WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.680 --> 00:00:04.599 Buffalo, New York, known affectionately as the City of Trees, 2 00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:09.679 with miles of lush green parks, sports fields, and bike paths. 3 00:00:10.039 --> 00:00:15.279 It's an urban haven for local residents. That is, until 4 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:19.239 one man's thirst for violence and his need for absolute 5 00:00:19.320 --> 00:00:24.719 control transforms the nation's friendliest city into a deadly hunting ground. 6 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:28.239 People were afraid, what's going on? How could this happen here? 7 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:31.480 The panic is up. 8 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:35.719 He's looking for joggers, he's looking for women, a relentless. 9 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:39.119 Search for an unstoppable predator. A man hunts. Spanning more 10 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:40.280 than twenty. 11 00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:42.759 Years, we were living this case and we didn't sleep. 12 00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:43.960 It became your life. 13 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:47.200 We all have that crime, ye, one crime that just 14 00:00:47.320 --> 00:00:48.880 sticks in your heart. 15 00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:53.520 Until a revolution in DNA technology finally places the killer 16 00:00:53.799 --> 00:00:58.280 squarely in police crosshairs, with one last chance to stop 17 00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:37.959 the hunter in his tracks. Amherst, New York, a large 18 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:43.959 suburb just outside Buffalo, is a vibrant university town. Each fall, 19 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:47.040 returning students look forward to making the most of the 20 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:48.079 lush city. 21 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:49.439 Parks that border the campus. 22 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:54.239 But all that changes on September twenty ninth, nineteen ninety, 23 00:01:54.799 --> 00:01:57.959 when a student goes missing from a local bike path. 24 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:00.480 Linda Yellen was a twenty two year old, so she 25 00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:03.280 went to the University of Buffalo. She left her dorm 26 00:02:03.319 --> 00:02:07.640 room on that Saturday practicing for America. Later that afternoon, 27 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:10.080 one of her roommates realized she had never returned. 28 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:13.680 Okay, we're gonna make a sweep through these woods. 29 00:02:14.439 --> 00:02:16.120 They don't want everybody's stay close. 30 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:20.439 Detective Lieutenant Joe Leccord of the Amherst Police Department leads 31 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:20.919 the search. 32 00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:29.120 We immediately had patrols and detectives out searching. They searched 33 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:32.639 late into the evening hours, but they didn't find anything. 34 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:40.000 Very next day, they went out early again and that's 35 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:40.840 when she was found. 36 00:02:51.479 --> 00:02:53.800 The body of twenty two year old Linda Yalam of 37 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:56.680 California was found only fifty feet from the past she 38 00:02:56.759 --> 00:02:59.840 was running on near the UB campus. Police says she 39 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:01.840 there's a new student who have been on campus for 40 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:05.159 three weeks. She was training for a marathon, went for 41 00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:07.520 her daily run and never came back. 42 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:09.680 Get these people. 43 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:10.000 Back, please. 44 00:03:10.360 --> 00:03:14.000 Captain Michael Melton and his forensic team joined Lecourt at 45 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:14.719 the scene. 46 00:03:17.639 --> 00:03:22.199 On Sunday. I was called in from home on a 47 00:03:22.280 --> 00:03:27.560 major case. We respond with our evidence team. Her body 48 00:03:27.560 --> 00:03:30.400 had been moved through the wooded area because there's a 49 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:32.639 briar patch in there, and I could see the scrapes 50 00:03:32.680 --> 00:03:33.120 on her skin. 51 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:38.039 From that, the physical evidence suggests Yalen was dragged from 52 00:03:38.039 --> 00:03:41.039 the bike path into the woods where she was raped 53 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:41.800 and murdered. 54 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:43.960 In looking at the scene, I have to say probably 55 00:03:44.039 --> 00:03:47.120 the most telling thing was the way he left her. 56 00:03:48.039 --> 00:03:51.280 The duct tape across her, her nose and her mouth. 