So, did anyone ever seriously look at Auburn?
May 1, 2018 12:58:00 GMT
sammyt, mark, and 1 more like this
Post by germansleuth on May 1, 2018 12:58:00 GMT
Did anyone on this forum ever seriously look at the possibility that the EAR/ONS/GSK might have lived or worked in Auburn? Yes, it is some 33 miles from Sacramento, but the East Area Rapist covered greater distances than that during his series.
Doing a forum search for "Auburn" before the date of the arrest, I can see there was a lot of talk about Auburn Blvd in relation to geographical profiling, but not about the town of Auburn itself. I can't find a single thread with "Auburn" in the title before 24th April 2018. So it seems Auburn really wasn't on anyone's radar.
When I research cases like this, I like to go through old newspapers. Not necessarily because I believe that is the best chance of solving a cold case, but because I work in journalism and have an interest in old newspapers. I enjoy going through them: "Oh, look, this is what they had in the papers back then!"
I keep asking myself what my reaction would have been if, during my looking into this case, I would have come across the 1979 story in the Auburn Journal: "Auburn Policeman Dismissed in Shoplifting Accusation". The fact that he tried to steal a hammer and dog repellant (dogs came up fairly frequently in this case!). The timing (right before the end of the EAR attacks!). The fact that he's a police officer (which many people theorzied EAR was!).
Would red flags have gone off in my head? I would like to think so, though I can't say for sure, obviously. It's always easy to be smart with handsight.
Damn it, I wish someone had found that article, though. An automated search for "police officer shoplifting" in the Auburn Journal from 1976 to 1979, and it would have been right there among a fairly small number of hits. It was right there all the time! And if anyone had looked at Joe DeAngelo as a POI, I think the geography would have been conspicuous very early on.
Doing a forum search for "Auburn" before the date of the arrest, I can see there was a lot of talk about Auburn Blvd in relation to geographical profiling, but not about the town of Auburn itself. I can't find a single thread with "Auburn" in the title before 24th April 2018. So it seems Auburn really wasn't on anyone's radar.
When I research cases like this, I like to go through old newspapers. Not necessarily because I believe that is the best chance of solving a cold case, but because I work in journalism and have an interest in old newspapers. I enjoy going through them: "Oh, look, this is what they had in the papers back then!"
I keep asking myself what my reaction would have been if, during my looking into this case, I would have come across the 1979 story in the Auburn Journal: "Auburn Policeman Dismissed in Shoplifting Accusation". The fact that he tried to steal a hammer and dog repellant (dogs came up fairly frequently in this case!). The timing (right before the end of the EAR attacks!). The fact that he's a police officer (which many people theorzied EAR was!).
Would red flags have gone off in my head? I would like to think so, though I can't say for sure, obviously. It's always easy to be smart with handsight.
Damn it, I wish someone had found that article, though. An automated search for "police officer shoplifting" in the Auburn Journal from 1976 to 1979, and it would have been right there among a fairly small number of hits. It was right there all the time! And if anyone had looked at Joe DeAngelo as a POI, I think the geography would have been conspicuous very early on.