Hidden in Plain Sight: Altemio Sanchez aka “The Bike Path Rapist”

Today, We Start at the Beginning Of The End

In today’s episode, we are going to glorious, lovely, upstate New York….waaaay waaaaaaay upstate, to Buffalo and its surrounding areas.  Fun fact before we jump in though, while deep fried chicken wings have been a staple of southern cooking for pretty much as far back as there was a south and chicken wings, it’s said that buffalo wings as we know them came around in the 1960s.  The co-owner of the Anchor Bar in Buffalo would take leftover wings from the bar and sauce them up with hot sauce to give to her son and his friends as a late night snack.  They liked them so much that the bar decided to try to sell them served with some bleu cheese and celery , and they were an instant hit amongst their clientele.  So, the buffalo wing as we know it was born.  

We are first going to learn a little bit about Joan Diver.  Joan was born in June of 1961 in Salt Lake City, Utah.  She was the youngest of seven… SEVEN children.   Joan was a great student throughout school and after high school attended the University of Utah.  There, she earned two bachelor’s degrees, one in nursing and one in public health.  She married her husband, Steven in 1990.  After they wed, they moved around a little bit, spending time in Madison, Wisconsin and then in Boston before moving to Western New York, then settling in Clarence, a suburb of Buffalo in 2001.  Up until 1997, she was a critical care nurse, but put her career on hold to be a full time homemaker.  She had a particular interest in the relationship between mothers and their young / toddler children and was planning on focusing on that when she returned to her career.  

Friends and family say that Joan was a tireless volunteer, a trait that we see often in people who work in nursing and similar fields.  She was very active in their community, particularly their local Boy Scout and Girl Scout chapters.  Joan enjoyed reading, crafts, music, cats, hiking, the outdoors, and spending time with her family.  But she really loved to run.  It wasn’t out of the ordinary for her to drop the kids off at school or daycare and then go for a run in the local parks along the bike trails. 

That brings us to Sept 29th, 2006.  Steve was at work and got a phone call from the kids’ school that Joan never arrived to pick them up.  The mother of four would never just not show up.  She was always there and on time when it came to dropping the kids off or picking them up from school.  If there was a reason that she wouldn’t be able to, she made sure that someone was.  She was very punctual, and her just not showing up immediately set off alarm bells for those close to her. Steven left work and headed to the school to get the children, and on the way called the police to tell them that Joan was missing.  Told them how it was way out of the ordinary, and also told them that on his way home, he had seen her car parked in the parking lot where one of the local bike paths was, a place she would often go to run.  

A search party was formed, and everyone walked the bike path to try to find Joan.  On the first day, they didn’t find any signs of her.  They focused on her car, but it was parked about ¾ of a mile from where Steven had told them it was.  They had two trains of thought: did Steven make a mistake of where he thought he saw the car? Given his mental state at the time and worrying about Joan’s whereabouts, this is completely understandable.  Investigators also had to consider that maybe they were being given information to deceive them and lead them away from where Joan might be. They  weren’t sure which was true, but they had to investigate every possible scenario.  

They asked Steve if they could search the car and he told them no, and told them that they could with a search warrant.  Soooo, the police were suspicious of him due to that.  They towed the car and waited for a search warrant.  They then asked Steven if they could have an article of Joan’s clothing they could use as a scent article for search dogs… and he again declined to provide it.  Police became more and more suspicious of Steven, even beginning to question the 911 call he placed, asking why he immediately jumped to the worst possible scenario after just learning she was missing. 

On October 1st, the second day of the search for Joan, she was found. Joan was found in a wooded area, and when they looked closely at her body, they discovered ligature marks on her neck.  They found no signs of sexual abuse, and said that was likely due to how hard she fought back.  They said it was very apparent that she did not go quietly and did everything she could to save herself.  

After they found Joan, Steven was interviewed extensively, and he told investigators that they should only speak to him with his lawyer present, or through his lawyer.  Steven is very intelligent, which was clear to anyone who spoke to him.  But, the investigators acknowledged that he was a grieving husband and everyone reacts and processes that grief differently.  His world had just been irrevocably changed and he lost his wife and had to figure out how to be a single father of four following such a tragic event.  It was easy to see his actions as being non-cooperative, given that he refused to take a polygraph after being advised by his lawyer. 

