Coroner’s probe reveals Los Angeles maintenance man was Washington rape suspect believed long dead

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A coroner’s investigation into the death of a man in Los Angeles last month has revealed that he was a suspect in a 2008 Washington state child rape who was believed to have taken his own life years ago. Police in Bremerton, Washington, say Christian Robert Basham was living under the alias Mark Clemens when he died on Feb. 26 at age 56. The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office discovered his true identity. Basham had been arrested in 2008, charged with child rape and released on bail. On March 29, 2009, a witness reported seeing Basham jump from the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Searches failed to locate a body but his car and a suicide note were found. Basham worked as a maintenance man at an apartment building where he lived in Los Angeles.