"I feel like we will eventually identify the perpetrator who came to the residence," Clanton said.
Capt. Chuck Adams, one of the lead investigators, said police were pursuing a suspect but declined to disclose more details. "It's a strong lead," he said.
The husband faces first-degree rape and other charges. The Associated Press, which generally does not identify victims of sexual assault, is not naming the man to avoid identifying his wife.
Cabarrus County court records show the husband waived appointment of a public defender at a first hearing Wednesday and has another hearing scheduled June 30.
Police said they believed the husband found the attacker by responding to at least two personal ads on Craigslist, the online classified service that has come under attack for its "erotic services" section. Craigslist agreed to do away with that section last month after a Boston medical student, dubbed "the Craigslist killer," was charged with killing a woman he met on the site.
Adams said the husband found the ad while searching through the "erotic services" ads for someone to have sex with his wife. Craigslist replaced that section with an "adult services" category that is screened under the changes the company announced last month.
Kannapolis police said it wasn't known if the husband paid the other man.
The wife called 911 Sunday and reported a man with a knife raped her in the bedroom of their home. Police said the husband was in the room at the time of the attack.
Authorities said the couple's two young children were at home, but unaware of what was happening.
Police said the husband had gone on Craigslist to look for someone to come to his house and have sex with his wife using "scare tactics." Police said the act was without the wife's consent or knowledge.
"The guy is just a freak," Adams said about the husband.
The woman was treated and released at a hospital, police said. Lt. Ken Jackson said the woman wasn't cut or beaten during the assault.
Investigators became suspicious of the husband when his statement didn't add up and because there were no signs of forced entry at the house.
"We share the public's horror that such a crime was committed, and our heart goes out to the victim," said Craigslist spokeswoman Susan MacTavish Best.
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