The press conference began with Aurora Chief Nicholas Metz, who recognized the hard work and dedication of many investigators who worked this case over the years. Special recognition was given to Detective Steve Conner from the Major Crimes Unit who, incidentally was at the scene of the Bennett crime as a young deputy, and who has worked the case for many, many years. He was among many who worked the case tirelessly for many years and is directly responsible for using some of the innovative DNA technologies, such as the Parabon Nanolabs imaging that came out a few years ago. Recently, he was exploring forensic genealogy techniques. I didn’t hear it mentioned in the press conference, but forensic genealogist incidentally identified the correct surname of the alleged killer: “Ewing.” This information was released in an episode of “On the Case with Paula Zahn” earlier this year.

It was Colorado Bureau of Investigation Director John Camper who got to break the news to Aurora PD that there had been a DNA match. Camper reviewed the timeline that led to the arrest, which included a DNA profile from the Bennett case generated in 2001 and uploaded to CODIS (the national FBI DNA database), a profile developed from the Smith case is 2010 that matched the Bennett profile, and the strides that Nevada has made in testing their current prison population, which directly led to Ewing’s DNA being uploaded into CODIS. Camper explained that the CBI does a nightly check of all of their profiles against the CODIS system, and at that point, in early July, there was a match. Full cooperation from Nevada Law Enforcement led to a confirmation of the DNA match.

A day or two after receiving the DNA results, Law Enforcement met with victims and their family members. The press conference panel continually emphasized the destruction that this case has left on the lives of those affected. While closure and peace may be forever out of reach, the panelists hope for a sense of justice among those affected. They pledged to continue to support the families via their victim services organizations.

Lakewood Chief Dan McCasky was among those echoing those sentiments, and mentioned that the Smith family members will be releasing a statement later in the day.

George Brauchler, District Attorney for the 18th Judicial District (which includes Aurora), emphasized that this individual is presumed innocent until proven otherwise in a court of law. He reminded the public that “John Doe” warrants had been filed based on the DNA profile of the killer back in 2002, and mentioned that the “John Doe” charges have been updated to Alex Christopher Ewing’s name.

Lightening the speech with a quasi-political jab at Al Gore’s “inventing the internet,” he went on to describe cooperation from Clark County Nevada and Mojave County Arizona, which were other jurisdictions who’d had Ewing pass through their systems.

At the conclusion of his comments, he introduced his former boss, Peter Weir.

Peter Weir, District Attorney of the 1st Judicial District, oversees the area where the Smith murder occurred. He further explained the nature of the “coordinated and combined effort” that contributed to the identification of this suspect, and the initial ease at which the system has thus far moved. He went into the process of requesting extradition of the suspect, with the request soon going to the governor’s office and the process taking up to a couple of months. He assured the public that they’ll move with “all appropriate speed.”

A brief question and answer session involved the police asking any residents or witnesses to come forward with anything they might know in relation to these crimes so that the prosecution can continue to build its case.

Both district attorneys addressed the possibility of capital punishment being on the table, discussing that 1984 laws do seem to allow the possibility, and that it’s the hardest decision that a DA has to make and it won’t be one that’s made lightly.

There are potentially other crimes that Ewing could be charged for, and Brauchler emphasized that he won’t prosecute a crime that he can’t “ethically prove” — there’s a high standard for evidence in these types of cases. He also appealed to other district attorneys and lawmakers who might be watching (singling out “Montana” briefly) to change their DNA collection laws and practices and to begin participating in CODIS.

While meeting with the families in regards to this case reopened many “old wounds” and “horrific memories,” the Aurora Police Department, Lakewood Police Department, Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the 18th Judicial District, and the 1st Judicial District is committed to seeing that justice is served in this case.

For over thirty years, this killer has remained unidentified. But thanks to modern technology and the incredible talent and dedication of several individuals, it seems this case has finally been solved.

Read on to learn about the devastation and challenges faced in this crime series, the investigative leads that were undertaken, and the tremendous news that closure is within reach.

