Altemio C. Sanchez (born January 19, 1958) is a
Puerto Rican serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
*
*
*
* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
who is known to have raped and murdered at least three women,
and
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...
d at least 9 to 15 girls and women in and around
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
, during a 31-year span from 1975, though perhaps earlier, to 2006. Sanchez is also known by the monikers Bike Path Rapist and Bike Path Killer.
Background
Sanchez was a machinist and factory worker who worked afternoon and night shifts at the former
American Brass Company plant on Military Road in the Kenmore/Buffalo area. He lived in the
Cleveland Hill neighborhood of
Cheektowaga, New York
Cheektowaga () is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town has grown to a population of 89,877. The town is in the north-central part of the county, and is an inner ring suburb of Buffalo. The town is the ...
; and is originally from
San Sebastián,
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
. His family moved to the continental
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
when he was 2 years old.
His father died when he was young, and his mother married again. Sanchez lived in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
before moving to the Buffalo area. He has one brother and two sisters, and was described by an aunt as being a serious, quiet, and nice kid.
Sanchez was married to Kathleen, and has two adult sons. He was the basketball coach of his sons' team at their school in Cheektowaga, and was the boys'
Little League Baseball coach. He played golf, enjoyed gardening, and is said to have lived a "regular" life. Sanchez had also registered to run in one of the annual Linda Yalem Safety Run (formerly called the Linda Yalem Memorial Run) at the University at Buffalo, a run dedicated to the memory of one of his murder victims.
Sanchez was involved in the community and was well-liked by his neighbors, some of whom called him "Uncle Al" due to his charisma and interactions with them. When Sanchez initially began to strangle and kill his victims, it is believed that he used a rope or cord. He also beat and/or raped his victims during the attacks, and several of them are thought to have fought hard against him.
In later years of Sanchez's crimes, he used a
ligature
Ligature may refer to:
* Ligature (medicine), a piece of suture used to shut off a blood vessel or other anatomical structure
** Ligature (orthodontic), used in dentistry
* Ligature (music), an element of musical notation used especially in the me ...
, wire, or
garrote, to strangle and suffocate his victims. Prior to Sanchez's arrest, DNA evidence suggested that the Bike Path Killer was of Hispanic descent, and an FBI profiler stated that the killer frequented sex workers.
Sanchez was arrested in both 1991 and 1999 for soliciting prostitution. On one occasion, Sanchez also solicited prostitution from an undercover police officer for $25 and was fined $75.
Murders and confessions
Murders for which Sanchez confessed responsibility include those of three women: Linda Yalem, a sophomore at the
University at Buffalo
The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...
(UB), studying communications, and training for the
New York City Marathon
The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor (commercial), sponsor) is an annual Marathon (sport), marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest mar ...
, who was raped and killed on September 29, 1990, along the
Ellicott Creek Bike Path, Majane Mazur, who was known to have been a sex worker, murdered in November 1992 near the
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
rail line in downtown Buffalo, and Joan Diver, a nurse, wife of a chemistry professor at University at Buffalo, and mother of four, who was beaten and murdered on September 29, 2006, the anniversary date of Linda Yalem's death.
Diver's body was found on a bike path in
Newstead, New York, on October 1, 2006. The killer acquired the nickname because some of his crimes took place near secluded
bike path
A bike path is a bikeway separated from motorized traffic and dedicated to cycling or shared with pedestrians or other non-motorized users. In the US a bike path sometimes encompasses ''shared use paths'', "multi-use path", or "Class III bikewa ...
s. On May 16, 2007, Sanchez
pled guilty to the murders of Linda Yalem, Majane Mazur and Joan Diver.
Investigations
Investigations into the murder of Linda Yalem (1990) were originally conducted by the
Amherst, New York
Amherst () is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. Amherst is an inner ring suburb of Buffalo. As of 2020, the town had a total population of 129,595. This represents an increase from 122,366 as reported in the 2010 census.
The second ...
