People vs. Mark Jeffrey Manteuffel

DATE:  December 14, 2020

CASE: Mark Jeffrey Manteuffel (Case #00F02401)

PROSECUTOR:  Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Amy Holliday

Mark Jeffrey Manteuffel pled guilty and was sentenced for a series of sexual assaults that occurred in Sacramento and Yolo counties between 1992-1994.  On October 23, 2020, Manteuffel admitted that he committed two separate home invasion sexual assaults in Sacramento County.  On December 11, 2020, Manteuffel admitted that he committed a third sexual assault against a UC Davis student who was out jogging on January 11, 1994.   Manteuffel was sentenced to a total of 35 years in state prison for these offenses.

Manteuffel, a former federal prison system administrator, escaped detection and arrest for more than 26 years.  On March 21, 2000, three days before the statute of limitations would have expired on the third sexual assault in the series, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office filed a complaint against “John Doe” as an unknown male with a specific genetic profile in hopes that the suspect would someday be identified and located.

In December 2018, biological evidence from a sofa cushion where one of the victims was sexually assaulted was used to develop a specialized DNA profile intended for investigative genetic genealogy (IGG).  That DNA profile led investigators to a list of potential relatives of the suspect.  No DNA or other genetic material from these potential relatives was shared with law enforcement.  A working group from the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office and Sacramento Police Department constructed family trees which led to Manteuffel.  The identity of the man who went undetected for 26 years then became known.

On February 21, 2019, the Sacramento Police Department, in conjunction with the FBI, began looking for Manteuffel.  The search led them to Oklahoma, Florida, and eventually to Georgia.  Manteuffel was ultimately located in Decatur, Georgia on June 3, 2019.  After confirming through DNA evidence that Manteuffel was indeed responsible for the three sexual assaults in California between 1992-1994, Manteuffel was arrested and brought back to Sacramento.  Manteuffel was identified and located just seven months before one of the victims died.  Fortunately, her testimony was preserved using a conditional examination which could have been used had the case proceeded to trial.  The two remaining victims were present at the pleas and sentencing in both Sacramento and Yolo counties and were able to face Manteuffel and deliver powerful victim impact statements.  The three victims waited for more than 26 years and it was only through the use of IGG that the identification and arrest of Manteuffel was possible.

The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office would like to thank the original detectives on these cases who never gave up pursuing the offender –Detective Donna Simmons (Ret.) from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, Detective Pete Willover (Ret.) from the Sacramento Police Department and Detective Kay Lipelt (Ret.) from the Davis Police Department.  We also express gratitude to Detective Shaun McGovern from the Sacramento Police Department and Detective Sergeant Michelle Hendricks (Ret.) from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office for their dedication to the pursuit and apprehension of Manteuffel.

© Copyright Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office | All Rights Reserved