Kentucky Detectives Track Cold Rape Case to Union County

BLAIRSVILLE, GA – Boone County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) Detectives Timothy Adams and Coy Cox reopened the Oct. 1, 1978 cold rape case and tracked down their suspect, Michael Dean Tate, 77, to Union County, Ga.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) assisted in the arrest of Tate, who admitted to raping a woman in KY but couldn’t remember the exact date. He told investigators that “it could have been 1978.” He also went on to admit two more sexual assaults in two more states. Detectives are now working on those cases as well.

The initial crime occurred around 4 a.m. on Oct. 1, 1978, when a young woman in her 20s was attacked from behind, the kidnapped and raped. She immediately reported the incident to the Park Hills Police Department. She told them that a man grabbed her from behind by the throat as she was exiting her car at 2 a.m. She said the man threatened to kill her if she continued to struggle or make any noise.

During his interview with BCSO Detectives, Tate confirmed that he grabbed the woman from behind while she exited her car in the garage.

He then closed her car door and forced her into his car. Once inside the car, he drove to St. Joseph’s Lane in Park Hills where he proceeded to rape her and force her to perform other sex acts for the next two hours. During her witness report, she also relayed that her assailant bragged about killing other victims. The woman begged for her life and eventually was released alive.

BCSO Detectives were able to identify Michael Dean Tate as the assailant through the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). They discovered that he lived in Georgia, but further investigation found activity in Cincinnati during the 70s. Adams and Cox began looking into the cold rape case due to the similarities with an unsolved homicide on Boone County.

Adams and Cox spoke with the victim of the crime who confirmed that she didn’t know Michael Dean Tate, and she normally parked her car in the garage and hadn’t had it serviced recently. The only person that she knew had touched her car door was the assailant.

On Nov. 13, 2019, the detectives traveled to Union County to conduct their interview with Tate who did admit to the crime as well as others. They obtained an arrest warrant for Tate on Nov. 14. 2019  and charged him with 1st Degree Rape, 1st Degree Sodomy, and Kidnapping. He is currently being held in Union County Jail on $500,000 bond.

Tate awaits extradition to Kentucky, which could take days or months depending on if Tate contests the extradition. Each charge is a Class-B felony with possible sentences of 10 to 20 years in prison.

As always, all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Mugshot courtesy of Union County Sheriff’s Office.