A Sycamore Township man who admitted to tying up and repeatedly raping a woman in 1989 was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Wednesday for lying to federal investigators, according to prosecutors.
In September, Frederick Tanzer pled guilty to three charges of providing false statements to federal authorities. Tanzer is a medical doctor who has lived and practiced in Ohio, Kansas, and Colorado.
According to plea documents, Tanzer broke into a woman’s Cincinnati house on August 1, 1989, placed a knife to her throat, tied her up, and raped her repeatedly for roughly five and a half hours. According to authorities, Tanzer wore a mask during the incident.
Tanzer left DNA at the site despite efforts to evade detection, according to investigators, but the case remained unsolved for decades. In 2024, the FBI and Cincinnati police recovered a coffee cup that Tanzer had discarded. According to the United States Attorney’s Office, DNA from the cup matched evidence recovered at the 1989 crime scene.
Tanzer lied to authorities, denying that he saw or communicated with the victim on the day of the attack, according to prosecutors.
“Before admitting that he was the man who committed these horrific rapes in 1989, Tanzer lied to the FBI. His DNA confirmed his guilt, and evidence points to Tanzer being a serial rapist,” said U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II. “Tanzer poses a grave risk to the public and deserves to be in prison not only for his lies but also for the despicable attack he was trying to cover up.”
Prosecutors argued Tanzer couldn’t be charged with rape because the statute of limitations had elapsed.
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