Albuquerque Serial Rapist Sentenced for Kidnappings and Sexual Assaults

ALBUQUERQUE – A serial rapist who terrorized women in Albuquerque between 2017 and 2018, was sentenced to life in prison.

There is no parole in the federal system.  As a result, a sentence of lifetime incarceration is served without parole.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, beginning in 2017, Timothy Bachicha, 43, abducted at least four women, holding them captive for hours while repeatedly strangling and sexually assaulting them. These assaults occurred in October 2017, April 2018, September 2018, and October 2018.

During these attacks, Bachicha forced the victims to perform sexual acts and strangled them to the point of unconsciousness multiple times. Bachicha held and assaulted the women for lengthy periods of time, ranging from 4 hours up to 20 hours. At the time of the assaults in September and October 2018, Bachicha was on state pretrial release and wearing an ankle monitor. Investigators confirmed his presence at the last two crime scenes through GPS data from his ankle monitor. In addition to this data, the evidence against Bachicha included surveillance footage and physical evidence, including DNA.

A federal grand jury first issued an indictment against Bachicha on July 25, 2019, charging the violation from October 2018. Then, on January 29, 2020, a federal grand jury added Count 2, which covered the violation from September 2018.

Trial was held from December 11-15, 2023. According to evidence presented at trial and other publicly available court records, on October 30, 2018, Bachicha forcibly abducted Jane Doe 1, pulling her into his vehicle by her neck. Once in the vehicle, Bachicha drove to a dirt lot near the UNM Cancer Center just east of Interstate 25. There, Bachicha held Jane Doe 1 for 20 hours while he strangled and sexually assaulted her. He released her the early afternoon of October 31, 2018, after receiving alerts that the battery on his court-ordered GPS monitor was dying.

Following news coverage of this crime, Jane Doe 2 came forward to disclose that, weeks earlier, she had been held for 16 hours by Bachicha in a semi-truck in Albuquerque near Interstate 25 and Comanche Road. During the attack, Bachicha strangled Jane Doe 2 and sexually assaulted her. Bachicha’s GPS monitor confirmed his presence at the location and time described by Jane Doe 2.

Both women fought Bachicha during their attacks, and both testified against him in trial. The jury also heard from two other women who suffered similar attacks by Bachicha in October 2017 and April 2018.

On December 15, 2023, after two and a half hours of deliberation, a federal jury convicted Bachicha of two counts of kidnapping with intent to commit a sexual assault, following detailed testimony from four of the victims, describing how he abducted, strangled, and sexually assaulted them over prolonged periods, leaving them physically injured and traumatized. At sentencing, Bachicha faced up to two life sentences, with no mandatory statutory minimum.  The court sentenced Bachicha to a life sentence for each of the two kidnapping convictions, to run concurrently with one another, for a total sentence of lifetime incarceration.

Acting U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Justin A. Garris, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office adopted and continued the investigation of this case following extensive investigation by the Albuquerque Police Department, with assistance from the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office and the New Mexico State Probation and Parole Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah J. Mease prosecuted the case.