The search warrant came for Joan’s car, and they went over it with a fine toothed comb. They sent samples for DNA testing and they found three sources in the car.  One from Joan, one from Steven, and a third unknown source.  The DNA revealed that it was from someone of hispanic descent, and it matched the DNA of a man who had terrorized the area more than a decade before, dubbed “The Bike Path Rapist.”  They theorized that after he murdered Joan, he moved her car, leaving his DNA behind. 

Decades Ago

So, it’s worth mentioning here that like many cases, there is sometimes lots of information regarding victims and sometimes there’s just not much at all. While we do have the names of the murder victims in this case, for the rest, we have almost nothing, including names, just “unnamed victim.”  This could be for any number of reasons, from the time of the attacks (mid to late 70s to the mid 90s), to many of them not being linked to him until much later and the records were just not kept well.  

On September 29th, 1990, sixteen years before Joan was murdered, Linda Yalem was reported missing by her roommate.  Like Joan, Linda loved to run, and before she went out, she told her roommate where she was going to be and how long she thought she would be gone.  Linda was able to run for extended periods of time and this day was no different, she was planning on getting a long run in, as she was training for the NY Marathon.  But after hours passed, her roommates became very worried.  A search party was formed and they focused on the bike path that Linda said she would be on.  It was a new bike path in the area and was very popular amongst the local runners.  It’s a five mile path, and people are generally on it starting around 5AM. 

Not too far off the bike path, Linda’s body was found after 8:15 PM in a little wooded area.  They found her Walkman and headphones on the ground and a water bottle near Linda’s body.  They found a double ligature on Linda’s neck and by how the markings were, they knew they were looking for someone who was pretty strong and knew how to use a garrote.  It appeared that he had come up behind Linda and put the garrote over her head and lifted her up off her feet, then carried her to where she was found.  Her mouth and nose were duct taped shut.  

The day after she was found, investigators talked to her roommate again, trying to learn if there might be anyone in Linda’s life who would have motive to attack her.  They asked about her boyfriend, Jack, and she told them that Linda had told her that Jack was out of town.  They called Jack and told him that Linda had been murdered and were wanting to gauge his reaction.  Buttt, he had a rock solid alibi, as he was 2000 miles away in California.  

The forensics lab found 2 pieces of evidence after going over Linda’s body and the items found at the scene.  They found a fingerprint and DNA on Linda’s body that wasn’t her own.  The fingerprint was found on the water bottle that they found nearby.  So they did have some evidence of who the killer was, but with no suspect to compare them to, they had nothing to go on.  

While Linda was the first to be murdered on a bike path in the area, she was not the first to be attacked and strangled.  From 1986 to 1990, there were six rapes reported on various bike paths as well.  For years, a serial rapist was attacking women as they ran. 

The first that they were able to link to this one man was a 44 year old woman who was jogging along a bike path when an attacker came up behind her and wrapped a garrote around her neck and used that to control what she could do.  They learned that he would run by them then quickly turn and wrap the rope around their necks, then he would drag them into nearby wooded areas.  

The local community was on edge to say the least.  The town put up signs encouraging people to be on the lookout and walk with a friend.  They installed emergency phones along bike and walking paths as well.  

After Linda’s murder, a 14 year old girl was attacked along a bike path, but she survived.  The same M/O was used, garrote around the neck from behind.  The victim said that he was very strong, and she could tell that he had dark skin and dark bushy hair.  She told them that he looked to be of Italian or hispanic descent.  She too had the same ligature marks on her neck.  She said that the man talked to her the whole time.  He told her that he was recently released from prison and his name was David.  He told her not to fight back or he would kill her, and told her to stay still for 15 minutes after he left before moving.  He asked her where the nearest bus line was.  He left DNA, and it matched the DNA found with Linda Yalem.  Investigators had a general knowledge of what he looked like… they had his DNA, they just couldn’t put a name to the face. They said it was almost like he’s invisible, no one sees him coming and no one sees him leaving.  They had to stop him because he’s not going to stop himself.  They suspected that he was a walker / jogger / runner and that he used the bike paths  because he seemed to know his way around them and where he could get away with attacks without being disturbed.  

So, we’re going to go over the victims in this case, some are not confirmed, some are from him saying he did it in various confessions or talks with different people, some were connected to the attacker via DNA.  He has been positively connected to 14 rapes, though it’s believed that some open cases are his victims as well.  And there are many who believe that he has many more victims than we will ever even know.  

