Sacramento LE's Meeting with CCC Before the Concord Rapes

[winters]

I couldn't find a thread that discussed this so I'm starting a new one. I have a few questions about Bevins' meeting with CCC LE prior to EAR moving to CCC (is that enough acronyms for you?)

Here's a refresher:

August 15th, 1978, 8:15 a.m.
Sacramento Sheriff’s Office investigators went to the Concord Police Department to talk EAR. They believed he was heading their way. “Why Concord P.D.?” someone asked. “Strange that a Sheriff’s Department would go to the City instead of our Department.” “Maybe they think Concord is where he will hit,” was the answer.

Bevins: “In the last two years, since June 18 1976, we have had over thirty attacks that we have attributed to the same person. We think he is ready to move and we believe he is coming here. Don’t really know why, we just feel it. Concord is a typical area for him to hit.”

Well over a million dollars had been spent by the Sacramento Sheriff’s Office. No idea who he is, no idea where he works, no idea where he came from, but a pretty good idea where he was going to; the city of Concord, Contra Costa County, California. He’d already hit in Davis, Stockton, Modesto, and all over Sacramento County including the City.

Representatives from all the central Contra Costa County agencies were represented: Concord, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, and of course, the Sheriff’s Department. Antioch and Pittsburg were represented from the eastern part of the county. Richmond and El Cerrito from the west were apparently not suspected targets of the rapist.

Less than two months after this meeting, EAR hit Concord twice. Then he hit San Ramon a couple weeks later, and this is the first attack where we have a DNA tie to ONS.

My questions at this point are:

• Did Sacramento LE meet with any other jurisdictions and issue similar information or a similar warning?
• What made them zero in on CCC? Was it because of highway proximity? Was it because of a geographical progression from Sacramento to Modesto/Davis and then onward?

I know we can speculate till the cows come home, but does anyone have any factual information that might shed light on those two questions?

[morf13]

Interesting topic

[sammyt]

Perhaps Concord was the predicted result of some geo profiling. It would be strange if Concord was the only area pre-warned.

There's also the slim chance that there are still communications being held back by LE, and that EAR made contact in a letter, poem or call and actually announced Concord as a target.

How does the timeline of this fit with the known phone calls? EAR may have continued to challenge/taunt LE in additional calls.

[winters]

Known poem and most phone calls happened in December 1977 and January 1978. The last known EAR assault before a quiet period was early July, 1978. The Sac/CCC meeting was in August 1978, and then the assaults start back up again, this time in Concord in early October 1978.

[westcoastcanuck]

Jan 31, 2017 13:46:17 GMT winters said:

I couldn't find a thread that discussed this so I'm starting a new one. I have a few questions about Bevins' meeting with CCC LE prior to EAR moving to CCC (is that enough acronyms for you?)

Here's a refresher:

August 15th, 1978, 8:15 a.m.
Sacramento Sheriff’s Office investigators went to the Concord Police Department to talk EAR. They believed he was heading their way. “Why Concord P.D.?” someone asked. “Strange that a Sheriff’s Department would go to the City instead of our Department.” “Maybe they think Concord is where he will hit,” was the answer.

Bevins: “In the last two years, since June 18 1976, we have had over thirty attacks that we have attributed to the same person. We think he is ready to move and we believe he is coming here. Don’t really know why, we just feel it. Concord is a typical area for him to hit.”

Well over a million dollars had been spent by the Sacramento Sheriff’s Office. No idea who he is, no idea where he works, no idea where he came from, but a pretty good idea where he was going to; the city of Concord, Contra Costa County, California. He’d already hit in Davis, Stockton, Modesto, and all over Sacramento County including the City.

Representatives from all the central Contra Costa County agencies were represented: Concord, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, and of course, the Sheriff’s Department. Antioch and Pittsburg were represented from the eastern part of the county. Richmond and El Cerrito from the west were apparently not suspected targets of the rapist.

Less than two months after this meeting, EAR hit Concord twice. Then he hit San Ramon a couple weeks later, and this is the first attack where we have a DNA tie to ONS.

My questions at this point are:

• Did Sacramento LE meet with any other jurisdictions and issue similar information or a similar warning?
• What made them zero in on CCC? Was it because of highway proximity? Was it because of a geographical progression from Sacramento to Modesto/Davis and then onward?

I know we can speculate till the cows come home, but does anyone have any factual information that might shed light on those two questions?

