By Michael Beebe NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 10/18/07 6:48 AM
Kathleen W. Sanchez, who stood by her husband, Altemio, after his arrest, guilty plea and sentencing as the Bike Path Killer, has filed for divorce.
Sanchez, 47, filed divorce papers Friday, according to records on file at the Erie County clerk’s office.
John M. Dudziak, an attorney who represented Kathleen Sanchez during her husband’s courtroom proceedings, declined to comment. Divorce proceedings in New York State are sealed records.
Altemio Sanchez, 49, admitted killing three women and raping dozens of others over a span of nearly 30 years. He is serving 75 years to life in prison at Clinton Correctional Facility in the Adirondacks.
Detectives on the Bike Path Rapist Task Force, who cracked the case and arrested Sanchez, are convinced his wife never knew of the double life he led for all those years.
“Through our intensive investigation, we discovered no information that Kathy Sanchez had any prior knowledge of Altemio’s crimes,” said State Police Capt. Steven A. Nigrelli, a task force member.
“She’s just another victim of Altemio Sanchez.”
Never was that more evident than Sept. 29, 2006, the day Altemio Sanchez killed Joan L. Diver and left her body in the woods along a bike path near her Clarence home.
While search teams looked for Diver, Sanchez and his wife were pictured that evening enjoying themselves in a Buffalo bar during a reunion of her former company.
Kathleen Sanchez told detectives after her husband’s guilty pleas in May that she intended to stay with him through the courtroom proceedings and then move on with her life.
Altemio already signed their home over to her in May, according to county records.
Married on July 15, 1981, and the parents of two grown sons, Kathleen and Altemio Sanchez seemed the perfect couple to their neighbors on Allendale Road in Cheektowaga, where they lived at the time of his arrest in January.
After the courtroom session in May when her husband admitted his crimes, Kathleen Sanchez released a statement of regret to his victims’ loved ones.
“It is unimaginable to us,” the statement read, “that someone we have truly loved and respected so much for so many years could be capable of such violent acts, and we are sincerely sorry and filled with grief for your tragic losses.”
mbeebe@buffnews.com
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“She’s just another victim of Altemio Sanchez.”
I feel for her and the children, just as I feel for the victims and their families and friends...
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