57 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:54.319 It's a picture you'll never forget. When you see it, 58 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:56.800 You'll never lose the image. 59 00:03:58.599 --> 00:04:01.800 The march on the neck of the victim were very significant. 60 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:06.240 You could see the double ligature around her neck, so 61 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:09.719 you could see how the attack was actually propetreated. 62 00:04:20.600 --> 00:04:24.360 It's not the first time that Amherst investigators have come 63 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:26.519 across the haunting markings. 64 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:31.879 We immediately knew there was a connection. We had two 65 00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:36.680 prior attacks on the bike gas similar circumstances at the 66 00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:37.680 same time of day. 67 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:41.160 Two women were raped in the same area, one in 68 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:43.519 March of nineteen ninety and one in the fall of 69 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:48.120 nineteen eighty nine, but unlike the latest victim, both survived 70 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:53.240 their ordeal, carrying on their necks the same unmistakable markings 71 00:04:53.480 --> 00:04:58.600 now found on Linda yale. Lecourt digs into the case 72 00:04:58.600 --> 00:05:02.199 files of the first two race victims and is reminded 73 00:05:02.199 --> 00:05:05.439 that male DNA was recovered from one of the victims. 74 00:05:09.160 --> 00:05:12.639 An examination of Linda Yalem's body confirms that she was 75 00:05:12.759 --> 00:05:17.639 also raped her attacker, leaving behind a crucial piece of evidence. 76 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:21.879 DNA was in fact recovered from her body. During the autopsy. 77 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:27.439 Doctor John Simmach compares the two DNA samples and firmly 78 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:31.360 cements a connection between the earlier rape and the recent murder. 79 00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:35.600 We knew that the DNA from Linda matched our first victim. 80 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:39.079 We didn't have DNA from our second, but them was 81 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:42.519 close enough. Now we had at least two DNA hits. 82 00:05:42.759 --> 00:05:43.560 We had evidence. 83 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:44.600 We needed a name. 84 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:49.600 Investigators searched the National Criminal database looking for a match, 85 00:05:50.279 --> 00:05:53.240 but the killer's DNA isn't in the system. 86 00:05:53.319 --> 00:05:55.920 It's very frustrating when you have something you know because 87 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:58.680 you can use to identify a person, yet you don't 88 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:00.480 have that person to identify too. 89 00:06:00.920 --> 00:06:02.399 We had nothing to compare it to. 90 00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:07.920 Meanwhile, the town of Amherst demands answers. Twenty two year 91 00:06:07.959 --> 00:06:11.120 old Linda Yalem left her University of Buffalo dorm room 92 00:06:11.160 --> 00:06:13.800 to go running here along the Ellica Creek bike path 93 00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:17.759 Saturday afternoon. She never came back. Her body was found yesterday. 94 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:21.040 She was strangled to death and sexually attacked, not far 95 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:23.560 from where a woman was attacked here May thirty first, 96 00:06:23.759 --> 00:06:26.920 and another teenager raped here last year, attacks in which 97 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:28.680 no one was ever arrested. 98 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:32.839 The Linda Yalem attack was nerve wrecking for college students. 99 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:39.800 In particular, a young girl just snatched up great and killed. 100 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:42.319 It was very disturbing. 101 00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:47.160 With two proven rapes and a murder, police strongly suspect 102 00:06:47.199 --> 00:06:50.879 they are dealing with a serial rapist. Their first priority 103 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:53.839 now is to protect the women of Amherst. 104 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:57.079 We have not only a murder striking in the heart 105 00:06:57.079 --> 00:07:00.439 of town. We have a murder and a rapist. We're 106 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:03.079 just about begging women not to walk along in the path. 107 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:07.839 Investigators turn their attention to the killer's mo They look 108 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:12.240 to his choice of victim, the attack locations, and most importantly, 109 00:07:12.680 --> 00:07:16.399 his trademark signature, the double legature marks. 