DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - A man has been convicted in two 1986 rape cases after new DNA testing linked him to the decades-old crimes, authorities said Friday.
What we know:
A DeKalb County jury found Jeffrey Briney, 61, guilty on multiple charges related to two violent home invasions and sexual assaults that occurred in 1986, according to prosecutors. The charges include four counts of rape, seven counts of kidnapping, seven counts of aggravated assault, five counts of attempted armed robbery, two counts of armed robbery, one count of aggravated sodomy and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
The first attack occurred on March 28, 1986, when four men forced their way into an apartment on Briarwood Road, according to prosecutors. Five college students were held at gunpoint and tied up. Two women were raped, and the apartment was ransacked.
On Oct. 27, 1986, two armed men broke into an apartment on Buford Highway about one mile from the Briarwood attack. Prosecutors said the men raped both women living there, tied them up and stole valuables before fleeing, prosecutors said.
The cases remained unsolved until 2023, when the Georgia Bureau of Investigation sent previously untested rape kits to a private lab as part of a statewide sexual assault kit initiative. DNA from one of the Briarwood victims matched Jeffrey Briney in the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). His DNA was also linked to the Buford Highway case.
Dig deeper:
Additional testing later identified Briney's brother, David Briney, as a suspect in the second rape from the Briarwood attack. His DNA has since been connected to seven other sexual assault cases in Cobb and Fulton counties, but has not yet gone to trial.
Local perspective:
The Georgia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (GASAKI) Task Force led the renewed investigation. Formed in 2018 with federal grant funding, the task force includes prosecutors, investigators and victim advocates working to resolve cold-case sexual assaults across the state. The GBI and Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council partnered on the effort, which has led to the processing of about 2,500 untested kits, including 74 from DeKalb County.
Briney's sentencing will be scheduled in the coming weeks by DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Tangela Barrie, who presided over the trial.