It was about 1:45 a.m. Victim’s husband was awakened by a steady tapping on his foot. He awoke to be confronted by the splatter of a bright flashlight beam shining in his eyes.

   “Don’t move or I’ll blow your fucking brains out. I know you got a gun in a drawer in here somewhere, and if you move I’ll blow your fucking brains out. I know you got a gun in here somewhere.”

     The intruder stood at the foot of the bed. He spoke in an angry whisper between clenched teeth.

     Victim’s husband told him the gun was in the night stand drawer.

     Victim awoke as she heard the voices. She saw the flashlight beam moving about the room. Intruder then repeated that he’d “blow their heads off” if they did not do exactly what he said. He did not come near them for about five minutes, victim estimated. He threw the shoelaces to her and ordered her to “Tie him.” Instead of tying him tightly as she intended she made a mistake and tied only one wrist. The intruder was extremely mad. “Bitch!” he snarled. “I’ll blow your brains out if you try something like that again.” He then threw another lace and told her to do it right. Afterward he retied the husband and then tied her up.

     He rummaged through the house and then after a while came back to the bedroom and, strangely, accused victim of having tried to untie her husband in the interim. Then he cut the shoelace from her ankles and ordered her to “Get up!” He pushed her down the hall with his gun in her back and a knife at her throat. He warned her if she tried anything he would kill her.

     When they arrived at the living room, assailant already had strips of towel on the floor. He ordered her to lie down on her stomach. Then he tied her feet and blindfolded her with a towel. He told her he only wanted money and food “for his van” and then he’d leave. Victim said she didn’t have any money, but that she would write him a check. He replied: “Shut your fucking mouth.” He then left the room.

     Assailant soon returned, straddled her and then squatted down on her back and put his penis in her tied hands. He ordered her to “Play with it” and that she better “do it good.” She attempted to tell him she had no feeling in her hands (because they were bound too tightly), but he cut her off with “Shut up!” or he would cut off one of her ears.

     Assailant repositioned her. Assailant then ordered her to “Suck it” and shoved the offending denizen in her mouth. She was sickened by the taste. She could tell it had a lot of lotion on it.

     He raped her.

     Then he put “it” in her mouth again.

     Then he stood up and while standing over her said “I’m sorry, Mom. . .Mommy, please help me; I don’t want to do this, Mommy.” Then he began to sob. The victim thought it was genuine. He repeated this “over and over” according to the victim. He continued to sob and hyperventilate.

     Then he left the living room for awhile to check on the husband. He returned to the living room and raped victim again. Afterward he started crying again. From the sounds of it, he appeared to be stumbling about the room. “Mommy, I don’t want to do this. Someone please help me.”

   Then he tied her feet and while doing so he told her he was going to watch television for while. She was to keep her “fucking mouth shut.” According to victim he used the work “fucking” a lot and called her “bitch” repeatedly.

   Before he left the residence, he put a cup and saucer on victim’s back and then stole her wedding rings.

Investigation

Investigation uncovered a disturbing chain of preliminary events. While the couple had been out earlier in the evening (and had returned home around 10 p.m.), the East Area Rapist had entered the house through the window of a vacant bedroom. He had broken the pane and then pried off the window screen. He entered the house and came into the master bedroom. Here he unlocked the sliding glass door to the patio. At the same time he must have found the revolver, a .357 Magnum Colt Trooper, and unloaded it. He then exited the house through the bedroom sliding glass door onto the patio, closed it without locking it, and replaced the screen on the other bedroom window by which he had entered. Investigation also uncovered the bullets from this revolver had been found behind the residence, a home that belonged to a State Patrol Officer. They were .38 caliber bullets.

     A bloodhound trace the scent of the attacker from the residence to the corner of Whitney and Mission Avenue, where a dump truck is usually parked overnight. 

     This supported a witness’ report. At 6:30 a.m. that morning a witness across the street (at her place of business) on Whitney Avenue had seen a man rise up from inside the trailer of the dump truck with a bike in his hands. This truck was parked across the street at the corner by a gas station. The man was dressed in dark clothing with a mask over his head. He got on the bicycle and darted east on Whitney Avenue.

     Investigation proved that the dump truck is parked there by the owner at night during the week and occasionally every weekend. It was thus frequently parked there.

     For a week prior to the attack the victim’s residence had received hang-up phone calls.

     The victim’s upper body was processed for fingerprints. None were found.

     Canvas of the neighborhood uncovered that a white male, about 25 to 30 years old, was seen driving a large four-door vehicle, possibly a Plymouth or Dodge, on Woodson Avenue. He appeared to be checking the residences. This had been on October 28, 1977, at 6:30 p.m. The evening of the attack a 1963 or 1964 Ford Falcon had been seen driving slowly on Woodson Avenue. The car had been seen twice before on the street.

     Investigation uncovered that the victim and her husband left the residence at 7:30 p.m. to go to Ricco’s Pizza. It was during this time that EAR must have set up the scene of the attack for later.

Description

Victim described the attacker as wearing black leather gloves. She also saw his legs from the knees down. She said he was wearing blue, worn tennis shoes; his socks were brown and burgundy. His legs were white with a light colored hair. She described his penis as big around but short. She believed this was the East Area Rapist. She had already heard that he was under-endowed and therefore his penis girth surprised her.

Geography

The Woodson Ave. area by Whitney and Mission is yet another change for the East Area Rapist. As roads go, it is not that far from No 14. But it stands alone. There was (and still is) an open field by the area.  The area where the dump truck was parked remains the same. Aside from the open field, it doesn’t offer much tactically according to The EAR’s usual MO.

