National coverage expected to generate tips in murder case
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

"The extra eyes and ears out there that saw or heard something might be what turns this case for us," Amherst Police Capt. Timothy Green said about the ongoing investigation into the bike path rapist case.

Two national TV shows will be featuring the case in their programming the next two weeks. Court TV ran a segment on Tuesday.

Reporter Geraldo Rivera will broadcast his story at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 5 on the CW Television Network. Also, "America's Most Wanted" will air the information about the case and the suspect on Saturday, Dec. 2. Check local listings for channels and times.

Green said national attention to the case generates tips to help the police move closer to capturing the suspect.

"What is unique to this case is the suspect strikes at varying times with large gaps between attacks - a 12-year span," he said. "We don't know if he has been in Western New York the whole time, but if there were similar attacks (elsewhere), then national attention brings in tips."

Green added that someone viewing one of the broadcasts may realize they know someone who frequents the Buffalo area, or someone who knows the region very well.

Police are hoping to piece the tips together and eliminate gaps in the case, Green said.

The case was featured on "Unsolved Mysteries" in the early 1990s and generated a mass of tips.

Anyone with information on the suspected bike path rapist, described as a white male, 37 to 40 years old, five-foot-eight to six feet tall, with dark hair, eyebrows and a mustache, can call 1-877-277-1990.