Marine investigated in Ill. killings: Report

Torrez. (Courtesy of Arlington Police)

An ex-Marine charged in the brutal rape of a woman in Prince William County has been linked by DNA evidence to the 2005 deaths of two girls in Zion, Ill, the man's sister told the Chicago Tribune.

Jorge "George" Torrez is accused in the Feb. 27 attack on two women in northern Virginia, during which he allegedly raped and beat one of the victims within an inch of her life.

According to Sara Torrez, Jorge Torrez’s DNA has been matched with evidence found on one of the bodies of two girls -- Laura Hobbs, 8, and Krystal Tobias, 9 – who were found beaten and stabbed to death in a park in Zion, a city about 50 miles north of Chicago. Torrez is from Zion.

An Illinois state's attorney quoted by the Tribune would not confirm that Torrez's DNA was found on evidence connected to the killings.

The new evidence could mean exoneration for Laura’s father Jerry Hobbs, who has been held for five years after a confession he says was coerced by police, the Tribune reported.

Investigators are renewing their investigation and interviewing witnesses, including Torrez’s family, the newspaper said.

Torrez had been working at the Pentagon when the attack in northern Virginia occurred, his family said. He is being held in an Arlington jail.

Timeline: The case of Jorge "George" Torrez

This item has been updated since it was first published.

-- Mike McPhate