Attack 1

The crime spree known as the Colorado Hammer murders seemed to begin in Aurora in the early morning hours of January 4th, 1984.

James, a young man not even twenty-five years old yet, had married his wife Kim in August of 1982. They were living in Aurora and planned to make a life together there.

At approximately 2:00 AM on January 4th, 1984, an intruder came through an unlocked garage door. He attacked the couple with a hammer, bludgeoning them with it and leaving them for dead. Miraculously, both of them survived the assault, though James suffered from a fractured skull and his wife suffered a concussion.

There were very few leads to go on — only a hazy physical description from Kim.

The case lacked any apparent motive. The police found footprints in the snow that led up to and away from other homes in the same area and on the same street, leading them to believe that the offender was simply looking for an easy opportunity to lash out.

According to property records, the couple stayed in the same house after the attack. James and Kim divorced divorced in the fall of 1987.

James, who posts online from time to time, discusses how vividly the case still haunts him even to this day.

Attack 2

Almost six days later, tragedy struck Aurora once again.

It was Monday evening, January 9th, 1984. Darkness had just fallen. Twenty-eight-year-old Donna Dixon, fresh off a shift working as a flight attendant, had been out running some errands. She was happy to be home for a while, and eagerly awaiting the next day when her boyfriend, Ronald Holm, would be home. Ronald worked as a pilot.

Donna pulled into the driveway, hit the remote to open the garage, and pulled her car in. Before exiting the vehicle, she turned to grab her flight attendant uniform, which was hanging in the back. As she turned to leave the car, she felt a tremendous blow on the left side of her head. The force of the impact threw her head into the steering wheel. The world turned a painful red and Donna began to lose consciousness. She slumped over onto the passenger seat.

Even to this day, she has absolutely no recollection of the next several hours. It’s quite possible that she wasn’t even conscious for any of it. Investigators were able to piece together the details of the horrendous ordeal through study of the evidence and the crime scene.

The blow she’d felt was the attacker striking her head with a hammer. He tossed it onto the seat of the car and began pulling her from the vehicle. He tore her clothes off, tossed them about the garage, and then he raped her on the concrete floor.

The next thing Donna remembered was waking up naked in the garage. She had no idea how she got there and she didn’t feel any pain. She was numb and cold, and somehow was able to get to her feet and go inside the house. She made her way to the bedroom and went to bed. It would be nearly twenty-four hours total before she was found.

At around 8:00 PM on January 10th, 1984, her boyfriend Ron Holm arrived home. He was immediately alarmed at the scene in the garage — her clothes, purse, and even some of the mail was by her car. Blood near the front door sent him into a panic.

He raced inside and quickly found Donna in the middle of the blood-soaked bed. She was naked, curled up in a fetal position and groaning. He shouted her name, but she could only groan in response. He noticed a gaping wound on the left side of her skull.

Ron quickly called 911.

Donna was rushed to the hospital while police worked the scene. The large hammer was recovered, still on the seat of the car where the attacker had left it. It was dusted for prints, but none were found.

Blood was all over the garage floor. There was blood all over the car. Her clothes were tossed everywhere. Her purse was found nearby — some money had been stolen from it. Nothing else appeared to be missing.

Donna underwent several operations. Despite the trauma of the attack and losing an incredible amount of blood, the doctors and nurses were able to save her life. Amazingly, it was thought that spending so many hours naked on the garage floor in the freezing temperatures may have kept her from bleeding to death.

Ron kept vigil — and kept guard — in her hospital room day and night. Not only was he hanging on the situation for any sign of improvement, but he was afraid that the killer would find out that she survived, might be able to identify him, and might come back to attack her again.

The severity of her injuries can’t be understated. When she first woke up, she had the “mentality of a two-year old.” She had to relearn how to talk and couldn’t speak a full sentence for almost six months.

