KEY POINTS:
The handgun-toting rapist who conned his way into the home of an Auckland woman by posing as a police officer could have psychopathic tendencies - and may well strike again soon.
That's the fear of a top criminal profiler following the release yesterday of disturbing details into the 2 1/2-hour attack on a 41-year-old woman in her Papakura flat.
In a sinister new twist, police yesterday revealed how the offender managed to get into the woman's Duke St flat by claiming to be a plain-clothes police officer carrying out routine checks of the neighbourhood.
The officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Senior Sergeant Neil Grimstone, said the man had asked the woman to open the door and once inside had produced a "dark handgun" and threatened her with it.
The man then stripped the woman naked and subjected her to a prolonged and "despicable" sexual attack.
Locals in the area believe the attack was meticulously planned, with suggestions that the rapist may have been keeping watch on the property, waiting for the best time to strike. Police are now warning people to ask police officers to produce identification before letting them into their homes.
Grimstone said the obvious warning to the public was that all police officers, when going door to door, carried official identification. "They are practised at showing that identification at all times."
Last night, police were still searching for clues to the identity and whereabouts of the man amid fears he could strike again.
Grimstone said the victim had been re-interviewed by police yesterday and was still obviously traumatised by the ordeal. "She has some physical injuries which have been treated. But clearly, after such a horrific attack, to say she was mentally fragile was an understatement."
An 0800 hotline was being staffed around the clock, and while police had received "many calls", the attack was "a fairly substantial mystery".
The attacker is described as Maori or Polynesian, in his mid-30s, about 1.86m (6ft 1in) and of strong, athletic build. He was clean-shaven, had short, dark hair and was wearing a dark grey or black suit, a white collared shirt, a grey or blue tie and black dress shoes.
Dr Ian Lambie, an Auckland University criminal profiling expert, believed the viciousness of the attack and the way the rapist conned his way into the house by posing as a police officer suggested he was psychopathic. That meant he had the potential to be charming, manipulative and devious, and felt little remorse for his victims.
"He's obviously into power and control," Lambie told the Herald on Sunday.
"Someone who is willing to con, manipulate, be devious in order to get their needs met and doesn't care about the rights of other people. No empathy. It's all me, me, me."
Lambie said because of the man's age, there was also a good chance the man had a history of sexual offending and could attack again soon.
He had taken the "extreme risk" of attacking in daytime and during the school holidays, when more people were at home, which suggested "someone who's pretty driven by their deviant sexual interests... someone who will take extreme risks in order to get their rewards".
"It's more than likely that he'll try again," Lambie said. Also, the fact that he struck the victim home alone indicated that he may have been watching her house.
This, with the police persona, pointed to a coldly calculated crime.
Grimstone warned others in the area to lock up and be extra vigilant in answering their doors.
"It's a very disgusting and despicable attack on a female in her own home in broad daylight, and this man must be caught."
Police did not want to speculate on Lambie's claims.
Little is known of the victim, who only moved into the area a fortnight ago. But her ordeal has clearly left locals on edge, with many saying they no longer felt safe.
The victim's immediate neighbour, who did not want to be named, said he had been working at the time of the attack but remembered seeing a man approach the woman's door last Saturday and knock aggressively. She did not answer, and the man walked off, cursing and muttering, he said.
Another man who lived in the complex, who wished to be known only as Brian, said he had seen two different men visit the woman in the short time she had lived there. One had driven a black car, which he had parked across the street; the other had a "noisy little Mazda".
He could not describe either of the men but said they had each visited separately on a number of occasions and had not looked "suity".
Brian said the intruder could have approached the woman's door from the back of the brick complex, rather than through the front. There was no security system - "Anybody could get in," he said.
"I've got an idea he might have been watching the place, just quietly. It seemed to happen when there was no men around."
Eight people live in the brick flats.
Yesterday, the police cordon remained across the driveway and across two neighbouring properties.
