Rapist Sentenced to Prison For Life Plus 30 Years
By Dale Hines
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News
June 19, 2026
MOBILE, AL. A convicted rapist will now spend the rest of his life in prison after being convicted of first-degree rape and first-degree burglary.
Andre Landrum was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years for his crimes. The chances of him ever seeing freedom is almost impossible.
Prosecutors say Landrum broke into a Mobile home in 1997, held a 15-year-old girl at knifepoint, and sexually assaulted her.
Detectives said that the case went cold and stayed unsolved for decades until advances in DNA technology helped investigators identify Landrum as a suspect.
In the courtroom, Judge Wesley Pipes told Landrum he believed “without a shadow of a doubt” that he committed the crimes and praised the victim for her courage in testifying.
“This has been a long time coming for this courageous victim,” said Keith Blackwood, Mobile County District Attorney. “The technology for DNA was not what it is now, and with more modern methods we were able to identify Andre Landrum as the perpetrator. A life sentence is a very long time and he deserves every day of it.”
Defense attorney Tom Walsh said the sentence was not a surprise, but he believes there are several aspects of the case that could be challenged on appeal.
“There was a massive delay in bringing the case,” Walsh said. “Also there was evidence that was destroyed. We were not able, as the defense counsel, to retest the evidence in this case. Which leaves us depending on what the government did 15, 20 years ago.”
Police detectives never gave up on solving the case and Blackwood said partner agencies continue to examine cold cases as technology advances.
“Several of our partner agencies are always looking at cold cases,” Blackwood said. “As we have advances in technology that will allow us to re-examine some of those. As we get more information cold cases can be reopened. So that is something our partner agencies are focused on at all times.”
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