Ron showed his commitment to Donna by marrying her in May 1984, just a few months after the ghastly attack and before she was even fully recovered. The couple, especially Ron, wanted to show that their love was truly “for better or for worse” and that it would survive any challenge. They remain married to this day.

Attack 3

Before Donna Dixon was even found, another crime had taken place 26 miles to the west in the city of Lakewood. The victim was fifty-year-old Patricia Louise Smith.

Patricia had only been living in Lakewood for about three and a half months, having moved there from Nebraska with her daughter, who was recently divorced.

Patricia missed her husband Oliver, who stayed behind in Nebraska, but she loved being with her daughter and two grandchildren in a bustling city. The four of them lived together in a townhome off of West Bayaud Avenue. It was a beautiful area, with clean, crisp air and the mountains rising up to the west.

January 10th, 1984 started just like any other day, with Patricia dropping off her daughter and grandkids at work/school. The first sign of trouble came in the afternoon, when Patricia failed to pick them up.

The family got a ride from someone else. When they arrived home, they found it very odd that Patricia’s car was still there and that the television appeared to be on in the upstairs bedroom. They immediately knew something was wrong.

The scene in the home traumatized the daughter and grandchildren for life. There, lying on the floor next to the couch and just a few feet away from the front door, was the carefully posed body of their grandmother.

Patricia Smith had been laid straight, her arms crossed over her chest as if on display in a funeral home. A neatly-folded Winnie the Pooh comforter lay under her, a portion of it obscuring her head. It, and the floor around it, was soaked in blood. Patricia still wore her sweater and boots, but her jeans were pulled down. A hammer lay next to her. It was later determined to be the murder weapon.

Police examining the scene were able to reconstruct the basic chain of events. It was determined that she had been killed sometime between the hours of 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM. Patricia had come home from work for lunch, stopping at Wendy’s on the way. She’d left the garage door open and most likely left the door unlocked as she went upstairs, removed her wig, and turned the television on.

Since they could find no signs of forced entry, police felt that the killer entered through the unlocked door and attacked her. They didn’t feel that he forced his way into the home as she entered it herself due to the television, wig, and Wendy’s receipt being located upstairs.

It seemed that robbery was not the primary motive — only the personal jewelry that Patricia was wearing was missing from the scene. The house was not ransacked, but the contents of her purse were strewn about.

No fingerprints or any other usable evidence could be found at the scene.

Attack 4

26 miles away from the Smith murder, but very close to the other incidents, the Bennett family was still settling into their new home on East Center Drive in Aurora, Colorado. They’d moved there around Thanksgiving from another place a few miles away, and had so far enjoyed their quiet, developing neighborhood. They lived on a peaceful cul-de-sac where most of the houses had recently been finished and were yet to be sold.

Bruce Alan Bennett was twenty-seven years old. He’d been in the Navy, where he worked on high-tech sonar equipment at Pearl Harbor. He was currently working at a family-owned furniture store, but was taking classes at the local college and would soon be working as an air traffic controller.

Debra Marie Bennett, twenty-six years old, had married Bruce before his Navy deployment in 1976. She too worked at the family-owned furniture store, and was happily helping raise the couple’s two children, Melissa (seven-years old, about to turn eight) and Vanessa (three years old), with the man that she loved.

On Sunday, January 15th, 1984, several family members gathered at the Bennett home to have a birthday part for Melissa, who would’ve turned eight on Tuesday. The last family member left around 9:00 PM. When they did, they noticed that the garage door was still open. Bruce had mentioned wanting to run to the store before bed.

This was the last time the Bennetts were seen alive.

Sometime between 9:00 PM on the 15th and 10:00 AM on the 16th (most likely between midnight and six), an intruder entered the Bennett home.

