Cops Figure Out Which Twin Is Serial Rapist

It was a mystery that standard DNA testing couldn't solve: Which one was the evil twin? Police in Marseille, France, were stumped after DNA linked to a serial rapist led to identical twins Yoan and Elvin Gomis. Both were jailed until a breakthrough in the case was made through old-fashioned police work instead of new technology, AFP reports. The brothers—who shared an apartment, a car, and even a Facebook profile—both denied the series of 2012 and 2013 attacks on women ranging in age from 22 to 76, but police were able to build a case against Yoan because some of Elvin's alibis were solid, and because Yoan, who is partially deaf, had a speech impediment that some of the victims were able to identify, reports the Local.

Elvin spent 10 months in prison after both twins were arrested and was freed last year after Yoan confessed to stealing the women's handbags and phones but not to raping them, La Provence reports. Yesterday, Yoan pleaded guilty to all seven counts of rape, attempted rape, and sexual aggression, apologizing for having lied for so long and saying he "just couldn't admit it," reports the Local. In what may be the most bizarre aspect of the strange case, Yoan's lawyer says nothing that has happened has caused a rift between the twins. Elvin "absolutely does not hold it against him," she tells AFP. "It is all part of the mystery of twins." (Speaking of significant things one twin will do for another...)