110 00:07:16.759 --> 00:07:19.600 When we looked at the injury patterns from all of 111 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:22.560 our victims, when we were at the autopsies, we look 112 00:07:22.680 --> 00:07:26.759 for fibers, any pattern of what could cause this. 113 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:31.680 Captain Milton analyzes the ligature marks and concludes they were 114 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:33.920 made with the crudest of weapons, a. 115 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:36.360 Deceptively simple homemade garrot. 116 00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:39.439 The garrat is nothing more than a piece of cordage 117 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:43.000 or wire. It may have handles of fixed to either end, 118 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:46.680 it may not. It's simply a device that could be 119 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:49.279 wrapped around the neck and pulled. 120 00:07:49.079 --> 00:07:53.079 Tight with the hands to be able to use the 121 00:07:53.079 --> 00:07:56.959 garat as quickly in the fashion that he did and take. 122 00:07:56.839 --> 00:07:59.360 Control so quickly. The feeling was. 123 00:07:59.319 --> 00:08:02.560 There was some specialist training with our suspect. 124 00:08:02.920 --> 00:08:05.000 So we knew he was comfortable with life. 125 00:08:05.319 --> 00:08:07.160 There was a sense of that he wouldn't stop his 126 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:09.480 attacks because he was getting away with it. 127 00:08:10.199 --> 00:08:12.959 But narrowing in on a suspect is a nearly. 128 00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:17.759 Impossible task until one surviving victim steps forward with a 129 00:08:17.800 --> 00:08:31.040 startling piece of new evidence. In nineteen ninety, a peaceful 130 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:34.519 suburb of Amherst, New York, is rocked when police discover 131 00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:38.000 the body of a college student brutally raped and murdered 132 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:45.679 in one of the city's parks. Realizing the killer'smo matches 133 00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:49.320 that of two earlier rapes, police fear they are chasing 134 00:08:49.399 --> 00:08:51.559 a serial rapist who has. 135 00:08:51.480 --> 00:08:58.080 Now graduated to murder. On high alert, investigators. 136 00:08:57.240 --> 00:09:01.720 Cast a wide net every effort to catching the notorious 137 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:06.799 bike path rapist. They start by contacting neighboring police divisions 138 00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:10.720 looking for reported attacks that bear the killer's signature m 139 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:15.120 ON and get an immediate response in nearby Buffalo, New York. 140 00:09:17.480 --> 00:09:19.480 Now we're starting to work with the city of Buffalo. 141 00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:22.480 Now we're into a position where everybody's starting to look 142 00:09:22.519 --> 00:09:24.799 at the crimes to see if what the connections are, 143 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:25.639 if there are. 144 00:09:25.559 --> 00:09:30.200 Any pulling out unsolved rape reports. The Buffalo PD uncovers 145 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:33.919 three cases that bear strong similarities to the Amherst attacks. 146 00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:36.960 The areas where there were done was similar to the 147 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:39.799 area in our time. They had to double garat they 148 00:09:39.879 --> 00:09:41.399 had duct taped. 149 00:09:41.240 --> 00:09:42.080 From the files. 150 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:45.440 They also discovered that physical evidence was recovered from each 151 00:09:45.480 --> 00:09:46.919 of the Buffalo rape victims. 152 00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:50.960 They had developed DNA and we asked that DNA be 153 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:53.600 sent to Google ad for comparison to our cases. 154 00:09:53.960 --> 00:09:57.360 In comparing the Buffalo DNA samples with those recovered from 155 00:09:57.360 --> 00:09:59.919 the Amherst victims, police strike goal. 156 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:02.919 They had DNA that now they've matched the herse so 157 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:05.000 we knew that we had the same guy. 158 00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:10.320 We knew the cases were liked, and I noticed a 159 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:15.639 man seeking more information on their rapist. Police reinterview Buffalo victims, 160 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:18.679 focusing on the various details of their attacks. 161 00:10:30.840 --> 00:10:32.960 They would go by him on a blanke pad. Sometimes 162 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:34.320 he would let them go by and then if you 163 00:10:34.360 --> 00:10:36.600 would turn around and commit the attack. 164 00:10:37.080 --> 00:10:40.120 The rapist revealing a brazen show of aggression. 165 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:45.120 Some of them described looking into his eyes. 166 00:10:46.759 --> 00:10:51.000 She had been attacked with a garage and the medical 167 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:54.159 information that we had as she was suffering from oxygen deprivation. 168 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:58.799 The woman described slipping in and out of consciousness during 169 00:10:58.840 --> 00:11:00.720 the attack, making it. 170 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:03.120 Impossible for her to fight off her attacker. 