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True Crime/Cold Case Files     EAR Crime Index

The Case of the East Area Rapist AKA The Original Night Stalker

261 Rape

 Victim No. 1-- WFA Age 23

Friday, June 18, 1976

About 4 a.m.

2600 block

Paseo Drive

Rancho Cordova

The Beginning

East Area Rapist

  He is the real life Michael Myers. He looked like the average young man. Yet he was evil incarnate. He is the No. 1 serial offender in history. He was so careful, he is known only by his DNA. The East Area Rapist, as he was known, struck California communities for 10 years— 1976-1986. Toward the end he became a murderer now known as the Original Night Stalker. He has 50 rapes and 12 murders to his record. Then he vanished. He would be about 70 years old now, living what appears a normal life. These are the files on his crimes.

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Narrative

It was about 4 a.m. June 18, 1976. Victim was awakened from sound sleep by methodical tapping. She noticed the silhouette of a man standing in the doorway to her bedroom. He was tapping with something against her door frame. Before she could clear her eyes, the light switched on. There stood a man tapping a large knife against the door frame. He was wearing a mask and gloves, dark T-shirt, but was naked from the waist down. He was aroused. He continued to tap while she, horrified, watched. The mask was dirty gray, with holes only for his eyes. The eyes stood out by contrast, as they prowled her. She drew the sheets over her face. He darted toward her, jumped on her, straddled her, ripped the sheets off her face and then placed the tip of the knife at her temple and drew blood.

     He now spoke through clenched teeth in a sort of angry whisper. Sac-overhead-icon

     “If you make a move or sound, I’ll stick this knife in you.” Pause. “I want to fuck you.”

     He got off her and stood by the bed. He commandingly pointed the knife at her nightgown and growled: “Take it off!”

     He paced the room while she undressed. Once done, he stood over her. It was her period. He notice a sanitary napkin in place. “Take it out.”DSC02718-50%-icon

     When this was accomplished, he commanded: “Roll over!”

     He must have placed the knife down or inserted it in a sheath, for she felt both of his gloved hands pull her arms behind her back and cross them over. He then tied her wrists tightly with precut rope. He then rummaged about the room and came back and tied her wrists again with one of her own cloth belts.

     He commanded: “Roll over!”

     He then raped her. She opened her eyes only when he was finished. She saw him wipe off his penis with the bed sheet, drop it to the floor and then, standing there, he demanded: “Do you have money?” She tried to answer, but he snarled through his clenched teeth: “Shut up!” It was a sort of whispery snarl.

     He searched about the room, found her hair dryer and returned. He stared at her for a moment. Despite wanting to close her eyes, she couldn’t. To her, it seemed as if he was intentionally trying to instill fear. 

     He then tied her ankles with the cord. Then he tied her bra around her ankles. Once again he wandered the room until he found what he wanted— her slip. He approached her again, staring at her. While he twisted the slip around in his hands, he breathed heavily through his clenched teeth, causing the tight hood around his mouth to blow out and suck in. He then tied it around her as a gag.

     She continued to hear him wander and rummage through her bedroom. 4thhouseplan-firstvictim-2

     He returned and pointed the tip of the knife near her right eye. “Don’t make a move while I am here or I will kill you.”

     He left the bedroom and soon started rummaging through drawers in the kitchen. She heard him talking in a low whisper. She thought 2 people were actually whispering back and forth. This seemed confirmed when he spoke in a louder whisper, saying “I told you to shut up!”

     After this it was quiet. There were no sounds for quite some time. Finally the victim struggled and loosed the bindings and dryer cord on her ankles so that she could get up and hobble down the hallway. She discovered the backdoor was open. She slammed it 1with her feet, but the dead bolt was, strangely, engaged and this prevented the door from closing. She went for the phone on the kitchen wall, knocked off the receiver from the cradle, but she could not reach the dial. She rushed down the hall to her father’s bedroom, knocked the receiver off the cradle, dialed from numb fingers, and then from the floor spoke into the receiver.

Perpetrator’s Description

   The assailant wore a light colored dirty white or gray mask with as noticeable seam down the front. It had holes only for the eyes. It was tight fitting. He wore a black T-shirt. He was not a large man, about 5 foot 9 inches, lean. He weighed about 160 pounds. He might have had dark hair, as the hair on his legs was dark. His legs were muscular, but lean muscular. His penis was unusually small. The gloves were dark. He never took them off in her presence. She estimated he was about 20 to 25 years old. He spoke as though he had laryngitis: angry whisper through clenched teeth, barely moving his lips under the mask.

