COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A judge refused to throw out a rape charge against alleged serial rapist Marc Winner Thursday, meaning the former West Loop tanning salon owner still faces charges in four rape cases.
At a hearing at Cook County Criminal Court Thursday, Judge Carol Howard denied an attempt by Winner's attorneys to throw out charges in an alleged attack in 2009.
Winner, now 46, has been charged with raping four women from 2009 to 2015. In three of the cases, the alleged victims were employees or customers at Winner's tanning salon, Soleil Tanning, 1018 W. Madison St., which was closed by the city in May. Winner, who has bonded out of jail, was seen moving equipment out of the salon this week.
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Prosecutors have called Winner "a real and present threat to the physical safety of any woman."
Howard's ruling came in response to Winner's attorneys' motions to drop one of the cases against him involving a 24-year-old woman he allegedly attacked in July 2009. Winner was charged in the case in 2013, but those charges were dismissed at the time.
Prosecutors again pursued charges in the 2009 incident in April of this year, after Winner was charged in October 2015 of raping and choking a 26-year-old woman after she stopped by Soleil, court records show.
Attorneys for Winner now argue that the delays in filing charges against Winner in the 2009 case prevented him from getting a fair and speedy trial.
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In that case, Winner is accused of attacking a former employee after the pair ran into each other at a bar, prosecutors said.
After an evening out, the victim and a friend agreed to go back to Winner's apartment in the 1000 block of West Madison Street, records show. The friend left, and Winner took away the victim's phone, court records said.
At that point, the victim became fearful, prosecutors said, and suggested Winner take her to the tanning salon, located on the same street.
Once there, the victim tried to call 911 from the front desk, but couldn't establish a connection, prosecutors said. She eventually got back her cellphone and failed to get through to 911 several times, records show.
At some point, the victim was able to sneak a call to her sister, telling her she was about to be raped, prosecutors said, and asking the sister to call 911.
Winner interrupted the call, according to authorities, and dragged the victim back to his apartment. There, he pushed her into his bedroom and raped her, prosecutors said.When Winner went to shower after the attack, the woman grabbed her clothes and run away, court records show. She called 911 and her sister, and a rape kit was collected at a nearby hospital. DNA taken from her body was a positive match to Winner's DNA, records show.
Winner will next appear in court Jan. 27.
To learn more about Winner's pending cases, read:
• Marc Winner Raped Me And Got Away With It, Woman Alleges On National TV
• Accused Rapist Marc Winner's Landlord Speaks Out: 'It Was A Shock'
• Marc Winner Raped Woman In His Mom's Edgewater Home, Officials Say
• City Shuts Down Accused Serial Rapist Marc Winner's Tanning Salon
• Accused Rapist Marc Winner Attacked in County Jail, Officials Say
• Accused Serial Rapist's Tanning Salon Should Be Shut Down, Alderman Says
• Suspected Serial Rapist Marc Winner 'Anxious' For Trial, Attorney Says
• Tanning Salon Owner Marc Winner Raped Me in 2001 But Went Free, Woman Says
• Salon Owner Charged In 3 Rape Cases Denied Bail, 'A Danger,' Judge Says
• Tanning Salon Owner Allegedly Raped 2nd Woman After Judge Tossed 2013 Case
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