171 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:06.039 A garat can work in a couple of different manners, 172 00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:09.039 but basically what it'll do is shut off the blood 173 00:11:09.080 --> 00:11:12.360 flow through the garrotid arteries. It cuts it right off, 174 00:11:13.159 --> 00:11:16.200 and it takes the person unconscious and anywhere. It's from 175 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:20.399 five to fifteen seconds. If it's pulled tightly, you can 176 00:11:20.440 --> 00:11:25.519 cause more damage. You can render a person unconscious, or 177 00:11:25.559 --> 00:11:26.200 you can kill. 178 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:26.840 A person. 179 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:32.279 Deliberately choking his victims and forcing them in and out 180 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:36.759 of consciousness. Investigators suspect the satist is using the attacks 181 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:39.639 to act out his most perverse fantasies. 182 00:11:41.159 --> 00:11:43.600 I'll tell you what the garat as we're doing the investigation. 183 00:11:43.720 --> 00:11:46.600 We tried it with a rope. You're totally helpless. There's 184 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:47.279 nothing you can do. 185 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:51.799 So once it was around in and act pursuits totally 186 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:52.720 under his control. 187 00:11:54.279 --> 00:11:57.840 The interviews provide police with chilling insight into the mindset 188 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:01.600 of their killer, an unearth aor breakthrough in the case. 189 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:06.720 All three Buffalo rape victims stared directly into the eyes 190 00:12:06.919 --> 00:12:07.720 of their attacker. 191 00:12:07.879 --> 00:12:10.639 There were a number of victims that actually got a 192 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:11.279 good look at them. 193 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:13.600 They gave a great description of them. 194 00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:18.799 They put their suspect at somewhere between and five eleven. 195 00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:22.519 That he was shorter in stature, stocky build. Everyone gave 196 00:12:22.600 --> 00:12:24.960 us full head of wavy here. Matter of fact, we 197 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:28.039 were then able to compile some composites that were put 198 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:28.840 out to the public. 199 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:34.039 The composite is broadcast on Western New York stations. Tip 200 00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:37.559 lines are flooded, and the publicity surrounding the case starts 201 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:38.320 to pay off. 202 00:12:38.600 --> 00:12:41.519 One woman that came forward actually was a prostitute the 203 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:42.360 city of Buffalo. 204 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:45.399 The woman recounts how she was recently picked up by 205 00:12:45.399 --> 00:12:49.720 a John and suddenly attacked inside his car. 206 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:51.759 She had to gront around her neck and she was 207 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:54.679 actually held out on the passenger side floor as he 208 00:12:54.840 --> 00:12:57.679 drove out of the city into one of the local 209 00:12:57.759 --> 00:13:01.080 suburban areas. Net Hamburg took her into remote field area 210 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:05.279 with a creek and actually attacked her there, left her unconscious, 211 00:13:06.519 --> 00:13:08.480 and I think he believed she was dead. 212 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:13.360 The prostitute leads police to the clearing where she was raped. 213 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:18.799 She then discloses another horrific detail about the rapists' m O. 214 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:23.279 It was so staged that not only did he already 215 00:13:23.320 --> 00:13:25.759 have the area planned out, he already had ripped the 216 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:28.600 ductate hung it nearby. That there was a lot of 217 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:30.279 pre planning. He was well prepared. 218 00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:37.399 We could surmise that he was studying his locales. You 219 00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:39.840 could tell that he wasn't just out there for a 220 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:40.480 few minutes. 221 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:42.480 I think he sat and he waited. 222 00:13:42.919 --> 00:13:45.840 Now when the time was right and there was a victim, 223 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:48.320 he felt comfortable that they were alone, that was a 224 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:49.480 victim that he attacked him. 225 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:53.799 Lacourt notes another similarity across each attack. They all took 226 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:58.399 place in the morning between seven thirty am and noone. 