     She estimated he remained in the house only 20 minutes.

     Note: He touched her breasts only once and briefly, with his gloved hands while he raped her.

     Investigators discovered several telltale clues. The house had been ransacked: papers and other items strewn about from the drawers. The victim’s purse was on the back patio, and its contents scattered about the lawn.  Strangely, a block of wood and an ornamental birdbath had been moved and placed under the phone line that leads from the house to one of the telephone/power poles at the back fence. The assailant had stepped on it and attempted to cut the phone line. Cut marks were evident on the wire. He was unsuccessful. There was a fresh crack in the birdbath, which indicated it started to give way underneath him and he had stopped. DSC01803-cropped-iconFrom here he went to the back door, where he worked the wood of the door jam to pry the door open. Fresh wood chips were on the patio underneath the knob area of the door.

   Inside in the hall bathroom 2 towels were found to be balled up and there was a Johnson’s Baby oil bottle on the counter. The assailant had been in the house long enough to find them (or brought the bottle) and lubricate himself before approaching the bedroom to stand in the doorway and intentionally wake his victim by rhythmic tapping of his knife on the frame.

     Despite the ransacking of the house, nothing of value was taken.

     The assailant brought 2 pieces of pre-cut rope with him for the bindings.

Subjective impressions of  victim

     Victim believed she had been stalked for sometime. Beginning in May a medium sized, older dark American car (make/model unknown) occasionally drove through the 68ChevyNova-iconneighborhood. Every time the car drove past while she was outside, and when she would then look to it, the driver looked the other way. The car eventually stopped cruising the neighborhood. Two weeks after, hang up phone calls began. On each occasion, it was obvious someone was on the other end, but said nothing, and then hung up in a normal manner.

Other

     Victim was a 23 year old white female adult. She was an insurance adjuster living with her father, a retired US Army Air Force Serviceman, having been stationed at nearby Mather Field.  Father was away at the present time, back in Boston where the family came from, taking care of business after a family death. Father had been gone for about a month, and was due back in1967ChevyNova-icon a couple of days.

Subjective Impressions of Investigators

     Due to the bungled attempt to cut the phone line outside, yet no attempt to cut the phone wires inside or even rip the phones out of the jacks, there was little reason not to think this was a beginner. It was suspected this was a neighborhood kid.

Geography

   The incident occurred in the general area of Malaga Way and Paseo Drive, Rancho Cordova. This Welcome to Ranchodevelopment was about 20 years old, primarily small middle-class one story ranch-style homes. Malaga and Paseo are main residential roads in Rancho Cordova. Though not a long street, Paseo is significant for leading directly to nearby Folsom Blvd, a few blocks over. The boulevard is a main artery from Sacramento into the eastern suburbs of La Riviera and Cordova. For much of its distance here Folsom Blvd is paralleled by the railroad tracks. Folsom Blvd. is largely lined with businesses or is open space, some industrial. South of Folsom Blvd, Paseo Drive is named Mather Field Drive, and leads into Mather AFB.

     Rancho Cordova is a decidedly blue collar/ middle-lower middle class suburban community on the east side of Sacramento. The main road linking RC to Sacramento is Folsom Blvd. The other arteries lead north/south over the American River, and they are Watt Ave. and Sunrise Blvd. Due to Mather Field nearby, there were many retired Air Force personnel.

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Analysis

     As the geography shows, the area of Paseo and Malaga is simply one of streets and cross streets. At this time, the location showed no tactical significance.

     The ski mask, with a prominent seam down the middle, indicates that if it was not a homemade mask it was a nylon balaclava, a thin elastic ski mask.

     The floor plan of the house has the bedrooms on the right. To access the house it was necessary to enter through the backyard. Due to the arrangement of the bedroom windows, assailant probably jumped the fence from a home behind Paseo Drive on Del Rey Court.

     Terror was obviously the prime factor in the rapist/assailant’s signature. It was unnecessary in order to carry out the rape. So, too, was the ransacking of the house. Victim reported that the terror was more frightening than the rape.

     Despite the terrorism, nothing so far indicated that this was not an isolated case committed by a mentally disturbed local teen or early 20-something.

