Man faces 20 years for raping Fairfield student

Gavel laying on judges bench in courtroom Gavel laying on judges bench in courtroom Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Man faces 20 years for raping Fairfield student 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

BRIDGEPORT - Edibaldo “Eddie” Duran could run but he couldn’t hide from justice forever.

Arrested last year in his native Puebla, Mexico, following a four-year hunt after savagely beating and raping a Fairfield college student, the 29-year-old Duran stood before a judge Thursday and pleaded guilty to his crime.

In the back of the courtroom his victim’s family sat crying.

Through a Spanish interpreter, Duran pleaded guilty to home invasion and aggravated first-degree sexual assault.

He nodded his head as Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin told Duran he would sentence him to 20 years in prison on July 12.

In the early morning of Sept. 1, 2014, Labor Day, police said Duran broke into the Berkeley Road home of a Sacred Heart University student.

Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen Zingaro told the judge that the victim related she had been asleep when she was awakened by the sound of her bedroom door opening. A man, later identified as Duran, entered the woman’s bedroom and told her he was looking for his dog.

When the woman screamed for Duran to leave, the prosecutor said, he struck her in the face and then began choking her until she passed out. When she came to, he raped her.

The victim later made a composite police sketch of her assailant which was disseminated in the media and social media. Zingaro said two witnesses later identified the sketch as Duran. Police also connected Duran’s DNA to the crime scene.

Police tracked Duran to JFK Airport but Zingaro said they were too late, his plane had already taken off.

The U.S. Marshal Service wouldn’t give up the hunt and eventually trailed Duran to a small house in Puebla. With the aid of Mexican authorities, they surrounded the house and convinced Duran to surrender.