This is a disputed case, and it is not possible to follow the usual narrative style I have laid down in the other cases here. The Sacramento Bee attributed this attack to The EAR, following the insistence of Deputy Chief (Sheriff) Robert Radford, who noted the nearby field and other factors which indicated this was an EAR attack.

   The details as I have them are very simple. The assailant used the side door of the house. This side door has a window. The assailant removed the molding, took out the window, reached in and unshot the dead bolts or just slithered through the window and therewith bypassed the dead bolts.

     The assailant was only in the house for 30 minutes. According to Radford’s account in the Bee, the ski masked villain confronted the woman, a 30 year old divorcé, who was asleep in the master bedroom, put a knife to her and took her to another bedroom where he raped her. He had blindfolded her and tied her hands. He never bothered her 2 children who were asleep in another room.

     I cannot think of more than 1 victim, and this is not certain, whom EAR raped in the master bedroom. They were all taken elsewhere. The EAR seldom raped in the master bedroom.

     In addition to this, there was a large dog in the house, but the dog did nothing. This was attributed by Radford to the dog being a “family friendly” dog. However, we’ve seen before that EAR familiarized himself with household pets when he had the chance. In the case of Victim 21 on Sandbar Circle he might even have visited more than once and fed the dog.

     The assailant rummaged through the house and returned twice to check on the victim in the bedroom.

     Victim’s description was very sketchy— a dark ski mask, a villain about 5 foot 8 inches tall and 160 pounds.

     Then there is the time of night— about 2:45 a.m. (Victim freed herself and called the sheriffs at 3:20 a.m.) EAR frequently struck in early morning.

     On top of these similarities, there is the geography. The entire Rossmoor Bar park and natural area back Ambassador Drive (though the attack occurred across the street), a school is nearby, and Mc Gregor is a main street out of the development and back to Zinfandel and Highway 50.

     More than this there is an intangible— The Maggiore Double Murder. This had occurred in the old neighborhood near where EAR began and where he had concentrated himself thereafter. Yet after the Maggiore Murders, which put the entire community on alert, the East Area Rapist would never strike there again. What’s more, his next attack was in Stockton. This attack in Rancho Cordova is about as far away from the old neighborhood where he began that you can get and still remain in Rancho Cordova. It was, in a way, an open statement of avoiding old ground.

       The result could be that he chose new ground. First Stockton and then this location on Ambassador on the eastern extremity of Rancho Cordova. Moreover, he would come back to this eastern area of Rancho Cordova much later in an attack (43B) that key sheriff investigators would agree was an EAR attack.

     Coincidences perhaps. But I do not like coincidences and I do not like the number of these.

     It is best to familiarize ourselves with the geography of the area before we continue.

     I have to some extent engaged in intentional overkill in the photo essay above in order to accentuate a contradiction. Yes, all these are tactical allies of EAR, and he no doubt stalked along here. But it is growing increasingly obvious, especially with the most recent Stockton attack (No 31), that EAR was not relying on them as much anymore. He was driving the streets, parking where he would, and then prowling the yards. Nevertheless, the tactical allies almost always remain nearby. They still could provide a convenient and quiet retreat. He could appear here along Ambassador as a biker. He could sit at the park and watch the neighborhood.

     But Ambassador Drive has something else. It ends not only at a major intersection for the Jedediah Smith Bike Trail (with a small parking lot), it also ends at  . . . a main pumping station. These have become incredibly common in the general area where EAR struck.

     The thing that has, and indeed should, nag at investigators, and not just me, is how did EAR find all these locations, especially the canals? Construction or roofing work has been repeatedly offered as the explanation, and this may indeed be true, but a large number of the strikes occur near a power or pumping station. Did he service these? If so, it would explain how he became familiar with neighborhoods, and how in the course of his crime spree he consistently prowled areas that were nearby to power stations.

   This is subtly but definitely seen in No. 26, where the stranger who seemed to be EAR first prowled the neighborhood from the south of Whitney, right from the direction, but a couple of blocks away, of a minor canal and pumping station.

     Altogether I see little reason to discount this attack as a genuine EAR strike. Although I know of no dialog used in the attack, all the circumstances in terms of geography say it was him.     

Night Predator
Files on the East Area Rapist/Original Night Stalker