South Sound serial rapist Anthony Dias dies
Anthony Dias, a serial rapist who was serving a long prison term for several sexual assaults in Pierce and King counties, died Feb. 28 at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Walla Walla.
Dias, 37, had “a health condition” and died, said Shari Hall, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Penitentiary.
Hall said his cause of death would be determined by an autopsy.
In 2005, while facing felony hit-and-run charges but released on bail, Dias committed crimes against 19 people, including a half-dozen rapes.
Federal Way police shot Dias and then arrested him after he sneaked through a window, tied up a woman with a dog leash and raped her two teenage daughters — then 13 and 15.
He was serving essentially a life sentence after a Pierce County jury convicted him in 2008 of 20 crimes, including rape and home invasion, in 2005.
He was convicted of breaking into three homes while wearing a mask and waving a gun. He terrorized his victims by tying them up, beating them, threatening them and, in two cases, raping them over and over.
His trial lasted more than seven weeks and included testimony from dozens of witnesses, including his two rape victims, who described in sometimes excruciating detail the violence they endured.
Dias pled guilty to rapes and other crimes in several King County cases.
The News Tribune contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 8, 2017 at 3:05 PM with the headline "South Sound serial rapist Anthony Dias dies."