227 00:13:58.120 --> 00:14:00.240 We were under assumption based on the time end of 228 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:03.399 the day that our perpetrator either worked in the midnight 229 00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:06.200 shift or the afternoon shift, so he was just available 230 00:14:06.279 --> 00:14:08.879 during the day. 231 00:14:09.720 --> 00:14:13.879 Spurred on by this new piece of information, police ramp 232 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:16.679 up their message to women using the bike path. 233 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:21.879 The biggest warning that came out was don't do it alone. 234 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:22.919 If you have a. 235 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:26.960 Partner, you're safe, but if you're alone, you're at risk. 236 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:32.960 There's somebody out there and you didn't know who it was. 237 00:14:34.759 --> 00:14:39.559 Women were nervous. They were very, very concerned. 238 00:14:40.759 --> 00:14:42.039 And with good reason. 239 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:47.679 Despite their intense investigation, Buffalo Area police are still no 240 00:14:47.879 --> 00:14:49.919 closer to nabbing. 241 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:50.879 The bike path rapist. 242 00:14:56.679 --> 00:14:59.960 What starts as a simple murder case in Amherst, New York, 243 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:05.840 explodes into a complex investigation involving seven rape victims across 244 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:11.559 three jurisdictions. Up against a brazen offender who strikes in 245 00:15:11.639 --> 00:15:15.720 broad daylight, police decides to zero in on his attack sites. 246 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:19.440 We knew that our perpetrator now came back to our 247 00:15:19.480 --> 00:15:22.879 location three different times, so we knew he was. 248 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:25.759 Comfortable with it. He knew he was getting away with it. 249 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:28.279 There was a sense of that he wouldn't stop his 250 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:30.759 attacks because he was getting away with it. 251 00:15:36.759 --> 00:15:39.200 Police know that if they want to catch their killer, 252 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:42.759 they have to lure him out of hiding. They start 253 00:15:42.759 --> 00:15:46.279 by planning undercover female officers along the bike path. 254 00:15:46.679 --> 00:15:51.240 We had officers in the woods watching our decoys taking photographs. 255 00:15:51.960 --> 00:15:56.320 Hundreds and hundreds of photographs are taken of possible suspects, but. 256 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:57.960 The killer doesn't take the bait. 257 00:15:58.279 --> 00:16:01.519 Good morning investigators are forced to turn to the public 258 00:16:01.639 --> 00:16:02.279 for help. 259 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:06.039 Or looking for any witnesses or begging the public for 260 00:16:06.120 --> 00:16:07.320 anything they may have seen. 261 00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:11.360 Police blanket the area with photos of the composite driving, 262 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:14.240 hoping someone will recognize the killer. 263 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:18.120 We always felt that based on who this man was 264 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:22.639 and his mo of being available in the morning, and 265 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:27.759 his description that someone out there knew someone lived with him, 266 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:30.840 we were reaching for a sense of you know, something's 267 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:31.200 not right. 268 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:32.200 I'm gonna call him, give his. 269 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:35.000 Name, and the names start pouring in. 270 00:16:35.879 --> 00:16:39.639 Abundance of tips all over the country, from ex husbands 271 00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:44.200 to present husbands, to ex rapists to people that were 272 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:47.840 well known rapists in communities. We probably got close to 273 00:16:47.879 --> 00:16:48.879 two thousand tips. 274 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:53.559 Investigators follow up on the leads, questioning hundreds of men, 275 00:16:54.080 --> 00:17:00.519 but after countless interviews, there's still no further ahead. Steady 276 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:04.319 media attention pays off when a Buffalo dry cleaner notes 277 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:07.599 a striking resemblance between the sketch of the rapist. 278 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:08.759 And one of his customers. 279 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:14.599 Following up on the tip, investigators bring them in in 280 00:17:14.680 --> 00:17:18.119 for questioning and learn that the suspect has a record 281 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:19.240 a mile long. 282 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:22.079 They place him in a lineup. 283 00:17:21.960 --> 00:17:34.880 Hoping Buffalo rape victims can identify their attacker. 