NEW HAVEN, Conn., March 7 (UPI) -- A man arrested in Connecticut accused of raping 17 women in four states over a dozen years asked police, "Why haven't you picked me up sooner?" officials said.
Arrested Friday in New Haven, Conn., Aaron Thomas, 39, made his first court appearance in Connecticut Monday, ABC News reported.
DNA positively connects him to a dozen rapes and sexual assaults attributed to the so-called "East Coast Rapist," police said.
When taken into custody, Thomas reportedly asked arresting officers, "Why haven't you picked me up sooner?"
At the hearing, prosecutors told the court Thomas displayed a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality when it came to women and he confessed to the rapes following his arrest.
Thomas, accused of violently attacking women and girls with a variety of weapons in Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut and Rhode Island over a period of 12 years tried to hang himself Saturday in his jail cell hours after his arrest, ABC News said.
Thomas will likely be tried in Connecticut first before being extradited to other states to stand trial, prosecutors said.
