GUILTY TX - Billy Joe Harris for rapes of elderly women in 6 counties, 2011

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Filly said:
Why do they do that? Same here in Philly, jenny. They'll give descriptions right down to the guy had a wart on his finger, but not what race he is.

Surely LE has a reason for it.

Iz, if LE looks at posts here they're going to call you for a job. LOL You rock with your information and have empathy as well.

Excuse my ignorance, but who steals a clock? Honestly. TV, DVD, all kinds of electronics, games. A clock? One that can be tracked down as well. I'm betting it will be in someone's yard sale or a flea market.
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bouncing off your post, Filly

When I first started following this story this is what they were reporting

The victims, disoriented and in the dark—sometimes without needed glasses—give descriptions that range from white to black to tall to short.

http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/01/22/texas-serial-rapist-targets-elderly-women/

That info is from a recent article but that's what I heard almost 2 months ago....It wasn't until October last year when they started recognizing they could have a serial rapist on their hands.

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/65350007.html

http://www.crimeanalystblog.net/2009/10/law-officers-meet-on-serial-rapist.html

As far as a description of the perp, IMO, they are hampered by several things: attacked in the dark, poor eyesight, may be on medication that affects their memory, cross-racial identification is more difficult, vics w/ PTSD, etc.

I can only guess that their current vague description (thin, young and dark-skinned man who is between 5 1/2- & 6-feet tall) was taken from the survivors who weren't affected by the most 'issues' or were the most certain of what they'd seen....even the lady who scared the "intruder" off with the gun may not have seen him - LE may have linked him because he cut the phone line & removed the porch light in the early morning hours.

Just more speculating on my part as I think if they had enough to put together a sketch they were comfortable w/ releasing, they'd do it.

OH - I went back to re-read some stuff & I found a loose timeline here ( http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/79225272.html ) :

The first attack was on Jan. 23 (2009) in Yoakum where a 66-year-old woman was raped and robbed of $12,000.

In Central Texas, a woman was raped in July in Leon County.

In August, a woman in her early 90s was attacked and robbed in rural Bell County.

Another attack was reported on Sept. 5 in Leon County.

On Sept. 11, a 90-year-old woman was raped in Bell County.

The next day, a woman in Leon County reported that burglar bars had been removed from her home.

On Oct. 10, an elderly woman was attacked in her home just outside of Marlin in Falls County.

Two weeks later, an elderly woman in Leon County heard an intruder in her home, grabbed a gun and scared off the would-be attacker.

Another attack was reported on Nov. 9 in Yoakum.

The latest incident happened involved a break-in and attempted sexual assault on Nov. 24 in Luling.
 
Someone was wondering about any events involving clubs in Lubbock over last weekend when the attack happened. Monday was Martin Luther King day and there were events going on around town. The guy has probably been here awhile, but maybe he attended the MLK events. I really hope all the school teachers, principals, preachers, etc. are looking at the atm pic just in case he may have gone to middle and high school here in Lubbock. Also, we do have a Ross store here that sells the hip hop type clothes. Also, I wonder if the lady who was attacked twice is the one who lived in the retirement village? Since she moved across town and was attacked again 9 mos. later, she could have just moved into another retirement village, one that is based on income.
 
txsvicki said:
Someone was wondering about any events involving clubs in Lubbock over last weekend when the attack happened. Monday was Martin Luther King day and there were events going on around town. The guy has probably been here awhile, but maybe he attended the MLK events. I really hope all the school teachers, principals, preachers, etc. are looking at the atm pic just in case he may have gone to middle and high school here in Lubbock. Also, we do have a Ross store here that sells the hip hop type clothes. Also, I wonder if the lady who was attacked twice is the one who lived in the retirement village? Since she moved across town and was attacked again 9 mos. later, she could have just moved into another retirement village, one that is based on income.
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Good thinking about MLK - I had to work so totally forgot about that....but maybe the perp had himself a long weekend (provided he has a job) so that's why he took a trip to Lubbock.

The retirement village survivor was in Luling....

Just across the interstate in Luling, where the last attack occurred in November, a neighbor said it's no coincidence the victim was the only woman in his retirement village with a job.

http://www.theeagle.com/texas/Serial-rapist-has-elderly-terrified

the lady who was attacked 2X was in Yoakum.

Investigators consider Yoakum, a farming town once considered the “Tomato Capital of South-Central Texas,” to be ground zero. The first assault occurred here in January, and two others have since followed.