In 1975, there was an unknown woman raped which investigators believe is linked to this case.  Again in 1977, an unnamed victim was subdued by bludgeoning and threatened with a knife before being raped. 

In 1981, an unnamed 21 year woman was attacked.  Then in 1983, there were three attacks from November 19th to December 22nd, of a 21 year old woman, another who’s age is unknown, and the third was a 28 year old woman who was raped at the same place as the second victim. 

In 1984 on an unspecified date a 21 year old woman was attacked, then again on April 3rd and July 8th a 22 year old and 21 year old were attacked as well.  There was an attack on an unnamed victim in 1985. 

In 1985, 15 year old Katherine Herold was beaten and murdered, and many of the details about her attack match Joan Diver’s.  Her body was found near railroad tracks in nearby Kenmore, New York.  

In 1986, the attack we mentioned earlier of the 44 year old woman occurred.  This was his first rape that left ligature marks.  She was strangled to unconsciousness.  On July 14th, a 17 year old was attacked, and she reported that he used what appeared to be a white clothes line around her neck. 

June of 1988, a 16 year old girl was attacked and reported that a wire had been used to subdue her. 

In 1989, a 22 year old woman reported that a man tried to attack her, but she was able to get away.  In May of 1989, a 15 year old girl was attacked and said he used a rope around her neck.  In August of 1989, a 14 year old was attacked, again a rope was used in the attack.  She was tied up and repeatedly strangled to unconsciousness.   

In September of 1990, Linda Yalem was attacked and murdered.

In October of 1992, Majane Mazur was attacked and murdered. Majane was a known sex worker who had been abducted and murdered.  Her body was found near an Amtrak rail line in downtown Buffalo.  

In September of 2006, Joan Diver was attacked and murdered.  

Tips and Suspects

So, the investigators were investigating every possible lead that came in, and one came from an inmate who was serving time.  He told them about someone had served time with and that the man told him about raping women and using a garrote like the M/O of all these crimes.  The man told investigators that his name was Dave…. Dave Richardson. 

The police looked into Richardson, and from what they could tell, he might be the man they were looking for.  They went to his address and discovered that the house was empty.  They blasted his name and picture out all over the local media. They continued to investigate every tip that came in, including from a man who wanted to talk about one of his co-workers, Altemio Sanchez. He said that he ran into Sanchez on the bike path and it was just weird.  They stopped and talked and Sanchez seemed very nervous and wanted to just get on his way.   Just days later, Linda Yalem was murdered on that same bike path.  

They looked into Sanchez… and from all accounts, he was just a good guy who would help anyone with anything.  He organized their running team at work, he coached little league baseball.  He was an active member of their church. But, their hopes quickly faded when they saw Sanchez, who was bald, and the witnesses all said the man who attacked them had bushy hair.  They got Sanchez’s prints and compared them to the ones found on the water bottle, but they were not a match.  

Police began to show more of a presence on the bike paths and looked out for anyone acting suspicious.  One day they saw a man pacing back and forth, looking like he was possibly distraught and waiting for someone.  They stopped the man and asked his name…. Dave Richardson.  Soooo, they brought Richardson in on an outstanding warrant.  Now, all the victims who had been able to describe their attacker described a man who looked… just like Richardson.  Plus he was hanging out on the bike path where women had been attacked.  In the past, Richardson had been arrested for battery and indecent exposure amongst other things and was a known sex offender.  There were quite a few things with Richardson that fit in with the man they were looking for.  

Richardson refused to give DNA, and investigators didn’t have enough to charge him with murder.  They were able to get a search warrant for his house though. They found rope in his basement that was very similar to what they thought the garotte was made of.   But, while he was looking like their prime suspect, a 911 call came in while he was in custody.  A young woman was attacked, and she gave all the same details as the other men.. Same M/O and description of her attacker.   Investigators thought they had him, but the Bike Path Killer / Rapist was still out there.  It was beyond frustrating because they had the best evidence out there, DNA, but no one to tie it to.  After this incident, the attacks stopped.  Other than the occasional newspaper story about the attacks, there wasn’t a lot said about it.  12 years passed with no attacks.  Then, Joan Diver was attacked and murdered, on the same day that Linda Yalem had been killed.  After Linda’s murder, the University of Buffalo held a marathon in her honor.  It was part of a continuing effort to make sure that women running were ever vigilant about their surroundings and who was around them. 