I think another question worth asking (but likely unanswerable) is "how reliable is this account?"  It forms the basis for so much speculation but it's difficult to assess it's importance without knowing how much of this is fact versus artistic license versus misremembering.  

[sammyt]

Jan 31, 2017 16:34:44 GMT winters said:

Known poem and most phone calls happened in December 1977 and January 1978. The last known EAR assault before a quiet period was early July, 1978. The Sac/CCC meeting was in August 1978, and then the assaults start back up again, this time in Concord in early October 1978.

Maybe EAR got back in touch with LE in summer 1978, when the Son of Sam trial was taking place.

EAR name dropped Son of Sam, who himself wrote to LE hinting at an attack in Queens.

Perhaps EAR made a similar hint towards Concord in some way.

Did EAR pay homage to other killers too?  It's interesting that Excitement's Crave was sent to three different media outlets (the Sac Bee, Channel 6 and the mayor's office) just like one of the zodiac killer's letters - which was also sent to three different media outlets.  Was it coincidence, or twisted minds thinking alike, or copycatting?

[winters]

Jan 31, 2017 18:18:35 GMT sammyt said:

Maybe EAR got back in touch with LE in summer 1978, when the Son of Sam trial was taking place.

EAR name dropped Son of Sam, who himself wrote to LE hinting at an attack in Queens.

Perhaps EAR made a similar hint towards Concord in some way.

Did EAR pay homage to other killers too?  It's interesting that Excitement's Crave was sent to three different media outlets (the Sac Bee, Channel 6 and the mayor's office) just like one of the zodiac killer's letters - which was also sent to three different media outlets.  Was it coincidence, or twisted minds thinking alike, or copycatting?

Or was Excitement's Crave even EAR?

But I think you're right that LE might've been in possession of evidence or correspondence or SOMETHING that pointed them toward Concord. Because if not, then why did they select it? Was there something that Concord, Sacramento, Davis, Modesto, and Stockton all had in common that's somehow been lost to time? A similar builder, architect, sanitation company, style of home, etc?

[sammyt]

Jan 31, 2017 18:29:36 GMT winters said:

Jan 31, 2017 18:18:35 GMT sammyt said:

Maybe EAR got back in touch with LE in summer 1978, when the Son of Sam trial was taking place.

EAR name dropped Son of Sam, who himself wrote to LE hinting at an attack in Queens.

Perhaps EAR made a similar hint towards Concord in some way.

Did EAR pay homage to other killers too?  It's interesting that Excitement's Crave was sent to three different media outlets (the Sac Bee, Channel 6 and the mayor's office) just like one of the zodiac killer's letters - which was also sent to three different media outlets.  Was it coincidence, or twisted minds thinking alike, or copycatting?

Or was Excitement's Crave even EAR?

But I think you're right that LE might've been in possession of evidence or correspondence or SOMETHING that pointed them toward Concord. Because if not, then why did they select it? Was there something that Concord, Sacramento, Davis, Modesto, and Stockton all had in common that's somehow been lost to time? A similar builder, architect, sanitation company, style of home, etc?

Yes, sorry, EC may not have been written by EAR.  

I should have put 'the author of EC name dropped SOS'...

Reading between the lines (presuming that things are being remembered accurately) it definitely seems possible that LE had insider information to pick out one area.

[woofytreats]

I believe that contemporaneous with this "coming to a suburb near you that's named Concord" idea is that LE issued a regional bulletin ( NorCal ) advising that EAR was potentially on the move. I'm not sure there's a thread specifically related to that bulletin but it's been mentioned here several times. I also don't know if there's information held back that specifically references Concord, but it would make sense either way. Some of the strangest ( and potentially linked ) incidences in the crime series occurred before the first Concord attack.

I'd agree with Canuck that this topic sometimes veers into "lore" without clarifying dialog and taking in the context of his preferred stomping grounds and the demographics of the region at the time. Central Contra Costa especially ( Concord, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, Alamo, Danville ) were middle and upper middle class bedroom communities. San Ramon was also this way and crossing the line south into Dublin and Pleasanton in Alameda County were also similar bedroom communities. He did move south through this area to attack in Fremont and San Jose. At the time, Antioch and Pittsburg were older, much smaller and not the tract home, bedroom communities that they are today. I don't doubt that EAR might have hit areas like Antioch or Tracy in San Joaquin County today because they're both considerably different places than they were in the late 70s. Modesto and Stockton were big, well established places at the time and had bedroom enclaves that would suit his M.O. How much of a fixation there is here on Concord might be hard to assess if we're not privy to additional info...but on the surface, his attacking next in Concord ( or nearby ) would make sense based on the above.