284 00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:42.039 Number three. 285 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:49.400 Match the description, height, weight, He looked like the composite 286 00:17:49.880 --> 00:17:51.039 and actually had a record. 287 00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:54.319 He matched what we would be looking for in a suspect. 288 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:57.039 Two of the victims in Buffalo were able to pick 289 00:17:57.079 --> 00:17:59.680 out the same suspect as their attacker. 290 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:04.920 Now all they need is the physical evidence to tie 291 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:06.119 him to the crimes. 292 00:18:06.279 --> 00:18:09.160 And he gave us his blood and he got his DNA. 293 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:15.440 The suspects DNA is then compared to the seamen samples 294 00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:18.559 taken from Linda Jalem's body and the other victims. 295 00:18:19.400 --> 00:18:20.680 The results are shocking. 296 00:18:23.720 --> 00:18:27.240 The DNA is saying no, and that's what you have 297 00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:29.200 to go with, and you have to move that person aside. 298 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:30.880 They're no longer a suspect. 299 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:35.680 After months of searching for their killer, investigators are once 300 00:18:35.720 --> 00:18:37.799 again left grasping at straws. 301 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:41.920 So at that point, again we were going through one 302 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:44.000 of our highs and lows. We thought we had our guy, 303 00:18:44.039 --> 00:18:45.079 and then found out we did. 304 00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:49.279 Despite a composite sketch, thousands of tips, and hundreds of 305 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:52.480 hours on the case, police are no closer to finding 306 00:18:52.519 --> 00:18:56.839 the brazen attacker, a killer capable of hiding in plain sight. 307 00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:00.440 He was real good at blending in, so no one came. 308 00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:03.039 Forward and said we saw a suspicious looking guy or 309 00:19:03.079 --> 00:19:05.039 someone to look like he didn't belong on the bid. 310 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:08.599 We were looking for someone we felt was connected to 311 00:19:08.680 --> 00:19:11.880 every area, because he was so familiar with shortcuts in 312 00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:13.759 areas that not everybody would know him. 313 00:19:17.559 --> 00:19:21.279 Investigators are convinced the killer is living among them. 314 00:19:22.359 --> 00:19:27.440 You just didn't think that somebody, a Buffalonian, someone living 315 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:30.680 and working in this community, that someone you would see 316 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:34.119 in the grocery store, could be responsible for something so 317 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:36.799 heinous in his own community. 318 00:19:39.559 --> 00:19:46.079 No one wanted to believe that. And while police pour 319 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:52.039 every resource into patrolling the bicycle paths looking for a 320 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:57.319 good turn, the killer is about to cast a wider net, 321 00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:00.319 ready to tighten the noose around. 322 00:20:00.119 --> 00:20:05.599 His next victim. 323 00:20:05.720 --> 00:20:08.680 For two years, Buffalo police have been searching for an 324 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:12.640 elusive serial rapist, patrolling city parks in an effort to 325 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:17.279 prevent another brutal attack, and their hard work seems to 326 00:20:17.319 --> 00:20:22.160 be paying off until the fall of nineteen ninety two, 327 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:27.799 when an investigator makes a gruesome discovery. 328 00:20:34.200 --> 00:20:37.440 There was a body that was found that belonged to 329 00:20:37.799 --> 00:20:40.119 a woman who was known to be a prostitute in 330 00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:41.200 the city of Buffalo. 331 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:45.039 The woman is identified as thirty two year old May 332 00:20:45.160 --> 00:20:49.960 Jane Maser, yet another victim branded by the serial rapists' 333 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:51.400 double ligature. 334 00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:52.559 Marks I think our guy's back. 335 00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:59.079 The coroner reports that, like the earlier victims, May Jane 336 00:20:59.200 --> 00:20:59.680 was raped. 337 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:03.039 The DNA actually came back to the playpath rapist. 338 00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:14.400 Looking at Jane Maser, what immediately stood out was that. 339 00:21:14.119 --> 00:21:17.880 She was a non prostitute, the second prostitute to be 340 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:23.160 attacked in the Buffalo area. Investigators question mcjane's boyfriend, hoping 341 00:21:23.160 --> 00:21:28.000 to piece together her final hours. The boyfriend tells patronic 342 00:21:28.039 --> 00:21:32.279 Thatmjane was last seen disappearing into a customer's car right 343 00:21:32.359 --> 00:21:32.759 over there. 