Sanchez pleads not guilty to Diver murder

Altemio Sanchez, 49, of Cheektowaga pleaded not guilty to second-degree intentional murder charges for the death of Clarence resident Joan Diver.

Sanchez was arraigned Monday afternoon before Supreme Court Justice Christopher J. Burns.

Erie County District Attorney Frank J. Clark said the count has been added to those involving the deaths of Linda Yalem, a UB college student, and MaJane Mazur, for which Sanchez has already been indicted.

Sanchez is being held without bail. Clark said if he is convicted he faces a prison term of 15 to 25 years to life for each count, which would be imposed consecutively.

Diver, a mother of four, was found near the Clarence/Newstead bike path on Sept. 29, two days after she was reported missing. Police said the cause of death was blunt-force trauma and ligature strangulation.

Police believe Sanchez is the so-called bike path rapist who has been connected to rapes and murders throughout Western New York.