Last month, one victim was assaulted a second time, even after police relocated her to another part of town.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/state/Rapes_mean_that_when_sun_goes_down_fear_goes_up.html

ETA: adding this as it has info new to the thread

BRYAN (November 12, 2009)--It's a woman's worst nightmare: becoming the victim of a sexual assault. Now, Texas Department of Public Safety Investigators are looking into the possibility that a serial rapist may have targeted the same woman twice.

Yoakum Police said the assault happened early Monday morning [Nov.9th?]. The same woman was targeted in January by a man authorities believe is responsible for eight attacks on elderly women who live alone in Central and South Texas.

http://www.kwtx.com/statenews/headlines/69848782.html
 
Texas Mist said:
found another article with interesting info:

* the perp has beaten a vic
* the perp may have called a potential vic on the phone to see if she would be home that night (she didn't stay home) - a man called the next day laughing
* perp stole mounted deer heads and a clock from a vic

http://news8austin.com/content/your_news/?SecID=278&ArID=256516
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How scary and chilling. I hope he doesn't escalate into killing. Stealing mounted deer heads is so crazy. What on earth would he want with something like that.
 
I just finished reading the whole document submitted to the Justice Dept. concerning elder rape and sexual abuse. A lot of interesting details and correlations with child rapists. One thing I noted is that the women with the greatest deal of dementia or physical disability are the least likely to be beaten or bound. Those with dementia also "seemingly" suffer the least mental trauma compared to their physical injuries. The writers, thankfully, do include the issue that trauma is implanted in the brain whether we process it or not.

I didn't see a thing about "organized rapists" but there are several types described. There does seem to an escalation and a direct connection with childhood and adult impulsivity and anger. Sexual paraphilia is sometimes a factor and sometimes not. There wasn't much about the taking of "trophies" but in a case study, one rapist does take the sheets. I imagine that could be evidence collection, though. There was a lot of discussion of how much more prevalent this crime is and the problem of reporting. It is opined that this is due to a great hesitancy on the part of the victims due to shame.

Elder abuse shares many factors with child abuse and the "measuring tools" used to assess the problem of recidivism, identifying types, and other issues seem to be modified "tools" taken from that criminal field rather than rape within one's peer group. It's a very sad but instructive tool.
 
Mounted deer heads? That's really outrageous. How many of those can he keep in his car? I've spent days researching the taking of the clocks. I've looked at all sorts of symbolism, etc. but I just don't see our rapist being that deep. Maybe.....but deer heads? Can you pawn a deer head? How in the heck do I research that?

That's not difficult to analyze the symbolism, now is it? They're already recognized, by most of society (I'm a vegetarian...bet you saw that one coming), as being the ultimate trophy. And how tacky we find it for a man to display one that he didn't actually bag.

So, he's "stopping time" and "taking another man's trophy"? Wouldn't most (certainly not all) women who have trophies displayed in their homes have men involved in their lives (sons, recently deceased husbands) and guns? I lived in Central Texas and knew lots of women who hunted but never met one who was single who displayed trophies.

No wonder the Rangers must be working overtime. The most frightening thing of all is that he hasn't been caught with his weird behaviors. We do know that one LEO described the women as being "frail....tiny little things" but then we read of one with a job. I'm getting the feeling that without knowing more about the victims; race, level of disability, size, social standing, past/current employment, church affiliation, we're not going to be able to learn more about this guy.



I considered the MLK holiday but still didn't find any on-line description of hip-hop events at all that weekend. Maybe Txsvicki could check into this. It would also be helpful to know where the ATM is in correlation to the hip-hop clubs. I still think that the guy in the ATM is either not our guy or is our guy in a "disguise".

Another thing we haven't looked at is a car or truck. I'm thinking this guy comes across as relatively mainstream and conservative. He's not raising the eyebrows of citizens or LE. I can say this next comment as I'm the mom of five black sons and two black daughters. (I don't get to play the "race card" often!!) but I think he comes across as a "nice light-skinned black young man". He's not scary, threatening, thuggy, or a poser and doesn't make a blip in the radar. His car probably isn't a plain unadorned clean Kia but it's also probably not a tricked up "ride". Either would stand out. He's fading somewhere into the middle. I wonder if he's got a baby seat in the back seat just to look more normal?

One thought I had is that possibly this guy has experience working with elders ie. as a caregiver or informally for an elder female relative. That element comes up frequently in the document about elder abuse.

Filly, let me know if you find me a job. I love you guys dearly but I do get bored in this bed with just Chihuahuas and Poodles to keep me company researching hip-hop clubs in Lubbock and the symbolism of stealing clocks!! I'd love an honest to goodness job. Keep me posted on that one.

