Minneapolis man sentenced in rape case solved via previously untested sexual assault kit
A Minneapolis man will spend nearly 20 years behind bars for raping a woman in 2013.
It's a case that was solved by Hennepin County's Sexual Assault Kit Initiative team, which was created to help test a backlog of rape kits that hadn't been touched for years.
Court documents show the victim in the 2013 case didn't want to move forward. On Wednesday, she said that's not true.
Mohamud Bulle will now serve time for that crime, with help from evidence that came from another case he was involved in last year.
Last month, a jury found Bulle guilty of criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping.
According to a criminal complaint, Bulle sexually assaulted a woman who got separated from her friends after an event in Minneapolis in October 2013. A passerby found her "a few minutes" after the assault and called 911, the complaint states. The victim underwent a sexual assault examination, the results of which were sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Seven years later, the BCA completed testing on the kit, but found no matches for the DNA profile. In 2024, Bulle submitted his DNA to authorities during an attempted murder and assault investigation, and his profile was found to be a match to the 2013 kit. Authorities reconnected with the victim in February.
On Wednesday, Melissa Zimmerman, the victim of the 2013 assault, spoke publicly for the first time.
"I wanted to give up a lot. Girls out there, getting a rape test kit done isn't easy, it's scary. But you know what, if I wouldn't have done it that day, I wouldn't have been able to send a horrible, horrible person to jail finally," Melissa Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman's husband also spoke on Wednesday.
"My position is ... when do the victims get to decide whether someone is prosecuted for a crime that was obvious?" Zimmerman's husband said.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty was also at Wednesday's news conference, where she formally apologized to Zimmerman.
"I am so sorry. You deserve to have your cases prioritized and taken seriously," Moriarty said.
Court documents show Bulle was charged last year in the attempted murder and assault case.
Sexual Assault Resources
- (SOS – Ramsey County)
- Sexual Violence Center (SVC – Hennepin County)
- Aurora Center (U of MN)
- 360 Communities (Dakota County)
- Hope Center (Rice County)
- Canvas Health (Washington County)
- Alexandra House (Anoka County)
General Sites for information related to sexual assault and resources throughout Minnesota:
General Sexual Assault Websites:
