CA CA - East Area Rapist aka The Original Night Stalker 1976-86

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I live in Sacramento and definitely remember this case. There was a strong rumor (repeat, RUMOR) that the EAR was actually someone in law enforcement who was involved in the investigation. I usually would completely dismiss this idea, but an interesting dynamic is in play with this case - retired local LE who were active while this was ongoing get very confrontational when the case is mentioned in casual conversation. One retired officer told one person, "Do not look into that case - Leave it alone." I find that reaction odd, to say the least.

I do know one citizen who believes to this day that he observed the EAR. The man he says is the EAR was a collector for subscribers to the Sacramento Union, a daily afternoon paper that since folded (and has recently been ressurected as a weekly newpaper). He passed this information to the lead detective on the case, but the detective was killed on-duty about a week later during an unrelated case. The witness does not know if his information ever made it into the case file or if his suspect ever was investigated. He cannot get anyone currently active on this case to verify that they have his info, but they also do not seem that interested in agressively investigating it either.

The sad fact is that Sacramento LE failed to catch this guy and that he "graduated" into a full-fledged serial killer. I do not think that they want to find this guy - they just want everyone to forget about it. Capturing him today will only point out their past failure.

Pardon me for quoting myself, but I wanted to update my current opinions on the case and what I posted above in particular.

The above story concerning the retired cop saying "Leave it alone" did happen, but there is also the strong possibilty that this was merely someone in LE showing disdain for an amatuer sleuth. There are other, less sinister and perectly logical, explainations for this reaction beyond my speculation of a conspiracy.

The tip concerning EAR being a paper collector is probably bogus. It turns out that the detective who the tipster claims was killed a week after he spoke to him had, in fact, been murdered two years prior to the beginning of the EAR rapes. The story does not add up.

I just wanted to bring this info current because I have been recently asked about the original post and just want everyone to know the present status.
 
I am very much interested in this case, I cannot understand how I never heard of it??
The other day I was ill, and having hours to spend I checked old newspaperarchives.
The police gave a statement ... sometime... giving the guys stats etc... saying, he never attacked a woman with a man, or anyone else in the house. I kind of went yeeeah, and looked at the dates at the website that has been mentioned here... and sure enough, his next attack was one week later and then he started adding men to the mix... I can post the article, I saved them all, and you can check the dates yourself, it's scary! I think he was very aware of what was going on. I did find several dates for meetings but none that could match the guy who was attacked after going to one??
How come this case is not written about all over??? It should be. I don't think he died...
 
Here. March 26, 1977:
"The attacks are at home where no man is present."


He next attacked April 2, about a week later, and from then on men would be present almost every time.

I don't think he was a loner, I think he was very much involved with his community. And blended in.
 
I think it's really telling that when it is pointed out that the rapist only attacks women who are alone - BANG - he attacks women who are NOT alone. Also, the guy who speaks up at the community meeting about how he couldn't believe that men couldn't protect their wives/girlfriends from being assaulted by EAR/ONS ends up being the next victim (along with his wife).

I wonder if EAR/ONS had a parent who constantly told him he wouldn't be able to do this or that, and later in life there became this need on his part to prove, in a completely sick way, that he could do anything he set his mind to.

EAR/ONS might have some serious mommy issues. :twocents:

Part of me wonders if EAR/ONS has been chillin' in a Cali. prison for a long time, and just hasn't had his DNA drawn/tested yet.
 
Anyone know if Codis and/or any other DNA database searches outside of the United States, such as Canada?
 
This has been one of my 'pet' interests for a long time but obviously I am slacking as I am just reading about this development. I am so glad to see EAR/ONS getting back into the news, generating new leads, etc.

http://crimevoice.com/dna-begins-to-thaw-night-stalker-case-5654/

This article states the Sanchez's were house-sitting for their friends and didn't actually live in this house - interesting.

It was speculated above how LE was sure the voice on the phone calls and answering machines were really EAR/ONS - I believe the victims positively indentified the voice as the one they heard during the rapes. Also, I doubt the women's names were released publicly so it seems doubtful it could be a prank considering these women were specifically targeted by the caller. It is so creepy.

The following from your link.
And if it has already been mentioned
then just disregard this posting.

From your link.
Cheri Domingo, 35, and Gregory Sanchez, 27, were murdered while house-sitting for friends in Goleta just 18 months after Robert Offerman, 44, and Alexandria Manning, 35, were victims in another double murder in the same community. The two double-murders took place in the middle of a rash of residential burglaries between 1979 and 1981, none of which ever produced viable evidence establishing a connection between the two double murders or between any other crimes.