Files on the EAR/ONS

QQ

Preliminaries

Introduction

A Word About Rape

   Notes on Personal Investigation

Logic verses Instinct

The Folklore of “Copycat”

Updates

 

Prehistory

The Summer of ’76

Victim #1
— The Beginning—
Rancho Cordova

Victim #2
—Careful Selection—
Del Dayo

     Victim #3
— Foiled Attack—
 Rancho Cordova

Victim #4
— Violent Improvisation—
 Crestview

   Victim #5
— Selected Target—
 Citrus Heights

Victim #6
— Curious Tactics—
 Rancho Cordova

     Victim #7
— Baring Down—
 Del Dayo 

     Victim #8
— Interrupted Arrival—
 Rancho Cordova

Analysis of First 8 Strikes

Victim #9
— Revealing Mistake—
 Citrus Heights

Victim #10
— Fair Oaks—
 Undaunted

  Living Dangerously
— The Year of the EAR—
1977

Victim #11
— Cats and Fields—
Sacramento

Victim #12—
 Blind Spot Reveals—
 Citrus Heights

Victim #13
— Unexpected Jogger—
Carmichael

Ripon Court Shooting

 Victim #14
— Over the River . . .
and Through the Woods—
  Sacramento

Victim #15
— Tactical Misuse—
 Rancho Cordova

Victim #16
— Opportunity Knocks a Clue—
 Orangevale

Victim #17
— Unexpected Spoke in the Hub—
 Crestview

Victim #18
— Moving Upwards—
La Riviera

Victim #19
— Presentiment
 of
 Impromptu Danger—
Orangevale

Victim #20
— Blind Spot
 and a
Stop Watch—
 Citrus Heights

Victim #21
— Tactical 1—
Del Dayo

Victim #22
— Tactical 2—
South Sacramento

Panic!

  After the Lull—
1977’s Autumn of Fear

 

Victim #23
— Tactical 3—
 Stockton

Victim #24
— Switcharoo—
 La Riviera

Victim #25
— Follow Diablo—
 Foothill Farms

Victim #26
—  Dump Truck Biker—
 Carmichael

Victim #27
— Condo Commando—
La Riviera

Victim #28
— Tail of Diablo—
 Foothill Farms

Victim #29/30
— Assault!—
 Carmichael

Maggiore Double Murders
— Critical Clue—
 Rancho Cordova

   Yet Another Year— 1978

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       Witness in Charcoal

Victim #31
— Distant Roaming—
 Stockton

Victim #31B
— Back to Rancho—
 Rancho Cordova

Victim #32
— Little Pocket, Big Clue—
 South Sacramento

Victim #33
— The Deep Dig—
 Modesto

Victim #34
— Co-Ed—
Davis

Victim #35
— Back—
 Modesto

Victim #36
— Forth—
 Davis

Silent Victim
— Lateral—
 Modesto

Victim #37
— Forth North—
 Davis

A New East—
 Contra Costa Corridor

Victim #38
—  Surreal Schedule—
 Concord

Victim #39
— Opportunity Kicks—
 Concord

Victim #40
— Cats and Fields Again—
 San Ramon

Victim #41
— The Way to San Jose—
 San Jose

Victim #42
— Sobbing in San Jose—
 San Jose

Victim #43
— Danville—
 Playing it Close

 

   No Stopping Him— 1979

Lacing with Ligatures— Thunderbird Place

Victim #43B
— Auld Lange Syne—
 Rancho Cordova

Victim #44
— Along the 680—
 Fremont

Victim #45
— Follow the Cats—
 Walnut Creek

Victim #46
— Sticking to Routine—
 Danville

Victim #47
— Walnut Creek—
 Dig and Retreat

Victim #48
— Shouted Out—
 Danville

Victim #49
—  The Unsuspected —
Goleta

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Murder
—Original Night Stalker—

Goleta
— Doctor Duo—
 Dec 30, 1979

Ventura
— Cats & Murder—
 March 13, 1980

Laguna Niguel
— Exclusive—
August 19, 1980

Irvine
— Home Alone—
 Feb. 6, 1981

Goleta
— Dig & Retreat Again—
 July 27, 1981

Irvine
— Epitome of MO—
May 4, 1986

 

         Phantom Predator—
  Analysis of EAR Crime Spree

       Analysis of EAR Prowling MO

Portrait of Terror

The Lair of an Arch Rapist

     The Mystery of the Silent Dog

 

Persons of Interest

Introduction

 

 

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

The Website of Gian J. Quasar

Contact