DAYTON, Ohio — A man who admitted to tying up and repeatedly raping a woman in 1989 has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Frederick Louis Tanzer, 67, pleaded guilty in September 2025 to three counts of making false statements to federal agents in connection with the attack.
According to his plea documents, Tanzer broke into a woman's Cincinnati condo and violently raped her over the course of five and a half hours on Aug. 1, 1989. Masked and dressed from head to toe in black Lycra, the documents say Tanzer held a knife to the woman's throat, dragged her into her bedroom, blindfolded her with surgical tape, bound her to the bed frame and repeatedly raped her.
Officials said they were able to match Tanzer's DNA from a coffee cup he had thrown away to evidence found at the crime scene. They also found cable zip ties, restraints, a gag and a black hat inside his dresser drawer during a search of his home.
WATCH: Our coverage of Tanzer's arrest
When they brought him in for questioning, authorities said Tanzer made several false statements to a federal agent and Cincinnati Police Department detective, including denying having seen or interacted with the woman on that day. He was arrested and charged in December 2024 for lying to officials.
Federal prosecutors then wrote in a motion for pretrial detention that Tanzer likely "continued his pattern of sexual violence" against the women in his life. He has lived and practiced medicine in Ohio, Kansas and Colorado.
Since the statute of limitations for the crimes committed during the 1989 attack expired in approximately 1995, officials said Tanzer was given the statutory maximum of 180 months in prison for making false statements.
