PART TWO OF TWO BLOOMINGTON - McLean County prosecutor Mark Messman is accustomed to late-night phone calls from police but the 3 a.m. call on June 10, 2006 about a potential prowler outside a woman's east-side Bloomington home was different. | VIDEO: The Pelo Investigation: Part Two | VIDEO: Part One | STORY: Part One: The Detectives

Jeff Pelo, a 17-year veteran with the Bloomington Police Department, had been stopped around midnight as he stood between two homes on Andy Court.

After being ordered at gunpoint to stop by Officer David Ziemer, Pelo said he was shopping for homes for his mother-in-law.

"I was told simply, 'You need to come down to the police station,' so I did," Messman said in a recent interview with The Pantagraph.

Skeptical investigators found Pelo's alibi about house hunting more incredible than credible. For Messman, who was called about 2 1/2 hours after Pelo was picked up, the situation didn't add up, but it did open the door to an investigation that would end with 35 convictions in June related to the rapes of four women between 2002 and 2005. Pelo is serving 440 years in prison.

Jeff Pelo

"I would certainly characterize that as the 'light bulb event,' that's when the pieces started to fall together," Messman said of Pelo's encounter with police.

The attempted break-in into the frightened woman's home quickly turned into a stalking case. Messman and detectives put together search warrants of Pelo's home, looking for items that could be used to stalk and sexually assault women.

In July 2006, Pelo was charged with sexual assault, home invasion and intimidation. With photo and voice identifications confirmed by several victims, police believed they had the right man.

Joining forces and cases

Messman, the county's chief felony prosecutor, was joined on the Pelo case by Assistant State's Attorney Sandy Thompson. The nature of the high-profile case often put the two unassuming prosecutors in a media spotlight they shunned during nearly two years of court proceedings.

Prosecutor Bill Workman was the computer expert on the state's team who organized evidence of pornography found on Pelo's computer.

The fact that Pelo was a police officer did not influence how

the investigation was handled, said Thompson.

"You really don't know anybody. You have to put aside your personal opinions and beliefs and just try to analyze the facts," she said.

It was clear to the prosecution team the five cases should be presented to a jury at one trial to allow prosecutors to outline the rapist's behavior and the other evidence against him.

Victims told police Pelo's behavior during the assaults included forcing them to bathe, removing bed sheets and engaging them in conversation about boyfriends and roommates.

Pelo's mistakes

Pelo's apparent fixation with the woman on Andy Court may have been the mistake that allowed police to catch a serial rapist, said Messman.

"He didn't give up on the most recent stalking victim and that certainly was a huge part of his undoing. He got to a point where he could not control himself," said Messman.

Investigators learned after Pelo's June 10 face-off with police that the former sergeant previously had been chased from the Andy Court property by the woman's boyfriend.

The woman also identified Pelo from a line-up as the man who had followed her home from work more than a year earlier.

Bloomington police Detective Clay Wheeler considers Pelo's biggest error to be the choice of women he targeted for assault.

"In my mind, his biggest mistake was how strong the people were he ended up assaulting and their ability to focus on details through what was the most traumatic thing that will happen to them in their life," said Wheeler.

More victims?

Police are haunted by the possibility that at least one more woman may have been sexually assaulted by Pelo. Several weeks after Pelo's arrest, a man left a message with police saying his sister had been raped by a man she recognized as Pelo from photos circulated in the media.

In a struggle during the attack, she ripped off her assailant's ski mask, the called said. The woman did not come forward but detectives would like to talk to her.

"We believe there's a possibility for other victims," said Detective Matt Dick.

Authorities also are convinced Pelo's habit of running license plates produced a longer list of potential stalking victims than were presented at Pelo's trial, said Dick.

The 35 guilty verdicts returned to an emotionally charged courtroom on June 18 signaled the end of a long road for prosecutors and police.

The damage caused by the multi-year string of assaults went beyond the women and left scars on family and friends, too, Messman noted.

"Rarely have I ever seen a case - and by rarely I mean ever - where you see the ripple affect so dramatically," he said.