NM police link suspect held in Colo. to 11 rapes
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities say a man arrested in Colorado is suspected of raping 11 women in New Mexico and Texas over 15 years, and recently trying to kill a police officer.
The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Department in Colorado arrested 47-year-old Robert Howard Bruce of Pueblo on Oct. 6 after an officer found a 30-pound propane tank rigged to pump the explosive gas into his home.
Police say Bruce was tied to the Albuquerque rapes after his DNA matched one of the cases, and investigators are trying to determine if he’s tied to crimes from 1991 to 2000 in Albuquerque and a 2006 rape in Austin, Texas.
It was not immediately clear if Bruce entered a plea in the Colorado case.
Prosecution and defense lawyers did not immediately return calls for comment.