And my take on the lack of race listed in the descriptions is 1) they don't have a reliable description and 2) they don't want anyone dismissing a man due to his race--he could be many different ethnicities from Samoan to Middle Eastern to Hmong. I think they don't want everyone hanging up on "black man" and 3) the media's fear of profiling (which to me is ridiculous--like not mentioning that a female thief is in a wheelchair). My guess is that he's of mixed race.

And he's gonna be a heck of a trophy himself, for whomever captures him.
 
Filly said:
Why do they do that? Same here in Philly, jenny. They'll give descriptions right down to the guy had a wart on his finger, but not what race he is.

Surely LE has a reason for it.

Iz, if LE looks at posts here they're going to call you for a job. LOL You rock with your information and have empathy as well.

Excuse my ignorance, but who steals a clock? Honestly. TV, DVD, all kinds of electronics, games. A clock? One that can be tracked down as well. I'm betting it will be in someone's yard sale or a flea market.
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What would be a reason except trying to be PC?
 
So I just checked and the man stole "mounted deer heads from another home". I was thinking one per home. Multiple deer heads? In small Texas towns, a young man is walking out of an old lady's house at 4 am with mounted deer HEADS? People don't get small racks mounted, typically. A trophy rack is not a small memento for masturbatory purposes. It is also not an easy thing to transport nor easy to pawn in this economy. I can't think of anything more unwieldy, actually. Whatever happened to the more common piece of jewelry or underwear as a trophy? Is this not moving into the surreal?

We've got to get serious and dig digger. OK, folks--so who could walk out of a woman's house with these items in the early morning hours and not get shot by a neighbor? Unless he's only in the homes of dark-skinned women and could be confused for a grandson helping move stuff for his grandma, I just can't buy this. Some neighbor, sitting in his living room having an early morning cup of coffee who sees a dark skinned young man walking out of Ms. Bessie's (the sweet little German lady down the street who lost Walter last year) backyard is NOT going to say hmmm to himself.

I know Texans.
 
Hospice care worker. They come and go at all hours and often bring items into and out of houses (not deer heads but maybe he wrapped it in a blanket or put it in a box). My Daddy passed last year in Liberty Hill and he had male and female hospice workers in and out of his house throughout the day and night. There was a change of shift around 6 am, I believe, in the last two weeks. They often transported oxygen tanks or IV poles, etc. That's one of the few people who I think could move without much notice in a neighborhood where he might not "fit in" otherwise. Still, if the husband had just passed, people would be concerned. It would probably only work once in an area (doing some follow-up or removing some medical equipment) but that's all he's needed.
 
I found a Myspace page for a young black man using a clock related screen name out of Dallas. I was going to discount it except for the fact that there's a photo which he's taken of himself which is in a SPOTLESS bedroom with a clock behind him. He last posted in May 2009. I don't see any rapes reported around then. He's definitely a dark skinned black man, though, and dressed very "fresh". There's actually something kind of sad about his Myspace....he doesn't have many friends and seems like a loner. He looks to have a younger brother. He seems to like tagging (another lone act) and says he's Christian and doesn't drink or smoke.
 
I imagine the lady attacked in Lubbock was Caucasian. In that neighborhood an elderly woman living alone and if a home owner would most likely be Caucasian. This guy could have a girlfriend or female relative who does home health care or work for the agency that sends in someone to do housework for the elderly a few days per week. If he does though, the lady must change jobs quite a bit since some of the central Texas attacks were pretty far apart.
 
Missizzy said:
So I just checked and the man stole "mounted deer heads from another home". I was thinking one per home. Multiple deer heads? In small Texas towns, a young man is walking out of an old lady's house at 4 am with mounted deer HEADS? People don't get small racks mounted, typically. A trophy rack is not a small memento for masturbatory purposes. It is also not an easy thing to transport nor easy to pawn in this economy. I can't think of anything more unwieldy, actually. Whatever happened to the more common piece of jewelry or underwear as a trophy? Is this not moving into the surreal?

We've got to get serious and dig digger. OK, folks--so who could walk out of a woman's house with these items in the early morning hours and not get shot by a neighbor? Unless he's only in the homes of dark-skinned women and could be confused for a grandson helping move stuff for his grandma, I just can't buy this. Some neighbor, sitting in his living room having an early morning cup of coffee who sees a dark skinned young man walking out of Ms. Bessie's (the sweet little German lady down the street who lost Walter last year) backyard is NOT going to say hmmm to himself.

I know Texans.
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You're right about the mounted deer heads....Nobody I know mounts one less than 8 points....I thought the clock thieving was weird but this deer head thing is beyond that! :eek:

The first thing I thought of was that he stole it to explain his absence over a weekend - if he has a 'romantic relationship' that he has to answer to....coulda lied about being out of town, saying he was deer hunting with his buddies - comes back after another weekend "at the deer lease" & voila - the taxidermist did a great job.

