DNA links man to 1987 Deerfield Beach rape, assault case
New DNA testing tied Gregory Rollison to a 1987 Deerfield Beach attack on an 85-year-old woman. He was extradited to Broward County and faces three felony charges.
Gregory Rollison was extradited to Broward County after DNA testing tied him to the July 1987 rape and assault of an 85-year-old woman in Deerfield Beach. He now faces two counts of sexual battery and one count of armed burglary of a dwelling in a case that had stayed unresolved for nearly four decades.
The attack happened around 2 a.m. on July 16, 1987, inside the woman’s apartment in the 300 block of North Federal Highway. The victim was tied up and sexually assaulted. For years, detectives had suspicions about the case, but they did not have modern DNA testing or a positive identification that could turn the evidence into a charge.
Broward Sheriff’s Office Detective Andrew Gianino, one of the original responding deputies, revisited the file decades later. Evidence from the case was re-examined, a suspect DNA profile was identified and a match was made to Rollison. Gianino’s renewed review led to a prosecutable case.
Rollison, 60, was already serving time in the California state prison system for attempted murder on a law enforcement officer when he was identified. His extradition brought the case back to Broward County, where prosecutors can now move forward on charges linked to the 1987 attack.
The case was featured in the Broward Sheriff’s Office Open and Unsolved cold case series.
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