'Ether Man' may be in Colo. jail

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRQE) - Albuquerque police said that a man who raped about a dozen women over an 18-year period is behind bars.

Police said the "Ether Man" was originally arrested in Pueblo, Colo., when he allegedly tried to blow up a police officer's home.

Robert Howard Bruce, 47, is currently in a Colorado jail, and Albuquerque police are going through numerous rape cases dating back to 1991.

Officials said Bruce is behind the assaults in which women were knocked unconscious after their attacker put a chemical laced rag over their mouths.

For years, police only had DNA from rape crime scenes in New Mexico and Austin, Texas. They never had an accurate face of the attacker because many of the victims had troubling describing him.

Pueblo police linked Bruce to the rapes after the incident at an officer's home and a failure to appear in court for a Peeping Tom case.

Authorities from Pueblo contacted Albuquerque police, knowing that Bruce used to live in the Duke City.

Bruce is suspected of attacking women near the University of New Mexico, according to police. Many of the victims were involved in the medical profession.

Albuquerque police credit technology and old fashioned police work in cracking the case.

"This is a perfect example that we never give up, we are the ones that speak for those victims, literally and to coin a pun, the long arm of the law reached backed 18 years and is holding this man accountable," Albuquerque Police Department Spokesperson John Walsh said.

APD has issued a warrant for Bruce's arrest. There is a $3 million bond attached to the warrant.

Bruce could face a slew of charges from criminal sexual penetration to kidnapping.

The suspect is expected to be arraigned Monday in Colorado. He will be extradited to New Mexico after answering to his alleged crimes in Pueblo.

Bruce is also suspected in a similar rape in 2006 near the University of Texas in Austin.