344 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:36.119 At the time that she was picked up. 345 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:39.119 Her living boyfriend looked out the window and he actually 346 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:41.880 gave close enough a description that he said the hand 347 00:21:41.880 --> 00:21:43.880 that reached over to unlock the door when she was 348 00:21:43.880 --> 00:21:46.279 getting in the car was that of a white male. 349 00:21:46.519 --> 00:21:49.039 He described the car as a Pinac Sunbird that was 350 00:21:49.079 --> 00:21:50.079 a four door vehicle. 351 00:21:51.880 --> 00:21:53.440 Don't you guys picked her up right? 352 00:21:53.559 --> 00:21:56.440 Police follow up on the make of the car, but 353 00:21:56.519 --> 00:21:57.680 without a plate number. 354 00:21:57.680 --> 00:22:00.160 The lead goes nowhere was the car. 355 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:06.720 Customer driving the Pontiac Sunbird a regular john. Police officers 356 00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:11.720 scour the city, canvassing Buffalo prostitutes, hoping someone will recognize 357 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:13.680 the composite sketch of the killer. 358 00:22:13.880 --> 00:22:16.440 And we weren't coming up with anything as far as 359 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:19.440 you know, interviewing prostitutes. 360 00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:23.200 Bringing investigators right back to where they start. The elusive 361 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:27.640 bike path rapists continuing to operate under the police radar. 362 00:22:27.880 --> 00:22:30.000 We were looking for every man and it truly what 363 00:22:30.039 --> 00:22:33.359 he was. He blended in the fact that he went 364 00:22:33.400 --> 00:22:35.920 this long without being caught showed you that he was 365 00:22:36.119 --> 00:22:38.920 someone who could blend in. He was nondescript. 366 00:22:39.960 --> 00:22:44.119 Desperately, Lecourt decides to broaden his search for suspects by 367 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:46.319 looking outside the Buffalo area. 368 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:48.279 He begins to develop. 369 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:52.799 A suspect pool, turning his focus to convicted rapists recently 370 00:22:52.839 --> 00:22:54.519 released from New York State Prisons. 371 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:57.680 Going back over bull tips, reading the file over and 372 00:22:57.720 --> 00:23:00.839 over again, we were able to develop the name of gentleman, who, 373 00:23:01.319 --> 00:23:05.480 as it turned out, was a convicted rapist who looked 374 00:23:05.960 --> 00:23:10.160 exactly like our composite. He lived in every one of 375 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:13.000 the locations where we had at tax so we were 376 00:23:13.079 --> 00:23:16.200 tasked with finding him and we located them in North Carolina. 377 00:23:17.160 --> 00:23:21.240 Lacourt wastes no time in chasing their new suspect. He 378 00:23:21.319 --> 00:23:24.079 checks in on his last known address, but learns from 379 00:23:24.119 --> 00:23:25.519 the landlord that the man has. 380 00:23:25.400 --> 00:23:29.519 Since moved on. While canvassing the area with his photo. 381 00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:33.799 Of the convicted rapist, you have a second, Lacourt finally 382 00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:37.839 catches a break when a local cocktail waitress recognizes the 383 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:39.359 man as a regular patron. 384 00:23:39.720 --> 00:23:41.759 She's even able to supply an. 385 00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:50.880 Address, Thank you very much, Thanks you can, But. 386 00:23:50.880 --> 00:23:59.400 The convicted rapist has no interest in talking to police, 387 00:24:00.119 --> 00:24:03.000 only backing the court suspicions that the man from North 388 00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:06.759 Carolina is there long sought after bike path rapist. 389 00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:10.279 He was doing almost one hundred miles an hour. 390 00:24:10.440 --> 00:24:12.480 We're trying to keep up with them. We have three 391 00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:15.440 officers and three separate cars chasing this guy at one 392 00:24:15.480 --> 00:24:16.400 hundred thousan an hour. 393 00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:48.319 Old about. 394 00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:50.640 Investigators immediately collect a sample of the suspects DNA. The 395 00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:54.160 court stands by, ready to throw the rapist back in jail. 396 00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:56.960 It was one of those times that we allowed ourselves 397 00:24:57.160 --> 00:24:59.319 to get real high because we never had a guy 398 00:24:59.400 --> 00:25:04.039 before who matched the description, was connected to every area, 399 00:25:04.200 --> 00:25:07.759 and prior rapes looked like our guy was the same 400 00:25:07.880 --> 00:25:10.920 size as our guy, looked like the gentleman that the 401 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:13.720