ID’s “Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry?” will examine the case against sexual predator Jeffrey Marsalis. The episode titled “Dr. Date Rape” airs this Monday, December 11, 2023, at 9 p.m. ET.
An official synopsis for the upcoming episode reads, “Law student Jessika Rovell becomes engaged to a Philadelphia doctor who claims to be a Naval intelligence agent; when his secret life finally comes to light, she discovers he is one of the worst sexual predators in Pennsylvania history.”
Marsalis is a convicted rapist, dubbed the rape-date doctor, currently serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 15 years. He remains incarcerated at the SCI Forest in Marienville, Pennsylvania, per the official prison records.
Jeffrey Marsalis’ crimes and case, explained
Jeffrey Marsalis faced multiple rape allegations, arrests, and two criminal trials that resulted in his ultimate conviction. According to ABC News, at least twenty-one women from Philadelphia had accused him of incidents that occurred between 2001 and 2005. Prosecutors executed ten of these cases in two separate trials in January 2006 and June 2007. Both times, he was found not guilty of rape but was convicted on two lesser charges of sexual assault during the second trial. He received a 21-year prison sentence at the time.
The outlet reported that in April 2009, Marsalis, once again, faced rape charges in Sun Valley, Idaho. This time, a woman, Jody, accused him of raping her in his apartment after the duo went out drinking one night in October 2005. According to Jody, that night, she allegedly found strange granular matter in the bottom of a shot he bought for her. She passed out only to wake up in Marsalis’ apartment.
Jody, who was 21 years old at the time, claimed that she was certain that she had sex and that her clothes had been rearranged on her body. She also alleged that she is a lesbian, and therefore, the sex could not have been consensual. Marsalis, a former EMT, was a Sun Valley Co. security guard at the time. Meanwhile, the victim was a resort employee at his Sun Valley condominium. Forensic biological samples from a rape kit revealed DNA matching Marsalis’, per Idaho Mountain Express. Nonetheless, the blood and urine samples failed to detect any date-rape drugs.
Reportedly, at Marsalis’ trial, Idaho prosecutor Jim Thomas said, the defendant had “sexual intercourse with a female who was unconscious.” Thomas further elaborated on the accusation, claiming that the victim had passed out “due to an intoxicating substance. That is not consensual sex, it’s rape.”
The jury returned with a guilty verdict. Following this, 5th District Judge Daniel Hurlbutt Jr. sentenced him to a minimum of 15 years in prison. Hurlbutt also ruled that the sentence should be served consecutively with the Pennsylvania conviction. The convict was to serve his first sentence in the custody of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. He remains incarcerated at the SCI Forest and after completion, will return to Idaho to serve a minimum of 15 years.
ABC‘s report stated that Marsalis allegedly committed a string of date rapes. He had met many of his alleged Philadelphia victims on the online dating site Match.com. The man had used an elaborate fake identity to lure his alleged victims.
Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry‘s upcoming episode on convicted rapist Jeffrey Marsalis airs on December 11 on ID.
