NYPD: 1994 Prospect Park rape case solved

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City detectives said they've cracked a 23-year-old rape case that a newspaper columnist wrote was a hoax.

A woman was walking through Brooklyn's Prospect Park in 1994 when she was dragged into the bushes and raped. She gave police a detailed description of her attacker.

The late Daily News columnist Mike McAlary wrote he heard from a source the woman invented her story because she wanted to bolster a speech she was to give at a rally about violence against lesbians.

The woman sued for libel, but the case was dismissed.

Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said detectives matched DNA to serial rapist James Edward Webb, who is serving 75 years to life in prison. Boyce said Wednesday the woman wept with joy when she was told.

Webb denies raping the woman.