Genealogical DNA helps convict man in Collinsville kidnapping, rape case

A Madison County jury needed a little more than an hour to convict Timothy J. Dubois on all 10 counts, turning a 2022 Collinsville abduction and rape case into one of the county’s clearest evidence-driven true-crime verdicts. Prosecutors tied the case together with the victim’s courtroom testimony, surveillance footage, and genealogical DNA, a forensic method local reporting said was used for the first time in a Madison County criminal prosecution.

The attack began in the parking lot of a Collinsville Starbucks on Nov. 11, 2022, near the Collinsville Crossing area on Collinsville Crossing Blvd. Police said Dubois forced the woman into her own vehicle at knifepoint and made her drive to Troy, Illinois, where he raped her. What followed was a fast-moving investigation that would later stretch across state lines and into a new chapter of forensic genealogy work.

Within days, Collinsville police were publicly asking for help. On Nov. 16, 2022, they released a sketch and vehicle information tied to the suspect, including a dark Chevy Cruze. The Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office later charged Timothy J. Dubois Jr. on March 8, 2023, identifying him as a 39-year-old from Shobonier, Illinois. By the time of the verdict, Dubois was identified as a 42-year-old Fayette County man.

Trial coverage showed how prosecutors removed the ambiguity that can sink a violent-crime case. Investigators from Illinois and Missouri helped develop key evidence, and the victim’s testimony remained central as the state presented the sequence of the abduction, the drive to Troy, and the sexual assault. The genetic work did not stand alone; it was part of a larger evidentiary package that included witness statements and surveillance evidence, giving jurors multiple points of corroboration.

State’s Attorney Tom Haine had earlier praised the Collinsville Police Department’s investigative division for its “tireless efforts” in resolving the case, and the verdict gave that work a decisive ending. Dubois now faces up to 80 years in prison when he is sentenced. For Madison County, the case does more than close a violent chapter for one survivor. It shows how genealogical DNA, once associated mainly with old cold cases, is now landing in live prosecutions and helping juries reach quick, unequivocal verdicts.