If you superimpose the building and demographics of that time, it would make sense that EAR would hit in Central Contra Costa because there were established bedroom communities combined with typically higher incomes than Pittsburg or Antioch and right off I-680. Richmond and El Cerrito are considerably more urban places than other parts of Contra Costa and more like Oakland. It would also make sense, given his M.O., that he wouldn't be spending time there and LE likely wouldn't be interested. Coming from Sacramento in 1978, places like Vacaville were not really suburban enclaves which you didn't really reach until Contra Costa County.

Rightly or wrongly, I've always thought that there's a good possibility that he was familiar with CC County and there's some connection here. That in itself might have spurred him to attack in CCC independent of any LE agency communications or assigning anything that seems nefarious to this circumstance.

[Deleted]

Does anyone know where Contact Counseling was located ? Address ? Area of town ?

1/6/1978 8:25PM Contact Counseling volunteer receives "Can You Help Me?" call

[Deleted]

Sorry to veer off the subject a bit Winters but I have always been curious of the counseling call !

[Deleted]

Jan 31, 2017 19:27:08 GMT @masootz said:

from st: "8:25 p.m., 1-6-78 Edna Watson, a volunteer for the Contact Counseling Service, picked up the ringing telephone. “Can you help me?” the male caller asked. “What’s the problem?” Watson asked. “I have a problem. I need help because I don’t want to do this anymore.” “Do what?” “Well, I guess I can tell you guys,” the caller stated. “You’re not tracing this call are you?” he asked in a violent, angry voice. “No, we are not tracing any calls,” Watson remained calm. “I am the East Side Rapist and I feel the urge coming on to do this again. I don’t want to do it, but then I do. Is there anyone there that can help me? I don’t want to hurt these women or their husbands anymore,” the young voice pleaded. “Are you tracing this call?” the voice again becoming violent. “We are not tracing this call. Do you want a counselor?” “No. I have been to counseling all my life. I was in Stockton State Hospital. I shouldn’t tell you that. I guess I can trust you guys,” he continued. “Are you tracing this call?” Again the violence. “No, we are not tracing the call.” “I believe you are tracing this call,” the male angrily shouted and the phone went dead. “Ralph,” Watson called her director, “I just got a call from a male who said he was the rapist.” Ralph Manning, the director of the service, listened to Watson explain the call. “Contact the Sacramento Sheriff’s Office right away,” he instructed Watson. At 9:05 p.m. Stone learned of the call and immediately contacted the Stockton State Hospital. Although the hospital is State and County supported, most patients are from San Joaquin County. The Psychiatric Care Unit is divided into two major units, one for geriatrics, the second, known as T-2, for the general population. The average stay for a patient is around three weeks, however there are those who remain for two or three months. The patient discharge rate is five to fifteen a week, and the mental stability of the discharged patient is normally of the level that they would function, for the most part, normally in society. The age range in T-2 is from sixteen to sixty-three. Without a name or date of admittance or discharge, staff could not be of assistance."

Thanks for digging that up masootz ! This two month timeframe is very intriguing... great thread !

[Deleted]

Jan 31, 2017 19:50:42 GMT @masootz said:

it is intriguing. he stops attacking for nearly two months but then starts a prolific campaign of calls and communications with le. at first glance it might be easy to guess he was in a position where he couldn't offend (grandma came for a long christmas break and he can't leave the house) but if the watt bridge suspect is him and the #29 break-in a month before the attack is as well then it appears he was out and about.

oddly, #29 is the last sacramento area attack other than #43.

#29/30 was the sisters off of Winding Way I believe ...in which he kicked in the front door . He had a lot of rage !

[submarine68]

Since learning about this case I've always wondered to myself if there indeed is more to the "we believe he's coming to your area." In the interview with Pathfinder Crompton briefly addressed this but it was very quick, vague, and really not much more than what has been documented elsewhere. It may be that there is more to this than anyone on here knows, or it may be that they harnessed their guts, what EAR's path & patterns had been up to that time, and prognosticated based upon such -- and were correct.

[portofleith]

Sacramento law enforcement visited all the other jurisdictions where EAR rapes occurred and those where they thought EAR may be heading.  Contra Costa was one of those jurisdictions and they then identified neighborhoods in their jurisdictions that matched EAR attack preferences.(proximity to freeway, greenbelts, etc.)

Sudden Terror