The EAR made a terrible mistake with his silent victim in Modesto. The victim may have remained silent, but his mistake speaks loud and clear. . .

The EAR was clearly kibitzing, for whatever reason, between Modesto and Davis. He would soon strike again in Davis, making it Davis back to back. Or does it?

   Surprisingly a large number of rapes go unreported. One clue turned up in Modesto during this back and forth raping that indicates The EAR had another victim there. The police were called to an old tactical ally of The EAR— a canal. In this case, it was Lateral Number One. Behind one of the homes on Palmilla Drive, a street that backs the canal, a clue had been found. The clue that brought them to the scene was the .357 magnum colt trooper owned by the last EAR victim (Sylvan Meadows #35)

   What an interesting clue. Obviously EAR had prowled along here one night. We know he knew canals. This, the area of Palmilla, was his perfect type of neighborhood. Yet there was no victim of rape in this neighborhood and, what’s more, the area is not connected with Sylvan Meadows in any way.

     However, the area does connect in a subtle way with Fuschia Lane, the location of his first Modesto strike. It also connects with the CATs, a long corridor that extends from Highway 99 to this very location. More than anything The EAR’s reliance on the location of Lateral No. One and the nearby park under the CATs underscores one aspect of his MO. He knew when he saw these CATs there would always be a field of undeveloped ground under them, and eventually a community on the either side.

     It is my connection that EAR followed the CATs from Highway 99 and eventually found a community that fit his tactical needs. His use of CAT corridors will be accentuated in future strikes as well. The further he got from his base of operations the more he relied on these to lead him to communities that tactically shielded him while he prowled.

   Thus, I would say that the area of Palmilla is the area he stalked first. Perhaps his intended victim was not home, so he didn’t strike here first. But I don’t think he would have struck here first anyway. Rather he mentally noted his victim here and then expanded out from the CAT corridor, the nearby park, the field, and then to a separate community. EAR liked little walkways that connected communities but through which no police cruiser could pass. 

     By walking through the field, over which the CAT corridor looms, EAR would follow Crocus and by this little extension be in another community. From here it is not far to Union and then Fuschia Lane. The first Modesto strike thus becomes a classic case of EAR expanding from a known tactical ally until he found an acceptable victim. The area of Sylvan Meadows is down Standiford Road, the same main road he would have followed into Modesto from Highway 99 in order to trace the CATs.

     I don’t believe EAR intended to strike off Palmilla first for a reason. EAR would reveal something about his MO in future— the dig and retreat mode of prowling and striking. In other words, he would strike at a distance from his base of operations in the respective city, then at last close by to the tactical ally that had brought him there— in this case the CATs and canal. After this he would never return. We see that here in Modesto. We will see it again in future.

     The fact the gun from the previous victim (35) was found on Lateral No. One tells us EAR was here and following his routine of canals and CATs. But he did not reveal this until the end of his Modesto crime spree. It was a mistake nevertheless. From what we know and what we shall learn, it is clear that this is where he first arrived in Modesto, and when he was through with his spree there he threw aside the last known victim’s gun and left.

     No one ever reported a rape on Palmilla. Yet that does not mean there wasn’t a victim. EAR did not simply return to Modesto to throw the gun behind a home on a canal, and it seems unlikely he went here that far out of his way right after his Sylvan Meadows attack. Could there be a silent victim who simply didn’t want to report a rape and go through the procedure?

     Surprisingly, there are more silent victims within the vile annals of rape than one would think. There are a number of reasons why someone would not report one. They may not have wished go through the rape examination process at the hospital. They may rather desire to put it all behind them.

     It seems probable that a few of The EAR’s victims never reported their rape. Not many. The EAR was more than a rapist. He was a sexual terrorist. I doubt more than a few refused to report their rape at his hands. He left behind entire neighborhoods that were terror stricken.  Even to this day when going to the neighborhoods where he struck, one can see taller fences than usual, bars on windows, neighborhood watch signs prominently placed.

     This present writer is familiar with one incident in which a woman broke down in front of friends and admitted that she had been the victim of the East Area Rapist in Sacramento and had never reported it. I am also disposed to believe that there is an undisclosed victim in the Schweitzer Grove area. The Grove open area is identical to Del Campo Park in how it is a hub in the community. It is unquestionable that EAR used Del Campo as a hub in order to stalk the entire Crestview area. (There are at least three victims in the Crestview area.) Yet officially there is only one victim in all the Schweitzer Grove area (No 10).

   There may or may not be a Modesto victim on Palmilla Drive. But in casting the gun aside, EAR allowed it to speak. It says CATs. It says canals. It says he came here first and expanded therefrom, and then it says he left Modesto for good.

     Without a doubt we learned how to anticipate him in communities far from his base of operations (Sacramento at this time). Had this been known at the time, the Contra Costa County communities and indeed the police themselves could have been ready for him at very specific locations. Unfortunately, they would not be, and soon he would expand his crime spree to those east bay locations.

Another silent victim bears mentioning. She could not, however, remain silent for long. This is the case of what is classified as an “EAR Copycat” rape. It occurred in the apartments east of Watt Ave. on La Riviera. I know little about it except what is written in the paper.

     According to the venerable Bee, the incident occurred in EAR territory. The EAR had shown his desire to avoid his old hot spots and move eastward. His last attack in Rancho Cordova (31B) had been far east of his old nodal point. For La Riviera, No 24 had shown that EAR had moved east of Watt. The apartments east of Watt ae, of course, east of his usual La Riv comfort zone.

     Davis (34) was the first and officially the only time EAR had struck an apartment, and at first detectives didn’t want to believe it was him for that very reason. It seems odd that a copycat would wish to copy only EAR’s most unique attack and strike an apartment.

     The date was June 28, 1978, the period when The EAR was going back and forth from Modesto to Davis. It was 2:30 in the morning. The intruder had removed a screen from the apartment and got in. He shined a flashlight on the victim, a 23 year old woman, sleeping in her bedroom and had the light reflect off a knife. He raped her in her bed and then rummaged through the apartment for 40 minutes, yet stole nothing significant.

     The victim did not report the attack until the afternoon. She debated with herself the whole time, wanting to forget it and go on with life, but she broke down and simply couldn’t.

     This attack today is called a “copycat,” but according to the Bee at that time “After interviewing the young woman, detectives decided that the man involved in the attack was probably the East Area Rapist, [Det. Bill] Miller said. ‘There is a strong feeling it was him,’ he said. ‘There’s enough (unpublished detail) there the East Area rape detectives want to investigate it along with the others.’”

     There were unquestionably differences. One, the rapist never tied his victim here and didn’t remain long. However, EAR did not remain in the Davis apartment long either. However, there is a difference between the privacy of a house and an apartment. It is far more risky to hit an apartment, at least with his terror style of house wrecking.

     For me, the genuineness of this attack would depend on what the rapist was wearing. EAR limited himself to a strange habit when he struck apartments or had parked at them and struck a house or duplex nearby. He wore a nylon stocking and a ski cap over it. In the apartment in Davis, his first (and only official) attack in an apartment, he didn’t use a gun either, only a screwdriver or nail file. In this case here in La Riviera the rapist only used a knife. When it was a young woman alone he raped them in their own bed; a mother with children or with a husband he took to another room. In this case, the rapist raped the girl in her own bed.

     This was indeed EAR territory. He had struck here west of Watt and now these apartments east of Watt were connected by the same levee walk, bike trail and everything else. Strange a “copy cat” should copy everything. If only we had a description of what the rapist looked like.

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