House

The house was a single story, detached middle class home.

Analysis

This fits the most recent pattern of the East Area Rapist’s attacks in that the area was out of his usual comfort zones. After the panic of last May, which saw vigilante groups take to their cars and Citizen Band radios, EAR went into a lull all Summer of ’77. He then began again in Fall, striking first in Stockton (No 23) 50 miles south of Sacramento, then back to Sacramento on La Riviera (No 24) but outside the area he usually hit in that district; then No. 25 in Foothill Farms; then here. However, this one is in a curious location. There is a field, yes,  in the immediate vicinity but that’s about the only old tactical ally about. On top of this, The EAR had hid his bicycle in the back of a dump truck, and then bolted off, mask and all, down Whitney.

     Since the bloodhound traced his scent to the dump truck, there seems no doubt that the witness across the street saw the genuine article. This confirms that EAR was not only bolder here but perhaps desperate. The last time he had struck in dawn light was with No 13 in Crestview. A witness saw a man run off to Del Campo Park soon after the attack. But if this was EAR, he had already taken his hood off in order to blend in and look like a jogger. That he left it on here at Whitney and Mission indicates that in his earlier stalking of the neighborhood he knew the witness to be in her business across the street at this early hour.

     Still, why take the chance? He must have come through the field to get to the corner and the dump truck. Why not hide the bike by the fence in the field? Why not hide the bike on Whitlow and get out the back way? Or why not by the house and simply ride off down the street without a hood? No one would notice anything unusual.

       Curious.

       Nevertheless, what I believe is a clue has emerged in my own ferret of the neighborhood. Let me state first that according to EAR’s prowling MO, there was nothing to attract him here to Woodson Ave to begin with. It’s a cross street area, after all. No park, school, etc. A witness, however, saw someone suspicious days before.

     The date was October 26. It was early morning. A stranger was walking slowly along Whitney, logistically considering the houses. The witness was leaving his house. The light came on over his garage and illuminated the stranger. Witness took note of the stranger because, though cold at such an early hour, he did not have on a jacket or sweater. The stranger was 5 foot 8 to 10 inches, medium build, medium brown hair, early 20s. When the light came on, the stranger turned and looked at him. He did not change his expression but continued on. The witness walked to the sidewalk. A few doors down the stranger stopped and looked back at the witness. Then the stranger turned and disappeared into the front yard’s bushes. Witness proceeded to check the area out, but found no trace of the stranger.

     I have been able to identify this house and the area where the stranger disappeared. The stranger had been walking eastward (toward Mission). The stranger had come from the west. The fits with the stranger having parked behind Whitney in the neighborhood off Eastern, the next block over.

     Only 2 blocks down Eastern, but 400 feet or so from Whitney, is a familiar sight. Not only is there the Chicken Slough Canal, there is a power/pumping station here. It is a short canal here, but it merges with the creek. Amazingly, EAR never struck along here and yet it is here that the neighborhood fits his MO so well

     Time and time again I am faced with finding a pumping or power station nearby to an EAR strike area. The same applies here. If there is a connection (which will be pursued in detail in Analysis of Crime Spree) then in this case EAR simply did not find a suitable victim within his usual radius of a canal/creek. He continued to expand from this area until he found a victim to his liking. The stranger seen on Whitney fits well with this scenario. He parked on the streets behind Whitney and then walked around the streets, prowling. Smooth, calculated. . .and coming from the direction of the canal.

     The attack here was also cold and calculated. Like with No 24, EAR wanted to play games with guns. He entered the home before, unloaded the revolver, replaced it, and then possibly hid in the neighbor’s behind the residence until the victim and her husband returned. Then he went through his routine feigning ignorance as to where the gun is, knowing all along he had unloaded it and dumped the bullets in the yard behind. Calculated. Cold.

     It is in light of all of this that we must view the sobbing and the “Mommy dearest” routine. He was, once again, playing to the press reports he was a schizo. To him a “split mind” meant acting like this— doing terrible things and then acting detached and pleading for help. But his calculated stalking, his previous red herrings (before the news articles on being a schizophrenic) shows us “Mommy dearest” was just another one of his red herrings.

     Herein is found the great conundrum. The EAR’s mode of transportation that night was dicey and his escape very risky. Amateurish at the very least. Quite a contrast to his calculated stalking MO. Clearly he didn’t have a car that night. But that doesn’t explain why he so exposed himself. Surely he could have hid the bicycle in the victim’s bushes and rode away from the house. Why a dump truck? Why so exposed? It doesn’t fit.

     However indelicate it may seem, it is impossible to avoid discussing the difference in anatomy of the reported miscreant male organ. In the past only a few victim’s described the rapist as having a normal or even thick but short penis. Most described it as quite small. This is one of those cases where it seemed thick but short. This is a contrast to most of the cases. This variation here will become particularly significant in our study of the crime spree and may even identify his lair as nearby.

     We cannot dispute that EAR was the perp. The assailant here used both the “van and food” routine plus the “Mommy dearest” schtick. The location is near a canal and pumping station. The strange cars seen prowling the neighborhood were older cars. The stranger seen beforehand could handle the cold. (EAR didn’t jump fences in heavy jackets.) Moreover, the area of the attack was off the beaten path of his previous attacks, and this fit his MO after Sacramento went into a panic and CB vigilantes started roaming the streets in their jalopies.

   Due to the recent reports by the victim that the attacker was average in organ size, the sheriff’s department inaccurately said that he was not under-endowed.

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