Killer is revealed as Swedish au pair’s rapist 32 years after crime thanks to DNA evidence

A CONVICTED killer faces prison for the rape of an au pair 32 years ago, thanks to DNA evidence.

Billy Day, 50, targeted the 19-year-old Swedish  woman in Hendon Park, North London, as she walked to meet a friend.

He tried to cover her eyes but she saw enough to give an accurate description of him being  white, in his 20s and 5ft 6ins tall.

He lived around the corner from the park at the time of the assault.

But he was only linked to the rape in 2013 because of advances in DNA technology.

After jurors at Southwark crown court found Day guilty,  they learnt he was previously convicted of manslaughter in 1998 and jailed for 11 years.

He had punched a man who hit his head and died from the injuries.

Day then attempted to dispose of the body by setting light to it.

On the charge for rape, Samantha Cohen, prosecuting, said the sex attack took place on 7 December 1984 in the park near Hendon Underground Station.

She told jurors: “This may all have happened a long time ago but for [the woman] it no doubt feels like yesterday.

“She has had to wait a long time for justice, and so has Mr Day.”

The prosecutor told how the victim had noticed footsteps behind her as she walked in the park.

“She sped up – she was wearing high heels and a thick coat – but so did the person behind her, then he broke into a run and caught her up,” said the prosecutor.

After raping the victim, Day told her to lie face down on a bench and that he would return and break her neck if she moved.

Miss Cohen revealed that his parting words were that he was “off to find another girl”.

Day, of Uxbridge, West London, will be sentenced on September 2.