I wonder if these two couples knew one another?


If LE was here to answer questions.
I would ask them the above question and the one
to follow.

I would ask them if they asked the owners of the house
the couple were setting for. Whom all they told they were leaving the house for whatever reason and were going to have friends stay in the house while they were gone.

For a reason, I am speculating only of course.

That the killer may-have known through chatting with the owners that they would be leaving.
And also knew whom would be staying there while they were
away. How long (day,days) had they been setting at the house before they
were murdered?

Add on...
I believe for now, until told otherwise.
That the burglaries that were committed was done so
to draw attention away from the murders.
Another-words.
The burglaries were committed to give the impression that
the person that committed the murders was done by a burglar.
But the main MO were the murders themselves.

Not implying the murders and burglaries were committed by the same person.
If no DNA match. It could have been the killer was choosing this area where there
had been
burglaries before the murders. If LE could answer that question it would be helpful.
Did the
burglaries occur before the murders or after or even during the time between the murders of the two couples
in the same community?
 
I think ear/ons started as the "ransacker". A guy who broke into homes went through pictures, clothes, and personal items. He later raped, then murdered. The ransacker did actually kill the father of a girl he tried to take out of the home and also shot a cop. I believe he trolled areas looking in windows and also followed women and girls home, later attacking them. He moved around enough to not get caught.
 
As I do every so often, typically on weekends while watching the kids, I peruse the web looking for new info on EAR/ONS. This weekend I came across a rather interesting tidbit. It appears there is an independent film being made about the life (and death) of EAR/ONS last known victim, Janelle Cruz.

More information can be found here: Bird with a Broken Wing

The teaser trailer (showing actual home movies) really does humanize Ms. Cruz in a way that truly touched me. I'm not sure if this film will get any kind of film festival release or if it's straight to DVD or what. Hard to tell. {edit: it appears that the director is seeking financing}

Inspired by finding this bit of news, I went looking for something on the web (anything really) about the Janelle Cruz homicide. And found this.

Perhaps the most compelling account I came across in the old forums was [allegedly] posted by the boyfriend of Janelle Cruz at the time of her death.

His post reported of an encounter with Janelle at a neighborhood pool approximately a week before death. He wrote of the presence of another man at the swimming pool whose gaze upon Janelle had a "sexually predatory" manner about it, and how the man offered to drop by her home to show her some kittens for the purpose of her possibly adopting them.

If this account is correct, the probability is good that the "kitten man" was EAR-ONS.

Now, it would seem that the filmmaker behind Bird With A Broken Wing had intimate access to the footage used for the teaser trailer. So perhaps he knows of the person that is behind the information from the above quote or would have access to her family and be able to deduce who was close to her and may have witnessed this incident.

Two things I have read in the last year that really piqued my interest back into this case:

1. A law enforcement official (I think from Contra Costa) said they were looking into the possibility of the common link to many of the early rapes was one of the local hospitals. That some of the victims had worked/stayed or knew of someone that worked/stayed there. Something like that, I probably don't have my facts 100% on that.

2. This tidbit about the man that was ogling Ms. Cruz by the pool in her neighborhood shortly before her murder.

This case is solvable. Now, whether or not EAR/ONS is dead or not, who knows. But, someone out there holds the key to this.
 
I think ear/ons started as the "ransacker". A guy who broke into homes went through pictures, clothes, and personal items. He later raped, then murdered. The ransacker did actually kill the father of a girl he tried to take out of the home and also shot a cop. I believe he trolled areas looking in windows and also followed women and girls home, later attacking them. He moved around enough to not get caught.


Yes, it is a prevailing theory EAR/ONS was also the Ransacker although I am not sure if it has been proven through forensics or not. Either way, it seems pretty plausible EAR/ONS and the Ransacker were the same person. That is partly what makes this person so interesting. You can really see the evolution of a person becoming a killer, he starts out small with breaking into people's houses and continues to escalate from there as his confidence grows.
 
As I do every so often, typically on weekends while watching the kids, I peruse the web looking for new info on EAR/ONS. This weekend I came across a rather interesting tidbit. It appears there is an independent film being made about the life (and death) of EAR/ONS last known victim, Janelle Cruz.