At some point, either when the intruder entered the couple’s bedroom or before, Bruce was alerted to the intruder’s presence and a tremendous struggle took place. Bruce and the intruder fought up and down the stairwell, and at some point Bruce was struck multiple times by a hammer. Even after he was struck and injured severely, Bruce continued to struggle valiantly with his attacker, and it seems he climbed the stairs after him even after the intruder thought that he was unconscious or dead. The attacker retrieved a butcher knife from the kitchen and began stabbing Bruce in various places on his upper body, and once Bruce was incapacitated again the offender used the knife to slit his throat from ear to ear. Bruce finally succumbed to his injuries and the family was left vulnerable.

It seems that Debra was the next victim, and she may have even been approached and incapacitated in the middle of Bruce’s struggle with the killer. There was evidence of a struggle in the bedroom. Debra was savagely beaten to death with a hammer. She was also raped.

Bruce and Debra were both probably dead by the time the killer entered Melissa’s bedroom. He viciously struck the young child in the head with a hammer. As blood poured out of her body, he lifted her up from the bed, unknowingly leaving an imprint from his shirt on her blood-soaked pajamas. He took her to the floor and sexually assaulted her. The child died from her injuries.

The youngest girl, Vanessa, only three years old until March, was also struck violently in the face with the hammer. The blow was so severe that her jaw was shattered and her skull was fractured in several places. The intruder, apparently thinking she was dead, began to make his escape.

He took Debra’s purse and went out the front door, then dumped the contents out onto the snow. He also discarded the knife he’d used to kill Bruce. He kept the hammer.

The Bennetts didn’t show up for work on Monday. A coworker informed Bruce’s mother, Constance, about their absence. Immediately she went over the home to investigate.

The garage door was still open. Constance entered the home, encountered the grisly scene, and immediately dialed the authorities.

The police swarmed through the residence, quickly assessing the condition of each family member as they cordoned off certain areas of the home to gather evidence. Unfortunately, they verified one by one that each family member was deceased. At least, until they came to Vanessa’s bed.

Wedged between the bed and the wall was three-year-old Vanessa, choking of fragments of her own jaw bone and barely clinging to life. She was quickly and carefully taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Constance, her grandmother, immediately set up a vigil (which she kept up for days) as the paramedics, nurses and doctors worked feverishly to save the girl’s life. After multiple surgeries, Vanessa was saved, though she went on the live with permanent physiological affects from the assault. She recently gave an interview, which you can view here (link). 

The crimes appeared to be sexually motivated, judging by the assaults that occurred on Debra and Melissa. There wasn’t anything notable stolen from the scene, and the attack had all the hallmarks of a random crime.

There was no sign of forced entry. It was believed that the main garage door was left open throughout the night and that the door leading from the garage to the house was possibly left unlocked.

The backyard of the home was the only one in the area without a fence, and it backed up to a dark and lonely portion of Alameda Avenue. Other attacks had occurred off of this main road, and it’s believed that the killer could’ve entered the area from that point.

Police felt that the killer brought his own weapon to the scene — it didn’t appear that any of the tools or hammers at the home had been rifled through.

They immediately connected it with the Donna Dixon case from January 9th, and recognized that a serial offender was working the area. According to some sources, they were able to match a shoe print from the Bennett household to a shoe print found in the garage at the Donna Dixon assault.

Evidence and Developments

No immediate leads could be generated in the case. Forensics determined that the hammers used in each of the attacks were different, and that there didn’t appear to be anything terribly useful in the way of fingerprints or other evidence. Years later, strides would start to be made in the crime lab.

In 2002, Arapahoe County filed a “John Doe” arrest warrant for the perpetrator of the Bennet murders based on the DNA profile. Then in 2010, cold case investigators, who long theorized that the person who killed Patricia Smith in Lakewood was the same person who had committed the crimes in Aurora, compared the DNA from the Patricia Smith murder to the DNA found at the Bennett household. It was a match, proving that the same unknown offender had killed all four victims.

In 2015, information leaked that there was important clue found at the Bennett scene. Apparently when the killer lifted Melissa Bennett, an imprint from his shirt was made in the blood that had resulted from his assault on her.