Police Department; the murder of Majane Mazur (1992) was originally conducted by the Buffalo Police Department; after the murder of Joan Diver (2006) a special task force – the Bike Path Task Force – was created by the Erie County (NY) Sheriff's Office, which included the New York State Police, Buffalo Police Department, Amherst Police Department; and support assistance from the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
(FBI).
Police say
DNA found at eight crime scenes matches DNA secretly taken from Sanchez before his arrest. DNA from Sanchez was obtained after police who were members of the Bike Path Task Force acquired it. They acquired silverware, a glass, and a napkin that Sanchez used while at dinner at a Latin American restaurant, Solé, in
Amherst, New York
Amherst () is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. Amherst is an inner ring suburb of Buffalo. As of 2020, the town had a total population of 129,595. This represents an increase from 122,366 as reported in the 2010 census.
The second ...
, on January 13, 2007.
They submitted the items to the Erie County forensic lab in order to test for DNA samples. The DNA samples matched those previously taken from the Bike Path Killer of Yalem. A newspaper article in ''The Buffalo News'' states that between 1986 and 1994, Yalem's attacker "was linked to attacks on nine other" women in the area. At the time the newspaper article went to print, police had not yet identified, nor arrested Sanchez.
Another newspaper article in ''McClatchy – Tribune Business News'' from 2007 states that police believed the attacker of Yalem and Diver was connected to "six attacks and possibly a seventh." A 2002 article that was published by ''Court TV'' identifies and describes eight victims and/or survivors of attacks by Sanchez. The manner in which each was attacked was similar in that they were all strangled with a rope, cord, wire, ligature, or garrote, as well as being beaten, raped, and/or killed. The victims and/or survivors of the attacks were between 14 and 44 years old.
In 1992, through investigating the death of Yalem, police tied the DNA of Sanchez, who had not been apprehended, to attacks on six other area women, including one in
Delaware Park. Police were unable to connect DNA to a seventh attack on a 17-year-old girl in
Hamburg, New York
Hamburg is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 56,936. It is named after the city of Hamburg, Germany. The town is on the western border of the county and is south of Buffalo. Ham ...
, although circumstances surrounding the attack on her were similar. On the day that Sanchez confessed to the murders of Yalem, Mazur, and Diver, the Hamburg, New York, attack survivor (who desired to remain anonymous) expressed surprise and relief. Denise Foster is a survivor of an attack by Sanchez when she was 17 years old, near railroad tracks in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
. Foster was raped and strangled with a ligature by Sanchez, and the scars from the strangulation she experienced are still visible. Diver was the only one of Sanchez's known victims who was not raped. It is believed she died during the strangulation before Sanchez could rape her.
Sanchez is also a suspect in an ongoing investigation for the murder of a 15-year-old girl in 1985. Katherine Herold was beaten and murdered with the circumstances of her death similar to those of Diver's. Katherine was the daughter of the Director of the
Buffalo Museum of Science and a professor at
Buffalo State College
The State University of New York College at Buffalo (colloquially referred to as Buffalo State College, SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo State, or simply Buff State) is a public college in Buffalo, New York. It is part of the State University of New ...
. Her body was found on the railroad tracks of the
CSX
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
rail line in
Kenmore, New York
Kenmore is a village in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 15,423 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area.
Kenmore is in the south part of the town of Tonawanda, and together with t ...
, on July 1, 1985, near where Sanchez worked. Deputy District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III did not ask Sanchez if he killed Herold during questioning prior to his sentencing. District Attorney Frank Clark stated that there was no evidence in Katherine's murder with which to charge Sanchez. Katherine's murder has never been solved.
An error in the Sanchez case file occurred two days after a woman was attacked in 1981, when she told police she spotted the man who had raped her driving away from a local shopping area parking lot, she took down the license plate number and informed the police. When detectives questioned Wilfredo Sanchez Caraballo, the car's owner, he provided a solid alibi for the rape and the investigation was dropped. However, some twenty-five years later, Caraballo was interviewed by Amherst's Bike Path Rapist Task Force and admitted that on the day that the car was identified by the victim he wasn't driving it. Caraballo had lent the car to his nephew, Altemio Sanchez.