More information can be found here: Bird with a Broken Wing

The teaser trailer (showing actual home movies) really does humanize Ms. Cruz in a way that truly touched me. I'm not sure if this film will get any kind of film festival release or if it's straight to DVD or what. Hard to tell. {edit: it appears that the director is seeking financing}

Inspired by finding this bit of news, I went looking for something on the web (anything really) about the Janelle Cruz homicide. And found this.



Now, it would seem that the filmmaker behind Bird With A Broken Wing had intimate access to the footage used for the teaser trailer. So perhaps he knows of the person that is behind the information from the above quote or would have access to her family and be able to deduce who was close to her and may have witnessed this incident.

Two things I have read in the last year that really piqued my interest back into this case:

1. A law enforcement official (I think from Contra Costa) said they were looking into the possibility of the common link to many of the early rapes was one of the local hospitals. That some of the victims had worked/stayed or knew of someone that worked/stayed there. Something like that, I probably don't have my facts 100% on that.

2. This tidbit about the man that was ogling Ms. Cruz by the pool in her neighborhood shortly before her murder.

This case is solvable. Now, whether or not EAR/ONS is dead or not, who knows. But, someone out there holds the key to this.

The closest community pool to Janelle Cruz's house on Encina in Irvine appears to be at Retozo and Allegria. Something else that struck me as suspicious regarding the kitten story -- last year, my cat (Amber) had kittens. There is no way I would have been toting the babies around to find homes; everyone who looked at them came to my place (in the end, my neighbor adopted 2, my parents adopted 2, and I kept 2). This just sounds weird (like an excuse to get her address). Was LE notified about it at the time of her murder? Was the community pool one that you needed a community key to access?

I noticed a medical connection between the murder of Keith and Patrice Harrington (he was a med student and she was a nurse) and Manuela Withuhn (her husband was in the hospital on the night she was murdered. It would be interesting to know what the earlier medical connection was in Northern California (and see if any of the staff worked in Northern California then began working in Southern California).
 
Did I read that this guy brought a German Shepherd to some of his crimes? Did people there have to register their dogs in the locality they lived in back then? Did investigators pour through those records for everyone who owned one of those dogs in the different cities there?

Walking a dog late at night is the perfect excuse for being on the streets at 3 or 4 in the morning. Brilliant move by this evil man.
 
hmmm......German Shepherd, possibly a Police Dog?

This case is weird in the fact its not well known. Yet its even more compelling than say the Richard Ramirez case. Maybe even more than the Zodiac case.
 
There was a guy caught for beating women in bedrooms, they called him the bedroom basher - https://sites.google.com/site/jjmcgr/bedroombasher

He worked at El Toro air base - Notice the emblem of the base (a Bull)
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Corps_Air_Station_El_Toro"]Marine Corps Air Station El Toro - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

Could our ONS also have worked there too and that the tattoo is from the airbase insignia.

He could also have been be in the Military police and that's where the Alsation dog was from.
 
Has anyone read that entire story? The one linked has chapter 25 and I've searched the Web site several times looking for the rest. It pulls up certain chapters, but I've been unable to locate all of them.

Has anybody else tried this with success?

The Ventura County Star ran an extensive series in November 2002 about the murders of Lyman and Charlene Smith (I think this is what you are referring to). I don’t think there is a link to read the entire story continuously, so here it is chapter by chapter –

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/12/whos-who-in-the-smith-murder-case/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/03/chapter-1-between-the-sea-and-the-stars/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/04/chapter-2-the-two-charlenes/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/05/chapter-3-terrible-memories/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/06/chapter-4-welcome-to-homicide/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/07/chapter-5-the-stuff-of-black-binders/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/08/chapter-6-the-partner/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/09/chapter-7-the-boyfriend/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/10/chapter-8-those-things-that-abideth/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/11/chapter-9-the-biggest-bull-shippers/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/12/chapter-10-everyone-has-a-theory/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/13/chapter-11-this-is-so-dragnet/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/14/chapter-12-better-than-any-mall/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/15/chapter-13-between-this-man-and-his-god/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/16/chapter-14-one-day-in-may/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/17/chapter-15-the-big-bad-wolfe/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/18/chapter-16-the-waivers/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/19/chapter-17-the-cul-de-sac-killer/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/20/chapter-18-street-justice/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/21/chapter-19-the-odd-couple/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/22/chapter-20-the-people-vs-alsip/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/23/chapter-21-the-accused-takes-the-stand/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/24/chapter-22-the-quiet-man/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/25/chapter-23-the-dead-zone/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/26/chapter-24-the-missing-link/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/27/chapter-25-the-dragons-lair/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/28/chapter-26-waiting-for-a-phone-call/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/28/do-you-know-the-original-night-stalker/

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2002/nov/28/where-are-they-now/
 
There was a guy caught for beating women in bedrooms, they called him the bedroom basher - https://sites.google.com/site/jjmcgr/bedroombasher

He worked at El Toro air base - Notice the emblem of the base (a Bull)
Marine Corps Air Station El Toro - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Could our ONS also have worked there too and that the tattoo is from the airbase insignia.

