The Doctor James Corasanti hit and run case will rank as one of this area’s most famous legal cases. The long-respected doctor struck and killed a teenage girl on Heim Road in Amherst in July of 2011, then left the scene. Five hours after the girl was struck and killed, Corasanti’s blood alcohol level was measured at .10, still above the legal limit to drive.

There have been other famous cases that have gripped the area over the years. We're running down a Top 5 list of Buffalo's most notorious crimes cases. Today – Number five.

 

Bike Path Rapist

Over a span of 25 years, Altemio Sanchez, a well-liked factory worker murdered three women and raped 14 others. Many of the crimes happened near area bike and jogging paths. Linda Yalem, a University of Buffalo student, was the first to be murdered in September, 1990. Majane Mazur was killed two years later. And exactly 16 years after the Yalem murder, Joan Diver was murdered. Her body was found days later in brush off the Clarence bike path.

Diver’s murder set off an intense manhunt for the man responsible. The trail led to Sanchez and he eventually was convicted on DNA evidence obtained from drinking glasses after he and his wife had dinner at a Williamsville restaurant.

Sanchez is linked to 25 other rapes and is currently serving a 75-year prison term at the Clinton Correctional Facility.

Sanchez’s conviction also led to the exoneration of Anthony Cappozi who was wrongly convicted of two of the rapes and served 22 years in prison.

 

More From 106.5 WYRK