9:03 a.m. November 24, 2004
Associated Press

James Allen Selby, 38, is shown in this drivers license photograph released by Arizona state authorities.

TUCSON, Ariz. � The mother of a convicted serial rapist who was accused of attacking four women in San Diego before he killed himself says her son deserves to be buried in a military cemetery.

Authorities said James Allen Selby, 38, hanged himself with his bedsheets Monday morning at the Pima County jail hours before he was to be sentenced to life in prison for attacking six Tucson females, including a teenage girl.

Selby served in the Army for almost seven years, was a Persian Gulf War veteran and earned an honorable discharge.

"My son fought for his country, and if, in fact, he did all these things, his mind was tainted by what he saw and couldn't handle in this war," Betty Brewer said Tuesday in a telephone interview from her home near Oklahoma City.

Selby's family will pay for his body to be returned to Oklahoma for burial.

A representative of the Fort Sill National Cemetery, a Veterans Affairs facility in Elgin, Okla., said the facility has begun paperwork for Selby's burial.

San Diego police suspected Selby was the so-called "Bankers Hill rapist," who attacked four women in the summer of 2001. He also was convicted of raping a woman in Colorado, and was suspected of attacking girls in Sparks, Nev., and Norman, Okla.

A Pima Count Superior Court jury convicted him on Oct. 7 on multiple counts for separate attacks between October 2001 and May 2002. They included seven counts of sexual assault, three of sexual abuse and kidnapping, one count of attempted first-degree murder and one count of kidnapping and aggravated assault of a minor under 15.

Selby was already serving a sentence of 20 years to life for a Colorado rape conviction and faced multiple life sentences in Tucson.

CHAIN OF EVENTS 2005

2005-04-19: Rapist's 'confessions' could reopen a case

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/news/local/041905a5_selby
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Rapist's 'confessions' could reopen a case
James A. Selby wrote that he murdered a San Diego girl in 2002 in a high-profile case.
A.J. FLICK
Tucson Citizen

Selby, 38, hanged himself in the Pima County Jail on Nov. 22 after being convicted of 27 counts including sexual assault and attempted murder. He was previously convicted of a Colorado rape and faced charges in San Diego unrelated to Van Dam, and in Oklahoma and Nevada.

A group called the David Westerfield Review sent the alleged Van Dam confession to the Innocence Project of the San Diego District Attorney's Office along with other claims that Westerfield is innocent.

Deputy County Attorney Bradley Roach, who prosecuted Selby here, said the idea that Selby raped and murdered Van Dam isn't "implausible" but unlikely.

"To me, that confession is virtually meaningless, considering what a media hound Selby was," Roach said. "It doesn't mean he did it. It doesn't mean he didn't do it.

"It was an aspect of his personality to confess to something to see what other people would say," said Roach.

The letter was sent in August 2003 from the El Paso County jail in Colorado Springs, Colo., where Selby was held after being convicted.

It reads: "David Westerfield was not responsible for Danelle Van Dam's murder. I was... (James Selby) You have other cases against me and are waiting for me to be sent to you."

The writing matches letters Selby sent to the Tucson Citizen.

Selby wrote what he called a "hollow confession" to the Tucson cases, and said he admitted to many crimes while in Colorado, including the unsolved JonBenet Ramsey slaying. "You want me to clean up some cases? We'll clean 'em up," Selby told the Tucson Citizen. "Danielle Van Dam

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