He could also have been be in the Military police and that's where the Alsation dog was from.

Speaking of Gerald Parker, at the time he was active as a serial killer, there was a sketch released (which is obviously not Mr. Parker) of a suspect who was going into women's homes in Orange County and raping and bludgeoning them. It is possible that this person could be linked to the EAR-ONS cases.

IrvineSketch-large-crop-0.13-0.11-0.94-0.89.jpg

https://sites.google.com/site/jjmcgr/theirvinesketch
More about the sketch -- http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=e1EfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GNIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1030,3460799&hl=en
 
Wow, okay... I knew that the EAR had been tied to some southern Cali murders, but I didn't know the extent of it.

I was born and raised in east Sac-- I attended American River College and Sac State, I lived in neighborhoods that back up to creeks and pastures, and the rivers. I was completely terrorized by the East Area Rapist and in fact, to this day he never leaves my consciousness entirely: I was weaned from security on his crime spree here, which happened to correlate with a few others that went on to be notorious-- Lawrence Singleton's attack on Mary Vincent (1978) stopped my hitchhiking, Richard Chase's killing spree (1977) happened within blocks of me and I had friends who went to high school with him, and then the long terror inspiring era of the EAR just spun my home town into a distrustful, frightened, and confusing place.


Just a theory here, but he sounds like he switched to an almost BTK style of killings after his raping days were done. This is an escalating style of killer and I don't think he would have stopped. The theory that he is dead or incarcerated would seem the most sensible, but look at the BTK situation in Witchita, he was there all along. Hopefully there can be some closure to this case.

I don't think he's done, dead, or idle. I think this guy is around my age-- a mid-babyboomer. He's flexible and growing toward whatever his crime goals are. DNA is probably the only thing he's scared of, but in this age of metro-sexual mainstream men, I expect that he has very little hair, anywhere, and protects himself from distributing his DNA via a latex suit, a wetsuit, something that would hinder even skin cells from wafting off him. He may even be planting/framing another person for his crimes at this point.

I live in Sacramento and definitely remember this case. There was a strong rumor (repeat, RUMOR) that the EAR was actually someone in law enforcement who was involved in the investigation. I usually would completely dismiss this idea, but an interesting dynamic is in play with this case - retired local LE who were active while this was ongoing get very confrontational when the case is mentioned in casual conversation. One retired officer told one person, "Do not look into that case - Leave it alone." I find that reaction odd, to say the least.

I do know one citizen who believes to this day that he observed the EAR. The man he says is the EAR was a collector for subscribers to the Sacramento Union, a daily afternoon paper that since folded (and has recently been ressurected as a weekly newpaper). He passed this information to the lead detective on the case, but the detective was killed on-duty about a week later during an unrelated case. The witness does not know if his information ever made it into the case file or if his suspect ever was investigated. He cannot get anyone currently active on this case to verify that they have his info, but they also do not seem that interested in agressively investigating it either.

The sad fact is that Sacramento LE failed to catch this guy and that he "graduated" into a full-fledged serial killer. I do not think that they want to find this guy - they just want everyone to forget about it. Capturing him today will only point out their past failure.

Suspect Profile:
http://www.ear-ons.com/investigate7.html

I happen to think this potential is very real. He absolutely knew what his victims were up to, he knew the behind the scenes topography of the region, the pets in the neighborhoods did not alert to his presence, and he road a bike, fast.

Our creeks are not concrete-- I doubt any of them were in the 1970s. They are rustic little swaths of nature that meander from the foothills down to the rivers (there are two). They are situated so that they run behind homes as a natural back property line. Some people did actually put up fences, but most (in those days) left it natural, which equals not secure. Shortcuts were made along those creeks and rivers... "the back way" was commonly traveled by kids who grew up in the neighborhood. As a matter of fact, it was the EAR who put an end to using the creeks as thoroughfares-- you'd get yourself killed after he started his crimes.

If I recall, many of the rapes were committed in dwellings that backed onto dry concrete canals, and speculation was he used those canals as escape routes.

