The 18-year search for the "Ether Man" rapist may be over.
A Pueblo, Colo., man suspected of raping 12 women in New Mexico and Texas has been charged, authorities confirmed late Sunday.
Robert Howard Bruce, 47, was already in custody at the Pueblo County jail on charges stemming from an incident last month in which he allegedly tried to blow up a police officer's home.
"This case has baffled us for a long time," Albuquerque Deputy Chief of Police Kevin McCabe said. "The fact that this offender was out there is what really disturbed us and the victims. We are very happy tonight."
According to police, the suspect first struck in Albuquerque in 1991 when he broke into a woman's home in the 1400 block of Vassar NE and sexually assaulted her.
Police said the man attacked 10 more women in Albuquerque the next nine years.
All attacks occurred near the University of New Mexico, and, each time, the rapist broke through doors and windows of homes and put a rag over a woman's mouth, rendering her unconscious.
The rapist was dubbed "Ether Man," even though it was later determined that the chemicals he used did not contain ether.
One woman fought him off during a 1997 attack when she escaped as he attempted to tie her up. Police said the woman managed to get a good look at his face.
But authorities didn't link the rapes until after DNA tests came back in 2000 on five of the assaults, and a grand jury indicted the man under the name John Doe.
Prosecutors sought the indictment because the statute of limitations was set to expire on some of the rapes. It was the first time a New Mexico grand jury had indicted someone under a DNA profile. Victim similarities
Police believe the Ether Man hadn't raped another woman for two years at the time of the indictment.
But, two weeks later, a man broke into a woman's home in the 3000 block of Mackland NE and sexually assaulted her.
DNA tests confirmed the suspect was the Ether Man.
Albuquerquepolicereopened the investigation in 2006 after the DNA linked the suspect to a rape in Austin in which a University of Texas student was sexually assaulted while sleeping.
Bernalillo County sheriff's forensic artist Mary Brazas compiled a sketch of the rapist in August after meeting with the woman who escaped the 1997 attack.
Of the 12 attacks in Albuquerque and Austin, police linked seven of them using DNA evidence.
There are similarities in the crimes.
Most of the women were involved in medical professions, and nearly all belonged to a gym. One woman was a medical student who later became a doctor. Another was a receptionist at a doctor's office. One was an X-ray technician.
Officer targeted
Police in Albuquerque and Pueblo linked Bruce to the rapes after he was arrested early last month in Colorado.
According to Pueblo news reports, police officer Nathan Pruce found a 30-pound propane tank rigged so that it pumped gas into his home as Pruce was about to leave for work.
The officer's family was not home.
Pruce had been scheduled to testify that day against Bruce in a Peeping Tom case. The case was postponed when Bruce failed to appear for the trial. Bruce was arrested days later and charged in connection with the attempted bombing of the officer's house.
Bruce was driving a car that had a New Mexico license plate when he was taken into custody.
The Peeping Tom case stemmed from a July 17, 2007, incident in which a woman called police to report a prowler, according to Pueblo news accounts.
The woman had reported hearing a noise, and when she looked out her window, she saw Bruce walking in her backyard, according to Pueblo news accounts.
Pruce was dispatched to the area and found a chair placed next to the bedroom window of the woman's house. Bruce was arrested and charged with unlawful sexual contact and second-degree trespassing.
Pruce found drug paraphernalia and a small amount of marijuana on Bruce when he was arrested.
Ether Man match
Colorado authorities started looking into Bruce's background after the October arrest and discovered he had lived in Albuquerque.
His wife and mother currently live in Albuquerque, police said.
Pueblo police contacted an FBI agent from the Albuquerque field office, The agent recalled news reports about the Ether Man and believed there could be a connection due to Bruce's Peeping Tom arrest.
The agent directed Pueblo police to Albuquerque police cold case detective Rich Lewis. Lewis had been working the Ether Man case.
Police officials said they compared DNA taken from Bruce to at least one of the Ether man cases and got a match.
Police then amended the John Doe warrant on Sunday with Bruce's name. A $3 million bond had been assigned to the warrant.
Albuquerque police detectives were attempting to question Bruce in Colorado late Sunday about the Ether Man rapes.
Earlier arrests
Bruce had lived in Albuquerque, Rio Rancho and Raton between 1988 and 2003, according to property and court records.
Court records indicate that Bruce had at least seven contacts with law enforcement in Bernalillo County between 1988 and 2005. He received five traffic citations, was arrested once for shoplifting and once for drinking in public.
He also had two traffic citations in Santa Fe and one in Raton.
Bruce was arrested twice in Sandoval County on domestic violence charges, according to court records.
He was arrested in April 1997 on charges of battery against a household member, assault on a household member and bribery of a witness. The charges were dismissed.
Eight months later, Bruce was arrested by police in Sandoval County on charges of battery against a household member and interference of communications.
He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors and was sentenced to six months' unsupervised probation.
Two of the sexual assaults occurred while Bruce was on probation.
Police said they believe Bruce moved to Pueblo shortly after the indictment on the DNA profile.
A lthough he had been arrested on domestic violence charges, Bruce's DNA was never taken and entered into a national database used by police.
Under New Mexico law, DNA is not collected from people unless they are convicted of a felony.
Police said Bruce had also worked at two different New Mexico cleaning companies between 1997 and 2003. Police said they were looking into the possibility that Bruce used chemicals obtained from the cleaning companies to rape women.
Bruce was most recently working for a Pueblo sporting goods store.
The Ether Man case had been scheduled to be featured in this week's "America's Most Wanted" TV crime show, police said.
Police Chief Ray Schultz said he was pleased with his detectives and gave credit to Pueblo authorities who helped "connect the dots."
"It has been 18 long years," Schultz said. "We never forgot about this case. It is very gratifying knowing justice will be served."
To see more of the Albuquerque Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.abqjournal.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Albuquerque Journal, N.M. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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