Two different crime labs analyzed the fuzzy imprint, and they came up with different results. One lab felt that the letters were “RICHAR.” Another lab felt that it said “PETAW C,” with a space or fold between the “W” and the “C” and perhaps another fold in there as well.

This generated a buzz of discussion, with victims and family wondering why this information wasn’t released sooner, and online sleuths pouring over leads such as previous offenders named “Richard,” different water company uniforms looked at, and even eyes turned toward folks who were associated with a Canadian town/military base called Petawawa in Ontario.

Nothing concrete was ever developed.

Solved?

Detective Steve Conner has investigated this case for many years, taking over from an investigator named Marv Brandt. Both men were fiercely dedicated to seeing this case solved, and Conner started an effort to use every technology available to him to identify the offender. One of those techniques was an innovative imaging tool by Parabon Nanolabs which provides an approximation of what they offender might’ve looked like at both the time of the crimes and in the current day. He also inquired about searching various genealogical databases for a hit, but was advised at the time not to pursue that angle due to privacy issues.

As a workaround, a well-known forensic genealogist named Colleen Fitzpatrick analyzed the case, and her research came up with the possible surname of “Ewing.” This finding was announced an the television show, “On the Case With Paula Zahn,” in February 2018.

Upon the capture of a suspect in the Golden State Killer case, Conner again turned to genealogical databases. He used two methods, and announced a few weeks ago that he’d struck out with his first attempt. But what about his second? Or any of the other angles he was pursuing?

On August 7th, 2018, it was announced that there were significant new developments in the Smith/Bennett case, and that a news conference would be held at 10:00 AM on Friday, August 10th with more information.

 

On the night of November 15th, 1974, a fifteen-year-old Visalia-area girl named Jennifer Lynn Armour disappeared while on her way to a local football game. She was last seen at about 8:30 PM while on her way to meet friends.

Her nude body was found over a week later in the Friant-Kern Canal near Woodlake – an area located northeast of Visalia and a fair distance away from where she’d disappeared. Her bra was wrapped around one of her wrists, and her clothing was found on the bank nearby.

Recently, the Sun-Gazette has reported that Joseph DeAngelo, the man arrested for the Visalia Ransacker / Golden State Killer crimes, has been added to the suspect list. DeAngelo was a police officer in nearby Exeter at the time, and has been confirmed by police to be tied to a string of over 100 burglaries, a murder, and an attempted murder that occurred in Visalia in 1974 and 1975.

This murder, which has sat on the cold case shelves for far too long, is in desperate need of this new media attention and the new investigative resources. It’s our hope that something can come from this new push that will finally solve it.

Note: We cover the Armour case and the other Visalia Ransacker crimes in our new book, Secret Origin of the Golden State Killer: Visalia Ransacker.

Between 1986 and 1989 though, a crime spree took place that left three pairs of travelers missing and another pair of travelers gone without a trace. Thought to be the work of a serial killer, the crimes have remained unsolved for thirty years.

The women’s bodies were found inside Thomas’ vehicle. They’d been strangled, their throats had been slashed, and rope marks were found on their necks and wrists. The killer had doused the vehicle with fuel in an apparent attempt to incinerate the crime scene, but apparently failed to start a fire. There were reportedly no signs of robbery or sexual assault — both women were clothed and their purses were still with them.

*  *  *

Second Crime Scene
Date: September 19th/22nd, 1987
Victims: David Knobling (20) and Robin Edwards (14)

Victims were shot to death on the shore of the James River, some distance from Knobling’s pickup truck. The truck was in a designated parking area with the radio and windshield wipers turned on.

*  *  *

Third Crime Scene
Date: April 9th/10th, 1988
Victims: Richard Keith Call (20) and Cassandra Lee Hailey (18)

Call’s Toyota Celica was found at a river overlook several hours after he and Hailey went on their first date. There was no sign of the couple and they’ve never been found.