He definitely used the creek and river passages. And a bike (which would also fit a newspaper route-- but, I would guess it might be the morning paper, heck, or maybe both!)

I have been trying to read up on the AEtv board about this case and gather some information since I tend to obsess over this case. I'm really curious to know if there is a concensus about the age of EAR-ONS. When listening to that answering machine recording, it has always struck me that that voice sounds very young. Potentially meaning that EAR-ONS would have been no older than 17-18 when he began his crime spree. And maybe earlier if the Visalia ransacker is the same perp (and I believe he was).

That would mean that EAR-ONS is no older than his early 50's. There is still a very good chance of catching this guy. Which leads me to my next inquiry. It has been speculated by profiler or two that he is either dead or incarcerated for a lesser crime (than murder). Because he would be unable to stop. But I wonder, if he was silent for 6 years or more and then called an old victime in or around 1991 wouldn't that lend credence to the idea that he perhaps just stopped and wanted to do that for old times sake?

I guess my point is, I do not think he's dead or incarcerated. I believe that LE in California has probably scoured the books on similar profiles of inmates and done DNA tests etc all for nothing. Which makes me totally think he's out there, he regressed into suburbia. Which is terrifying. He's someone's neighbor, father.

The way to catch him is to keep the story out there. I have not doubt he still lives out there somewhere in Cali..he's there, just have to find him.

<<<shiver>>> I haven't explored the EAR-ONS site yet, and I'm not sure I want to hear his taunting message. Creeeepy.

I agree with you that the voice sounds like that of a younger man. Maybe this has been discussed already (I haven't looked at this case in a while), but how are the police so sure this caller is the real thing and not some teenage crank caller?
My feeling is that the ONS is a somewhat older and more experienced perp (at least late-20s, 30s, perhaps as old as 40s), because how else could he repeatedly be so successful in incapacitating a couple - a woman and a man? Surely one of the mature male victims in the ONS cases would have said to himself, "This is just a kid with a knife; I can take him out. I sure won't let him tie me up".

What I remember was the stacking of dishes on the men's backs. He'd remove them to the living area of the home, lay them on their stomachs, then stack glass plates and stuff on them and threaten to kill (I thought some homes had kids, but I may be wrong) the wife/other members of the house. No matter what, there was HUGE incentive for the man of the house to concentrate on breathing slowly and carefully.

It was a very successful tactic in that family oriented area.

Did I read that this guy brought a German Shepherd to some of his crimes? Did people there have to register their dogs in the locality they lived in back then? Did investigators pour through those records for everyone who owned one of those dogs in the different cities there?

Walking a dog late at night is the perfect excuse for being on the streets at 3 or 4 in the morning. Brilliant move by this evil man.

Oh man, I don't recall that in particular, but big dogs were the thang to have. Outside dogs got brought in, inside dogs were given the run of the house, little dogs slept with their mommies and daddies. It was terrible.

I have looked for information on this case a number of times throughout the years, and I'm so glad (though not surprised) to find this thread at WS. Also, I'd never heard the name the Original Night Stalker. This man may have a good decade or more that he could be criminally active. I absolutely believe he has honed his criminal craft to near perfection by this time. I'd like to see him caught...

:cool:

mo
 
Did I read that this guy brought a German Shepherd to some of his crimes? Did people there have to register their dogs in the locality they lived in back then? Did investigators pour through those records for everyone who owned one of those dogs in the different cities there?

Walking a dog late at night is the perfect excuse for being on the streets at 3 or 4 in the morning. Brilliant move by this evil man.


I don't know if the dogs have to be registered but I remember reading in the book Sudden Terror that the dog was a white german shepherd with a toe missing on one of his paws. The police were able to track down this dog and know who the owners were but still could not make a connection to a suspect. I don't know what to make of that. Was someone stealing the dog at night and using him as cover or a ruse? Or were the owners not being 100% straight with LE as to who would have access to their dog? Or another scenario entirely?
 
I don't know if the dogs have to be registered but I remember reading in the book Sudden Terror that the dog was a white german shepherd with a toe missing on one of his paws. The police were able to track down this dog and know who the owners were but still could not make a connection to a suspect. I don't know what to make of that. Was someone stealing the dog at night and using him as cover or a ruse? Or were the owners not being 100% straight with LE as to who would have access to their dog? Or another scenario entirely?


What page or area of the book did you read that? I am about 100 pages in and haven't seen it... that would be an incredible thing for them not to be involved or know who might be around to grab the dog... let alone the dog going along with the rapist.... that is odd enough.
 
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