Arrest
On January 15, 2007, a police task force in
Erie County,
New York, arrested Sanchez and charged him with the murders of Yalem, Mazur and Diver. On January 19, 2007, an Erie County grand jury voted to
indict
An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of an ...
Sanchez for the murders of Yalem and Mazur.
Prosecution
Many of the rapes attributed to Sanchez were unprosecuted due to the
statute of limitations
A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...
on the prosecution of rape that was in effect in
New York at the time those crimes were committed. The statute of limitations in New York State has since been changed, however it cannot be applied retroactively for the rapes. There is no statute of limitations, however, on homicides, and therefore, Sanchez was prosecuted for the killings of Yalem, Mazur and Diver.
On May 17, 2007, Sanchez pled guilty to the murders of Yalem, Mazur, and Diver in a surprise confession. Sanchez mumbled his confessions in court through tears. In court, Sanchez was represented by Attorney Andrew C. LoTempio, who denied Sanchez's guilt regarding all of the rapes and murders for which he was responsible. LoTempio later said that Sanchez had a troubled childhood, observed and/or had a traumatic life experience when he was 12 years old, and had deep-seated resentment toward women. LoTempio also said, however, that he was not making excuses for Sanchez.
Sentencing and imprisonment
On August 15, 2007, Sanchez was sentenced to 75 years to life in prison. He was sentenced by New York State Supreme Court Justice Christopher J. Burns. Sanchez is currently imprisoned at the
Clinton Correctional Facility
Clinton Correctional Facility is a New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision maximum security state prison for men located in the Village of Dannemora, New York. The prison is sometimes colloquially referred to as Dannem ...
in the
Adirondack Mountains
The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular ...
of New York State. It has been said that he may be moved to a facility closer to his family if he confesses to further murders.
Exoneration of Anthony Capozzi
In March 2007, Anthony Capozzi was freed from state prison after serving 22 years for two rapes with a similar
modus operandi. After the arrest of Sanchez, investigators realized that the crimes were similar and took place in the same area, and that Sanchez and Capozzi closely resembled each other at the time the crimes were committed. A sample of DNA from Sanchez had been linked to the rapes for which Capozzi had been wrongly convicted in 1985. Once police made the realization of Capozzi's innocence, they inquired with the
Erie County Medical Center
Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) is a hospital with 550 beds located in the East Side of Buffalo, New York and a member of the Great Lakes Health System. It is the primary teaching hospital for the University at Buffalo. It is also a New York S ...
(ECMC) to obtain his DNA sample. ECMC stated that there was no DNA sample of Capozzi's on record. This was correct information. It was the DA's Office that incorrectly issued a subpoena for Capozzi's DNA, when the subpoena should have requested the victims' DNA. Medical records and laboratory specimens are maintained under a patient's name (victims, not the alleged perpetrator(s), are the patients). Once the DA's subpoena error was realized, a new subpoena was correctly issued and the victims' DNA samples were located, leading to Capozzi's exoneration. Capozzi maintained his innocence while in prison, and was repeatedly denied parole for over two decades. Capozzi, who has
schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wit ...
, and his attorney, settled a
civil lawsuit
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
for $4.25 million for being wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. Former
New York State Assembly Member
Sam Hoyt and
New York State Senator
Dale Volker introduced legislation that would expedite such lawsuits. This bill is known as Anthony's Law.
See also
*
List of serial killers in the United States
References
External links
Dateline NBC report on the case*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Altemio
1958 births
American people of Puerto Rican descent
American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
American rapists
American serial killers
American people convicted of murder
Living people
Male serial killers
People convicted of murder by New York (state)
People from Buffalo, New York
People from San Sebastián, Puerto Rico
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by New York (state)
Puerto Rican rapists