*  *  *

Fourth Crime Scene
Date: September 5th, 1989
Victims: Daniel Lauer (21) and Annamaria Phelps (18)

Lauer and Phelps disappeared on Labor Day weekend while on their way to Virginia Beach. Lauer’s Chevy Nova was later discovered heading AWAY from the beach. There was no sign of Lauer or Phelps. About six weeks later, hunters came upon their bodies in a remote location in the woods near a logging road. Forensic evidence was hard to retrieve due to the decomposed state of the bodies, but it’s been reported that the two may have been stabbed to death.

Other Information
The case got a jolt in 2009 when a retired FBI photographer used graphic images from the crime scenes during a class lecture. Reporters and detectives subsequently learned that very little of the evidence from the scenes had been combed through using modern forensic technology, including DNA testing. The wheels were put into motion to submit dozens of pieces of evidence to the FBI lab.

There were reportedly signs of a struggle in the first case, and there may be workable DNA evidence from up to three of the scenes. The results (if any) of the tests run on the current evidence is currently unknown.

One of the most terrifying aspects of the case is the sketch of his mask, made with the assistance of survivors who caught a glimpse of him. We’ve been given a hi-resolution copy to share, which you can view by clicking below:

Dr. Robert Offerman and Dr. Debra Manning were young and had bright futures. Like all of the EARONS victims, they were taken from this earth far too soon. Please keep them and their families in your thoughts tonight.

His use of ligatures were fairly distinct and helped tie a lot of the crimes together. He usually tied them so tightly that circulation was restricted, used the same types of knots, and would often have the wife tie up the husband (and then retie the husband himself).

We’ve published this page today to show you the details and origin of the ligatures used in the EAR/GSK attacks. In addition to photos and a summary of information, the following points are worth going over:

• It’s believed that the EAR bought his shoelaces new from the store or from some other source. They were almost always in good shape/new condition, and lab analysis revealed almost nothing about them except the occasional hair. If they were used shoelaces, you’d expect to find a vast array of particles and wear-and-tear.
• EAR brought his own ligatures to almost every attack — he didn’t rely exclusively on what was found at the scene. When he did use something at the scene (electrical cord, towel, husband’s shoelaces, necktie) it was only to supplement the ligatures that he had brought himself.
• Some of the ligatures matched across scenes. That, and the knots he used, provide a link among several scenes.

It’s also worth noting that the EAR seemed to, at times, receive gratification from tying and retying his victims. He utilized the bindings in another distinct way — he almost always forced his penis into his victims’ bound hands. This is a very unique activity, and it helps tie the EARONS crimes together based on M.O. alone.

Rather than wait until 2019 when the book will be published, we thought we’d at least share the results with you.

The following tests were performed on the EAR calls:

• Aural Speech Comparison (a non-technology-oriented technique where the expert, assisted by a linguist, listens to the recordings and makes notes of idiosyncrasies, breathing patterns, dialect, pronunciation, vocabulary, etc.)
• Spectrograph Analysis (a technological process where speech can be visually rendered into what’s called a spectrogram, which is a graphic representation of the frequencies and amplitudes of a sound recording. The expert then looks for patterns)
• Average Pitch Analysis (a probability-based test that determines whether the voices “sit” at the same frequency)
• “Cepstrum” chart analysis (a visual representation of the pitch frequencies that a voice sits at… they can be compared to each other).
• Stock Comparison (the voices are submitted to a database which contains over a million voice samples, and a probability comes back on their uniqueness and similarities to each other)

Long story short — inconclusive. There was no way, given the samples that we have, to determine whether the voices match or not. We didn’t just look for all three to match, but also looked for a “Ray” to “Gonna Kill You” match, a “Ray to Dumb Fuckers” match, etc.

We’re happy to at least have a little bit of science behind us on this and it was worth exploring, even though the result was inconclusive.

