Suspected 'Twilight Rapist' Billy Joe Harris Had Long Career With State, Military

Employment records obtained by Local 2 Investigates showed 53-year-old Billy Joe Harris has worked on and off for the state prison system for the last 11 years. Texas Rangers have said Harris is believed to be the so-called "Twilight Rapist," a man wanted in at least a dozen sexual assaults, attempted sexual assaults and burglaries in seven counties over a two-year span.

Records from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice show Harris worked as a food service manager and corrections officer for different prison units at different times from 1999 through 2010. State records show Harris also worked as a corrections officer for the Texas Youth Commission. Recently, Harris had retued to work as a food service manager for the Terrell prison unit in Rosharon.

Before coming to work for the state, Harris served in the Army from 1976 to 1998, when he was honorably discharged.

Harris was arrested early Saturday moing in the small town of Edna, about two-and-a-half hours southwest of Houston.

"I didn't know who we had. I didn't know what we had," said Edna reserve police officer Robert Chastain, who also serves as the town's animal control officer.

When Chastain and his partner, Michael Yaws, tackled Harris, they had no idea they just caught the man the Texas Rangers dubbed the "Twilight Rapist."

"He fought with us a good five minutes," said Yaws. "I know five minutes doesn't seem like a long time, but five minutes of struggling is a long time."

"He give us both a run for our money, most definitely," said Chastain.

Harris' two-year run from police ended at the the Miracle Manor assisted living community in Edna. Police said a disabled 59-year-old woman hit her medical emergency alert. When the officers pulled up, they noticed a screen was popped out of the woman's window.

"We started hearing her screaming and yelling in there,' said Yaws.

Yaws said the door to her home was locked, but a few moments later Harris opened it, yelled, "I didn't do anything," and ran off. Yaws and Chastain caught Harris after a short foot chase.

It was Edna Police Chief Clinton Wooldridge who first suspected Harris may be wanted for other things.

"It occurred to me he fit the description, generally, and the (modus Operandi), generally, of the person they call the 'Twilight Rapist,'" said Wooldridge.

Wooldridge called the Texas Rangers, and within 24 hours, Harris' DNA was matched to at least a dozen attacks and burglaries.

"It's an amazing feeling,' said Yaws. "I'm glad we could do that. I got into this to help people, to do my job, and yeah, it's an amazing feeling."

Local 2 investigates also spoke with the Edna school district Superintendent Bob Wells, who said Harris worked as director of food services for the district before resigning in the Winter of 2009.

Kathy Gerdes works for the school district and said Harris was her boss.

"We were all scared. We all freaked out this moing,' said Gerdes. "We couldn't believe it until we saw it on the Iinteet."

Investigators said Harris has no criminal record, which explains how he passed employment background checks and why, until Saturday's arrest, detectives were not able to find a match for physical evidence left behind in victims' homes.

Jackson County Sheriff A.J. Louderback told Local 2 that Harris is being kept in isolation in jail and allowed no visitors.

Edna police said the 59-year-old woman involved in Saturday's attack is out of the hospital and now staying with relatives in nearby El Campo.