Accused bike path rapist Altemio C. Sanchez was arrested thanks in part to a critical confession obtained by police from Sanchez's uncle, Wilfredo Sanchez Caraballo, nearly a quarter-century after Caraballo initially lied to investigators.
Caraballo entered the equation when the rapist's first victim claimed she had spotted her attacker getting into a white van at the Boulevard Mall in 1981. She recalls seeing a similar van on the day of the attack.
When investigators pulled the vehicle over, they questioned Caraballo about his whereabouts on the day of the attack. Caraballo supplied an alibi.
Police later put Caraballo's picture in a photo array, but the victim said that he was not the culprit.
Twenty-five years later, Caraballo changed his story.
Two weeks ago, police got a confession from him, stating that he initially lied to investigators and that his nephew Sanchez (who resembles Caraballo) had borrowed the van on the day of the attack.
In light of recent events, many people - including the editorial board of The Buffalo News - have been critical of the investigative techniques used by police over 25 years ago.
In hindsight every clue may seem to fit conveniently into place, however this is the real world, and not an episode of CSI.
Going on the evidence they had collected at the time, the police conducted a thorough investigation that unfortunately yielded dead-ends. At the time, however, asking anything more would have been unrealistic.
It may be unfortunate that the alleged Bike Path Rapist couldn't have been stopped sooner, but little can be learned or benefited from unfounded "what ifs."
Focus misplaced on heads of state
Media covers hangings' errors over their causation
Once again, the national media is focusing negatively on more hangings by the Iraqi government, this after exhausting the topic of Saddam Hussein's botched execution. Now it's Hussein's half brother, Barzan Ibrahim, who is in the spotlight.
Ibrahim, the former head of Hussein's secret police, was decapitated Monday after a miscalculation on the part of his executioners. Media critics say that executioners should have hanging down to a science, and use a precise equation of weight and gravitational pull to calculate their desired outcome: to snap the neck of their subject, thus ensuring a quick death.
It's hard to believe that the way in which the executions of Hussein and Ibrahim were conducted would well overshadow the fact that these two convicted men were actually put to death, yet such is the case.
Perhaps the media should turn their attention to the countless individuals who were brutally murdered under the tyrannous leadership of Hussein and Ibrahim, or maybe even drop the issue altogether and put their resources toward devising their own strategy for winning the Iraq War, because after all, they'll complain about these issues to no end. When it comes time to suggesting an equitable plan that satiates their thirst for justice, the media moguls bury their heads in the sand.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