I also thought about his selling it on ebay or craigslist....but I've not read about serial rapists/killers selling their trophies....giving jewelry to their 'romantic relationships' yes...I'm pretty sure I saw one give a clock to his wife/girlfriend on a true crime show...that's how they busted him because there were pics of him in his apartment with the clock missing from the vic's home.

NEhoo - not a lotta money in one on craigslist from what I've found, and even less at a pawn shop.

3nf3kb3p65Ob5Te5R6a1lda1d09d5062e11c2.jpg


http://easttexas.craigslist.org/spo/1564453590.html

Maybe he has a bar he hangs out at & is giving it to the owner so he can "enjoy" his trophy while he sips a cold one - creeps like this like to ingratiate themselves in wicked ways....I'll never look at a mounted deer head the same again, MissIzzy!!

Not to mention like you said, hauling the thing around....anybody who saw it would be asking questions - especially if he's *not* a hunter.

Baffling.

Oh, as far as the "organized" serial rapist, I think that's more of an FBI/LE term than psych term - which is why it's not mentioned in that .PDF you found...I read it thru -- good info.

I also read thru some old info by Robert Hazelwood - it's interesting too, but some of it seems to contradict the CenTex perp.

http://www.holysmoke.org/fem/fem0126.htm

I'd bet this info has changed since 1990 - still looking for updated info.
 
O/T but I think pertinent. Years ago, one of my sons with severe mental illness, went to an alternative school for middle school. I got a call one day from one of his teachers, his "favorite" teacher. She wanted to tell me that I had the most thoughtful young man for a son. I thanked her and agreed that he certainly was charming.

She went on to tell me that he'd been giving her little presents which he told her he found at thrift stores (a family passion). I was confused as we always watched what children purchased and I couldn't figure out what items she was referring to. She went on to tell me that she'd shared with the kids that she was Native American and that she had just lost her Dad. Our son showed up a few days later with these tiny leather moccasins attached to a little card which talked about a person's journey through life.

I distinctly remember feeling sicker by the minute as she went on. She then said that he'd found some silver dove earrings at Goodwill. He gave her both, telling her that the moccasins were symbolic in her journey after losing her Dad and the earrings signified her gentleness. He even wrote a long flowery poem to go with the earrings.

The only problem is that they were mine. Mine. The moccasins were brought back to me by my parents after a trip through the southwest in the late 50's and still had the .29 price tag on them. The earrings were right out of my jewelry box and from the 70's. I felt so violated. I got the items back, even after our son argued insanely about how he "really did get them from the store and we just didn't see". To this day, they seem smarmy. I'm sure the teacher felt the same way. We don't have to worry about this young man right now as he's doing time in Salem.

But I do understand trophies and the sick stories surrounding them. But deer heads, for God's sake. Texas Mist, if this weren't so tragic and frightening, I'm afraid I'd think I'd had too many meds.
 
The guy could have sold the deer heads and clocks to people who might want them for their home or office, but surely that would be very risky if he sold them anywhere near the areas of the attacks. I looked up stolen deer heads, and mounted deer heads and some are worth up to $2,000. I found a Dallas craiglist ad selling a 16 pt. for $2,000 dated 1-10-10, but when I clicked on it saw "flagged for removal".
 
Txsvicki--Yes some really fine ones can go for that much but I found that most sell for, at most, a couple hundred bucks. I checked some pawn shop sites in Texas and they're not buying right now--I guess due to the economy. If he stole $12,000 in cash from a woman, why would he want to steal a deer head? He might as well steal a new Barca-lounger. And if you were casing a home for a possible rape, wouldn't you be a little put off by mounted deer heads? Isn't that an indication that the person most likely has a gun and knows how to use it?

I'm getting the distinct impression that most, if not all, of these women are frail older white women. I think that the Texas LE is proceeding cautiously as this case could incite some vigilantism. Every video or photos I've looked at seem to be in the "white" parts of town. Many of these towns are very old and established and have distinct neighborhoods. The older people tend to socialize within their own racial groups--the same with churches. It's totally unlike urban churches or clubs where there can be more diversity. I watched the video of the woman at the Yoakum Heritage Center and I have a hard time believing that an older Latino or black woman would be an active member.

I do think that there is a possibility that he's a hanger-on with someone who does home health care or cleaning but the time frame is odd. I think if he did that, someone would turn him in. I also cannot see this man with a girlfriend after what I read in the profiling document.