Altemio

Okay, so we are back to the investigation into Joan Diver’s murder.  Her murder had been connected to the rapes and murders in the past.  A task force was put together, and they looked at all the sexual assaults that had occurred around bike paths.  This was when the investigators found more than twenty sexual assaults going back three decades that had similar details to the bike path killer’s M/O.  

Over the years of the investigation, they had been given or come across countless names, which were all contained in an index.  They looked through all the names and pulled every name that was an obvious Hispanic surname.  They put those 85 into a database and began to go through it person by person to eliminate each suspect.  Some of the men were no longer living, some in prison, some had alibis.  There was one lead though that was left unresearched.  A young woman had been attacked and raped. Then later, she was in the local mall and came face to face with her attacker.  She said they looked each other in the eye and she knew 100% that it was him, and he knew it was her. Her sister followed the man to his car and got the license plate, which was registered to Wilfredo Caraballo.  They made a photo array with Wilfredo, but the victim said that her attacker was not in any of the photos. That’s where investigators stopped investigating originally.  

After Joan’s murder, they began to follow up on these old leads, and Wilfredo was one of them.  When they went to talk to him, he immediately said that he knew why they were there and it wasn’t him.  They began to think that Wilfredo might be their man, but he told them that he had lent someone his car that day, his nephew Altemio Sanchez.  This was a name they knew after he was questioned years earlier.  Police knew that Sanchez was bald and didn’t have bushy hair, and his fingerprints didn’t match the one found on the water bottle, but after his name had resurfaced, they put him under 24 hour surveillance.  They needed to get his DNA to check it against the DNA they did have.  Their goal was to get discarded DNA. 

One Saturday evening, Sanchez and his wife went out to a restaurant.  As they sat down, investigators approached the manager and told him who they were and what they were there for.  They told him to make sure his employees didn’t bus the table after the Sanchez’s left.  After they had their meal and left, investigators bagged everything they could from the table to take it to the lab.  By this time, they didn’t have to wait long to get results back because of the high profile of the case.  The lab called and said, “You got him.”

Sanchez was arrested and acted very nonchalant, cool, calm, and collected.  

Over the years, Sanchez had become arrogant that he would never be caught.  The investigators went back and looked at the results from the races that were held in Linda Yalem’s honor.  On the only year that the race was held on the actual day that Linda was murdered, Sanchez participated.  He had organized their running team at work to run in a race for the woman he killed.  He would later admit that he wore the shirt he got at the race proudly.    

He was arrested on January 15th, 2007 and charged with the murders of Linda Yalem, Majane Mazur, and Joan Diver.  Many of the rapes were not charged to Sanchez because of the statute of limitations that was in effect when the crimes were committed.  Those have since been changed, but it was unable to be applied to him retroactively.  In May of 2007, Sanchez surprised everyone by confessing to the murders in court.  Sanchez was not asked about the murder of Katherine Herold, but the district attorney has said that there was no evidence to link Sanchez to her murder, so charging him was not possible.  Her murder remains unsolved.     

Over the years, Sanchez had been arrested a handful of times for visiting sex workers, one time even propositioning an undercover cop.  When it came time for sentencing, his lawyers talked about how he had a troubled childhood and traumatic life experiences when he was younger. 

On August 15th, 2007, Sanchez was given 75 years to life in prison without the possibility of parole.  He was sent to the  Clinton Correctional Facility in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State.  On September 22nd, 2023, Sanchez was found unresponsive in his cell with a self inflicted cut on his arm.  He was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.  

As a result of Sanchez’s arrest, another man was freed from prison.  Anthony Capozzi had server 22 years in prison for two rapes with similar M/Os as the ones Sanchez was responsible for.  His DNA was compared to samples taken from those victims, and it matched.  Anthony and Sanchez looked similar and had similar builds at the time that the crimes were committed.  Anthony maintained his innocence the entire time he was in prison and he was repeatedly denied parole for over two decades. His refusal to admit to the crimes made it impossible to complete a mandatory sex offender program.  He filed a civil suit after his release for his wrongful conviction and imprisonment and was awarded 4.25 million dollars.  Legislation was introduced in New York State that would expedite lawsuits like this one; the bill is called Anthony’s Law.