Suspected serial rapist accused in Pueblo rape

Posted at: 12/01/2009 2:51 PM | Updated at: 12/01/2009 2:59 PM
By: The Associated Press

Robert Howard Bruce

PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) - A suspected serial rapist wanted in New Mexico and Texas is now accused in a rape in Colorado.

Police say DNA evidence links 47-year-old Robert Howard Bruce to a 2006 rape in Pueblo. He now faces charges of sexual assault, first-degree burglary, assault and menacing.

He was already facing a charge of attempted murder for trying to blow up the home of a Pueblo police officer who was set to testify against him in a Peeping Tom case.

Bruce is suspected in 11 cases - both rapes and stalkings - in New Mexico and one rape in Austin, Texas.

Albuquerque police dubbed Bruce the "Ether Man" because victims were rendered unconscious with a chemical-soaked rag although the chemical wasn't ether.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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