BIKE PATH RAPIST-Sanchez admits he raped between 12 and 15 more women since 1979

[samanthajane13]

Sentencing set for Tuesday for three murders

By Matt Gryta NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 08/10/07 7:49 AM

Altemio C. Sanchez, the Bike Path Killer who previously confessed to murdering three women, has admitted raping between 12 and 15 other local women since 1979, his attorney said Thursday.
Some of those rapes were earlier confirmed by DNA evidence, and investigators had believed that Sanchez committed the others because of similarities.
Sanchez, 49, of Cheektowaga, faces a likely sentence of 75 years to life in prison when he is sentenced Tuesday for the killings, but he cannot be prosecuted for raping the other women because of the statute of limitations.
Defense attorney Andrew C. LoTempio confirmed that Sanchez met with Deputy District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III and several investigators and told them about the unsolved rapes.
“There is apparently another side to Sanchez that prompted him to come forward to give those other women sense of closure,” LoTempio said.
LoTempio said he hopes the district attorney acknowledges to state prison officials that Sanchez cooperated in resolving the unsolved rape cases. Sedita could not be reached to comment.
District Attorney Frank J. Clark would not confirm the meeting.
“There’s a sentencing coming [Tuesday], and I’m going to allow nothing to upstage the sentencing for the murder of three women,” Clark said.
Sanchez admitted to five rapes in Delaware Park, a number of rapes in the Riverside and Black Rock sections near railroad tracks or in deserted areas, one near Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park and one near Frontier Central High School in Hamburg, LoTempio said.
Sanchez also admitted to one other rape on the same Ellicott Creek Trailway in Amherst where he raped and killed Linda Yalem in 1990, LoTempio said.
Authorities last month confirmed that lab tests had tied Sanchez to at least eight area rapes between 1981 and 1994 after Central Police Services DNA experts analyzed 15 slides that Erie County Medical Center provided to the investigators. Clark last month said the task force had put together a list of 22 or 23 rapes that Sanchez was suspected of committing.
mgryta@buffnews.com (mgryta@buffnews.com)

[samanthajane13]

Sanchez Admits To A Number Of Unsolved Rapes
Posted by: Scott Brown (sbrown@wgrz.gannett.com?subject=RE:Sanchez Admits To A Number Of Unsolved Rapes), Reporter

Created: 8/8/2007 5:22:06 PM
Updated: 8/9/2007 10:58:49 PM


Three different sources have told 2 On Your Side's Scott Brown that last Friday, Altemio Sanchez met with prosecutors from the District Attorney's office and admitted to a number of unsolved rapes.

Members of the Bike Path Rapist task force have long believed that based on virtually identical m.o's, Sanchez comitted at least 19 rapes in Delaware Park and along suburban bike paths.

But so far, they've only been able to tie him to 11 of the attacks through DNA evidence.

The meeting at the Holding Center focused on the other eight attacks where there was no definitive proof.

Late last week, D.A. Frank Clark hinted at just such a meeting.

"I'm hopeful by the time he faces the court for sentencing, some of those questions that a lot of us have wanted answers to, namely unsolved rapes that we don't have DNA for, I hope we have some answers to those questions," Clark said last Friday.

Our sources say that at the meeting last week, Sanchez admitted to a number of those eight unsolved rapes, but we've been unable to confirm exactly how many.

It's important to note that Sanchez cannot be charged with any of those crimes because the statue of limitations has run out.

However, prosecutors have been hoping for two reasons to gain the admissions from Sanchez: first, to give some answers and closure to the victims, and second, to be able to present the admissions to a judge when he sentences Sanchez next week on three counts of murder.

Sanchez is facing a maximum of 75 years in prison on the murder counts. Despite his admissions to the unsolved rapes, it's not believed that Sanchez will recieve any reduction in his sentence.

However, the state Department of Corrections could take Sanchez's cooperation into account when it determines whether Sanchez will be sent to a prison close to Buffalo or not.

[samanthajane13]

'Bike Path Rapist' admits to additional rapes

Published: Friday, August 10, 2007

BUFFALO, N.Y. - A man dubbed the "Bike Path Rapist" who was convicted of murdering three women has admitted to raping between 12 and 15 other women in the Buffalo area since 1979, his attorney said Thursday.

Altemio Sanchez can't be prosecuted for the additional rapes because the statute of limitations prevents it.

DNA evidence had already connected Sanchez to at least eight more rapes in the Buffalo area between 1981 and 1994, prosecutors said.

Sanchez, 49, met with Erie County Deputy District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III and several investigators to tell them about the unsolved rapes, defense attorney Andrew LoTempio said.
"There is apparently another side to Sanchez that prompted him to come forward to give those other women sense of closure," LoTempio said.

Sedita could not be reached for comment and District Attorney Frank Clark would not confirm the meeting.

"There's a sentencing coming Tuesday, and I'm going to allow nothing to upstage the sentencing for the murder of three women," Clark said.

Sanchez admitted to five rapes in Delaware Park, a number of rapes in the Riverside and Black Rock sections near railroad tracks or in deserted areas, one near Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park and one near Frontier Central High School in Hamburg, LoTempio said.

Sanchez also admitted to one other rape on the same Ellicott Creek Trailway in Amherst where he raped and killed Linda Yalem in 1990, LoTempio said.

Clark said a laboratory analyzed 15 slides that the Erie County Medical Center provided to the Bike Path Rape Task Force. Of those, the hospital confirmed eight were connected to Sanchez by DNA.
Another man served 22 years in prison for two rapes that are now tied through DNA to Sanchez. Anthony Capozzi's convictions were erased earlier this year.

Sanchez was arrested after investigators reviewed a 1981 victim's report that included her attacker's license plate number. The car belonged to Sanchez's uncle, who had said at the time that the car had not been driven.

Twenty-six years later, the uncle said his nephew had borrowed the car. Investigators then followed Sanchez and secretly collected his DNA from drinking glasses at a restaurant in January. He was arrested two days later.

Sanchez faces 75 years to life in prison at sentencing Aug. 2.

Information from: The Buffalo News, http://www.buffalonews.com
A service of the Associated Press(AP)