Post by pooryorick on Jan 18, 2014 20:24:05 GMT
- From the lifting of the media blackout in November 1976 through the summer of 1977, the Bee consistently cited October 1975 as the beginning of the assaults, with at least one article providing a specific date of October 21, 1975:
[major hat tip to jjmcgr for compiling the online news archive]
"[Inspector Richard Selby] said the first case occurred in October last year. He said the man did not strike again until June."
Sacramento Bee, 11/4/76 - Man Hunted As Suspect In 8 Rapes
"...he wore gloves - as the suspect has in most of the other attacks...dating back to October 1975."
Sacramento Bee, 1/24/77 - Rapist Strikes Again - 14th Time in 15 Months
"The rapes began in October 1975."
Sacramento Bee, 3/20/77 - Rapist Hits 17th Victim
"His first recorded attack was in October 1975..."
Sacramento Bee, 5/15/77 - East Area Rapist Attacks 22nd Victim At Home
"The man known as the East Area Rapist began his string of 24 unsolved known attacks on October 21, 1975."
Sacramento Bee, 8/17/77 - Clue to Rapist at Last?
- Then, in a September article, the Bee reported that two assaults had been dropped from the sheriff's list. An early October Union article would confirm that one of the dropped cases was the October 21, 1975 assault:
"Newspapers called [the latest attack] the 24th assault since October 1975, but sheriff’s investigators say it was the 22nd rape by the man. Two earlier rapes...were not committed by the same man, deputies said."
Sacramento Bee, 9/7/77 - Police Certain East Area Rapist Struck In Stockton
Sacramento Union, 10/3/77 - New Rapist Attacks Bring No Big Clues
- Following the 9/7/77 article, there was a period of confusion, with most reports adopting the revised number of attacks, but with the first attack being variously traced to October 1975, "late 1975," March 1976 (??), or June 1976. One article, written after attack #26 of the new list, seems to question the revised timeline entirely:
"The 26th successful attack…took place at 1:45 AM Saturday…north of Whitney between Mission and Eastern Avenues ... The rapist…has actually struck 28 times since his first attack, October 21, 1975.”
Sacramento Union, 10/30/77 - Couple Terrorized by East Area Rapist
- From November 1977 on, most reports cite June 18, 1976 as attack #1, in line with Compton's account and the timeline on www.ear-ons.com/crimes.html.
- Does anyone have any background on the October 21, 1975 case, and why it was apparently later attributed to a different perpetrator? Was it an assault or some lesser crime? Was an actual person tried for or at least suspected of it, or was it simply ruled out as an EAR attack by blood work/m.o./perp description? Is there definitive evidence it was not an EAR/ONS attack? I think these questions are important because of their implications for the Visalia link.