The story has a silver lining though — on another case we explored with this team, the Brandon Lawson case, we were able to not only make a sketchy part of his 911 call understandable, but possibly a major break in the case by preparing for LE some scientific evidence that there was another person present when he disappeared. After failing with the EAR, we needed a sidebar showing that the techniques actually work… because they do!

Additionally, an audio expert associated with an upcoming television show that we’re a part of was able to isolate the background sounds of the “Gonna Kill You” phone call, and there was a tiny bit of a surprise in there. It’s probably nothing that will move the case forward, but that show is coming out pretty soon so you’ll be able to find out what that is in just a couple months!

Again, info is given only about the phone calls where the offender spoke. Only the calls or phone events where the caller was believed to be the rapist are included. There are some instances where a strange phone call was received, but it’s not thought to be the offender. On the other side of the coin, while all of these calls are believed to be genuine, there’s a chance that some of them might be coincidence or pranks.

There are a few very notable ones, particularly because they occurred during “quiet” periods where the offender wasn’t attacking. Because of these phone calls, we can start to determine whether the offender was incarcerated or not at certain times (most likely he wasn’t), and even where he lived due to the locations of the victims during the time period that he called them. Here are a few of the notable phone calls:

January 15th, 1979
Victim #42 received a call that she identified as the EAR. This call occurred over a month after her attack.
Caller: “Do you want fuck?”
This call is important because not only did it occur during an EAR quiet period, but this attack is connected by DNA. It helps bring the other EAR phone escapades into the fold.

October 21st, 1982
Victim #24 received a call from a voice that she identified as the EAR’s.
Caller: “Hi, it’s me again. Remember me? I’m going to come over and fuck you again. You’re going to suck my cock again.”

Sometime between 1990 and 1992
Victim #7 received a phone call, and she recognized the voice on the other end as the voice of the rapist. The caller whispered harshly into the phone, saying “You know who this is” or “Do you know who this is?” The victim was on the line with him for about a minute. There was the sound of children and maybe a woman in the background, which could’ve potentially come from a television or some other source.

April 6th, 2001
Victim #14 received a phone call from a man who whispered “Remember when we played?” She positively identified the man as the voice of the East Area Rapist. This phone call came just two days after the breaking news that the East Area Rapist crimes had been tied by DNA to the murders in Southern California. This phone call occurred 25 years after the attack.

Keep in mind that the offender’s last known murder was in 1986, which makes the last few particularly creepy. The 1982 call is important, because the offender hadn’t killed for over a year, and it was thought that he might’ve been incarcerated. Being able to track the victim down (the call occurred at her workplace) meant that most likely, he was a free man and had stopped killing of his own volition.

The 2001 call didn’t happen too long ago and makes it a little too close for comfort, though there’s something positive to be said for the idea that the offender could still be alive and could still face justice for his crimes.

Here we have a chart that I created showing the types of incidents (mere prowling, a burglary/ransacking, and the two violent confrontations) attributed to the Visalia Ransacker throughout his known criminal career (1973-1976). Most likely it appears quite small in your browser window — simply click on it to enlarge it.

Laid out in this manner, not only can you see the ratio of prowlings to ransackings, but you can get a feel for any patterns that might’ve occurred, and you can clearly see when he was most active and when he was dormant. You can also see what seems to be escalation and a frenzy of activity at certain points.

It’s my hope that this can help folks gain a better understanding of how prolific this offender was, and that insights can be gained as to perhaps why he was active at the times that he was, and why he might’ve laid low during some of the quieter times. It’s also interesting to note that the first incidence of violence, the Snelling murder, didn’t stop him, but he did seem to be gradually slowing down after what appears on the surface to be the 1975 peak. I should also note that the data becomes a bit skewed in that month because of the fact that the Snelling murder, being a homicide investigation, resulted in a much more thorough sweep of the area and more prowling incidents were recorded that would’ve otherwise been left unreported.

The Visalia Ransacker, a unique brand of offender who terrorized a very small area of California for a period of over two years, caught my attention a long time ago due to the case’s possible association with the East Area Rapist.