Who Is Marc O'Leary, Rapist Who Was Captured In Colorado And The Subject Of Netflix Series 'Unbelievable'?

(CBS4) - "I am a sexually violent predator and I'm out of control." That's how Marc O'Leary described himself at his sentencing in December 2011. He was 32 years old when he pleaded guilty to raping women in Golden and Westminster and trying to rape another in Aurora.

But O'Leary's crimes stretched farther back to 2008 in Washington state where he attacked two women. Lynnwood police pressured the first woman to recant her report and charged her with false reporting, even after investigators in Kirkwood reached out about a similar case in their jurisdiction.

O'Leary moved to Jefferson County in 2009. In October of that year a woman was assaulted in her home in Aurora. In July 2010, a woman in Lakewood reported a masked man broke into her apartment but she escaped through a bedroom window. In August, a woman in Westminster reported being raped by a masked man who tied her hands. A detective at that scene linked footprints to the Lakewood scene.

Then on Jan. 5, 2011, a woman was attacked in her apartment in Golden by a man who spent hours in her apartment, repeatedly raping her. Police told CBS4 at the time the man had targeted his victim. That victim provided a valuable clue reporting the man had a distinctive mark or tattoo on the outer of area of his lower leg about the size and shape of an egg.

Stacy Galbraith was a detective with the Golden Police Department and investigated that rape. Two years ago she talked with CBS4 as Netflix released its series "Unbelievable" about the investigation that ended with O'Leary's arrest.

"We go in and take a look at the scene," she recalled, "the scene was different from most other assaults."

That scene left her shaken.

"That person was still out there. Is he going to hit again? What's he planning? What's he doing? Where is he at? I went home."

Galbraith's husband was an officer with Westminster and told her about that city's similar case.

Galbraith contacted that investigating officer, Westminster Detective Edna Hendershot, the next morning.

"The work that we communicated, we got along, we met all the time. We talked. We texted. We emailed. We were always bouncing things off each other," Galbraith said.

Within six weeks, a task force of multiple agencies worked together to track down O'Leary. Authorities arrested him at his Lakewood home on February 13. At that time he was charged in the rapes in Golden and Westminster. A judge set a $5 million cash bond, citing concerns about the violence of the attacks and the possibility of more victims.

Lakewood and Aurora quickly became part of the investigation.

Prosecutors charged him with with 28 counts ranging from sex assault to kidnapping and stalking. When he first appeared in court he told the judge "the charges are filed erroneously against someone who is not myself."

During his preliminary hearing in March 2011, detectives told the judge O'Leary took more than 100 photos during one of the sexual assaults. They were found on a memory card discovered during the February search of his home.

An arrest affidavit released later detailed the attack in Westminster including the supplies O'Leary carried, including high heels and stockings he made the victim wear. At the end of the attack he told her to shower and wash herself.

It was surveillance video from that the crime scene that eventually led police to O'Leary's pickup truck, giving them a valuable break.

That was the same month police Washington state officially linked him to a sexual assault in 2008. Investigators in Colorado found a picture of the woman was raped in Washington state.

That was the crime that when the victim originally reported the rape, police didn't believe her.

"There was a bunch of information that was brought forth that made the investigators reach the wrong conclusion in the case," the Lynnwood Police Department told CBS4 at that time.

In fact, they ended up charging her with making a false report, she eventually took a plea deal and paid a fine. She later won a lawsuit against the department. The department also implemented additional training.

"She went through this incident, this crime and then to have nobody believe on top of that," the department said. "Now to move forward with a group of investigators who do believe her, her family can give her the support she needs."

The arrest affidavit from Snohomish County described how people who knew O'Leary described him, painting a picture of a true predator. They told police O'Leary was part of a secret society that believed the world is divided into Alphas and Bravos and he believed he was entitled to have sexual intercourse with whomever he wanted.

That Washington affidavit references the pictures from Lakewood and tied the crimes in both states, stating O'Leary's "meticulous photographing of his victims," telling his victims that "if they report the assault to police, he will post pictures of them on the internet, binding victims' hands and using latex gloves in all the cases.

With charges piling up, O'Leary entered a guilty plea to 28 of 39 charges in October 2011. His victims were in court, supported by advocates and praised by prosecutors.

"This is one of the most extreme cases we've seen," said Robert Weiner who was then the Jefferson County District Attorney. "The victims remained strong. The investigation was outstanding and I think the Golden Police Department and all the other agencies saw pretty quickly that this was a serious offender that need to get off the streets. There approach was outstanding."

Dec. 12, 2011, found O'Leary back in court, telling a judge he deserved to spend the rest of his life in prison.

"If someone did this to someone I know or I love, I know exactly how I'd feel," he said. "I would want to kill them."

Prosecutors detailed the way O'Leary stalked his victims, attacking them in them in beds then forcing them to help him cover his tracks.

"He preyed on his victims. He stalked them. He was meticulous how he stalked them," Weiner said during the sentencing hearing. "He took great lengths to ensure he got his prey."

One victim gave had an investigator give the court a statement on her behalf, detailing everything O'Leary stole from her, saying she lost her freedom, safety, trust, even a sense of peace in her own home.

Another wrote "If he were released in society I would always fear for my life. I would always wonder if he was stalking me and looking for revenge."

"What was done to these women is absolutely unconscionable," Weiner said. "It is one of the scariest cases to come before this judicial district at the very least. I can't sit here and tell this court you know what, we should understand how they feel. No one can. No one can."

O'Leary agreed with the district attorney.

"I am a sexually violent predator and I'm out of control. I've been out of control for a long time. As gruesome as these details are, words are just inadequate to describe how horrible I acted and how much damage I caused."

The judge sentenced him to 327 1/2 and a half years, a sentence he is serving in the Buena Vista Correctional Complex.

He is serving a concurrent sentences from Washington state for the two rapes there, of 28 1/2 years, there of 40 years. Both those victims also told the court he robbed them of their security and for that first victim, her belief in the goodness of people.

"I can only hope that my sentence today will satisfy them as far as closure is concerned and moving on with their lives," said O'Leary.

His Department of Corrections page shows a parole hearing set for July 2283.