Bike Path Rapist: A Cop's Firsthand Account Of Catching The Killer Who Terrorized A Community

This book is excellent. Maybe I live under a rock but I had never heaard of this case before!!! The authors do such a great job telling the stories of the victims and also the rapist. If you like true crime this is a must. I would like to see Delano write on some of his other cases!!

As a boy, Detective Dennis Delano never aspired to be a cop; but it was apparently his destiny. Working as a homicide detective in Buffalo, New York, Detective Delano would spend hours studying cold cases to refine his investigative techniques. All the while, a serial rapist was on the loose in and around the bike paths of Western New York. His first known attack occurred in 1977, and his would continue raping - and killing at least three women - until 2006. Three decades of stalking women and brutalizing them. He became known to law enforcement as The Bike Path Rapist. And in the meantime, an innocent, mentally-ill man, Anthony Capozzi, would pay for The Bike Path Rapist's crimes with twenty-two years of life; his freedom. When Detective Delano discovered Capozzi's innocence, he made it his mission to set him free. What should have been a simple task became a politically-induced nightmare for Delano and Capozzi's family. Yet Western New Yorkers remained oblivious to the political details as detectives from a specially formed task force hunted a serial rapist turned murderer. DNA evidence would soon identify Almetio Sanchez as the man women had feared meeting along the beautiful yet secluded bike paths; a man beloved within his community but whom harbored a sociopathic hatred towards women. Sanchez's crimes would solve almost thirty years worth of cases; many of which had ran their statute of limitations. And vindicate an innocent man of the crimes for which he had been wrongfully convicted. Unfortunately, the overinflated ego of a rogue District Attorney would be exposed and a dedicated cold-case detective would be forced into retirement; making the case of The Bike Path Rapist end on a bittersweet note. Bike Path Rapist is the book to read if you want to know all of the inside workings that pertains to this twisted case that spanned three decades. From the inner-office disputes to legal wranglings to head butting between the brass and prosecutors, Bike Path Rapist is an straight-shooting account of the hunt for a monster and the careers it would subsequently end.

Living in Buffalo, I read the newspaper and watched the evening news as the Bike Path Rapist saga unfolded. With the blanketed coverage of the arrest and conviction of Altemio Sanchez, I would have thought there would have been nothing new to learn about the case. However, reading The Bike Path Rapist was a fascinating look at the inner workings of a homicide case within the police force, and it was amazing that even though I knew how it all ended, and many of the major details along the way, I couldn't put the book down. It was so compelling and well written, I finished it in just a few days, and have gone back to it to re-read parts of it. If you aren't from Western New York, and don't know about the case, this is a must-read book.

Very well-written account of a horrifying true crime that must have terrified women in the Buffalo area for nearly 3 decades. Kudos to the police detectives who not only worked to catch the killer/rapist, but who also worked to get the release of a man wrongly convicted for several of the crimes. How terrible this poor man spent 23 years in prison. Those who design bike paths/trails should read this book and make sure to make their trails safe for women's safety.

I really enjoyed this book. Being from Buffalo, it was nice to read an inside account of what happened in these cases. The book was a quick read.