Has anyone in Texas heard if they're getting many tips about this guy? Surely, he's stopped to buy gas or a Coke nearby. I've read that he cases the houses and often breaks and enters first and then goes back for the rape. So he must be nearby for a day or so, at least.

Can anyone with a long history of watching these rape stories unfold tell me if this is typical to release so little info. I would be going nuts if I was in Texas right now. How are they hoping to jog people's memories or have people on the look-out with a single sentence of a description and some bizarre details?
 
Missizzy said:
Txsvicki--Yes some really fine ones can go for that much but I found that most sell for, at most, a couple hundred bucks. I checked some pawn shop sites in Texas and they're not buying right now--I guess due to the economy. If he stole $12,000 in cash from a woman, why would he want to steal a deer head? He might as well steal a new Barca-lounger. And if you were casing a home for a possible rape, wouldn't you be a little put off by mounted deer heads? Isn't that an indication that the person most likely has a gun and knows how to use it?

I'm getting the distinct impression that most, if not all, of these women are frail older white women. I think that the Texas LE is proceeding cautiously as this case could incite some vigilantism. Every video or photos I've looked at seem to be in the "white" parts of town. Many of these towns are very old and established and have distinct neighborhoods. The older people tend to socialize within their own racial groups--the same with churches. It's totally unlike urban churches or clubs where there can be more diversity. I watched the video of the woman at the Yoakum Heritage Center and I have a hard time believing that an older Latino or black woman would be an active member.

I do think that there is a possibility that he's a hanger-on with someone who does home health care or cleaning but the time frame is odd. I think if he did that, someone would turn him in. I also cannot see this man with a girlfriend after what I read in the profiling document.

Has anyone in Texas heard if they're getting many tips about this guy? Surely, he's stopped to buy gas or a Coke nearby. I've read that he cases the houses and often breaks and enters first and then goes back for the rape. So he must be nearby for a day or so, at least.

Can anyone with a long history of watching these rape stories unfold tell me if this is typical to release so little info. I would be going nuts if I was in Texas right now. How are they hoping to jog people's memories or have people on the look-out with a single sentence of a description and some bizarre details?
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ITA about the women's races, MissIzzy, for the reasons you stated.

As far as serial rapists & little info, yes - its happened in Austin...I distinctly remember when there was a suspected serial rapist attacking women in north Austin in their apartments....one reason it sticks in my mind is because the attacks started when there was new construction going on just off Metric Blvd - and ended when the construction ended....I don't recall there ever being a description because I would have been watching for the .

I *do* recall there being lawsuits & thereafter all apartments in Austin had to supply locks for sliding patio doors...this rapist was climbing up to the 2nd floor & coming in via the patio doors.

He was never caught...IMO, he moved on when the construction ended.

ETA: here's a link to a SR in CA where they didn't get a description for *years*

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15739551/
 
Years ago, We had a serial rapist of young women here who would break and enter first then go back later to rape. He was finally caught, but the local LE didn't tell the public this MO. My mother lived in the complex when her next door neighbor was attacked, and the apt. managers are the ones who finally told the residents about the MO. I hope Lubbock doesn't clam up about this. Does anyone know why a rapist would break and enter first then go back later to attack? I don't understand it. Seems like breaking and entering first could cause the home owner to be even more alert, get a dog, gun, or alarm system installed.
 
A couple of interesting passages from the Hazelwood report:


"Low levels of pleasure were reported by the rapists from the sexual acts..."

"Interestingly, however, the degree of the rapists' pleasure and the duration of the rape did increase when the victim resisted."

The serial rapists were also asked about changes in their behavior following their assaults. The most frequent changes after each of the crimes included feeling remorseful and guilty (44-51%), following the case in the media (28%) and an increase in alcohol/drug consumption (20-27%). Investigators should also particularly note that 12-15% of rapists reported revisiting the crime scene and 8-13% communicated with the victim after the crime."

"The rapists tended not to be concerned with precautionary measures to protect their identities..."



Quite simply, this tells me that the rapist doens't get a lot of sexual pleasure out of a rape. Is this why he becomes a serial rapist...seeking greater pleasure? However, if the victim resisted in some way, his pleasure level went up.

I was surprised about the post-rape behavior. I would think that several days or weeks would be needed to assuage the guilt. I wonder if he's going to church or AA to deal with the extra drinking and possible remorse from that?

And notice that they are cocky. They don't get caught so they just keep on a raping. If you read that story I posted earlier about the Baytown rapist who preyed on young men, you'll know just how bold he was. The only way he got caught is that one of his victims saw him out in public and pursued him. I really think we've got to pray for a miracle. Somebody's gonna see our guy.
 
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