Frozen in Fear

[known_unknown]

Sept 26, 2014 17:43:38 GMT magnumforce73 said:

Sept 26, 2014 16:13:59 GMT known_unknown said:

His very precise knowledge of schedules is one of the more mystifying elements of his crimes. I don't have ST at hand, but didn't some of the crimes involving younger girls, either babysitters or just teenagers home alone, take place within similar narrow time windows? The husband leaving for work is one thing as this tends to be at the same from day to day and therefore easily discoverable with stalking, but with some of the other incidents I'm pretty sure the parents were going out to do a one-time event so their departure time would not have been discoverable before hand. So did he just target a victim and wait/watch till they were alone? But how could he be sure that they wouldn't return in 5 minutes? So what does that leave? That he must have been in the house earlier and looked at their calendars so that he knew what they were doing and how long they would be gone? This would obviously not have been out of keeping with other evidence that he may have done this type of preliminary work, but as always I come back to the huge time commitment and organizational issues involved.  

That's why I'm convinced he went through people's things--their planners, Rolodexes, calendars--well ahead of when he planned to strike, or in some cases, the day of the attack.  He didn't just get to know his target--he made it his business to know the routines and schedules of everyone in the house.  Also, I remember on our old rotary phones there was a paper tab in the center of the wheel that had our home phone number printed in typewritten font.  I would imagine this was normal in the 70s--during one of his pre-strike burglaries, he could easily take a victim's number directly from the phone and scribble it in his little pad of horrors.  That's probably how he got the numbers in the first place.  Besides, I wouldn't put it past him to still keep tabs on victims--provided he's still alive.  He wouldn't have to necessarily do anything--I'll bet just driving down the same street, seeing a victim would be enough for him to relive his precious little glory days.

I suspect he didn't focus singularly on one target: he had Target B, Target C, and so forth.  He could keep tabs on multiple homes--remember, it wasn't just homes he hit that suffered the strange calls, the burglaries, the unlocked doors and windows; their neighbors also fell victim to his prowlings.  He started off as a cat burglar first--that's his strongest skill, augmented by his ability to outrun and outmaneuver his pursuers--on multiple occasions.  I'm convinced this guy kept a notebook(s) that detailed everything about his targets and their families.  That's really the reason he's been such a difficult adversary for police: he's rigged the game; he gets to prepare the venue and all entrance/exit points and the police have no choice but to wait until they get "the call," or an alert, proactive officer on the beat sees him in the act or arriving or departing the scene.  He's just a little reptilian coward.

This is why he favored the cul-de-sacs, the fences, the greenbelts, etc.: he could hide himself easily and watch the comings & goings for hours.  People today are so oblivious to their surroundings--I have no doubt it was the same way in the 70s.  Would you expect a runner on an American River trail to be churning along while scanning the brush by the bank for a guy in a fatigue jacket and ski mask?

mf73

Very good points and very much in keeping with my intuitions about the case. What do you think the implications are for his profession and his age? My feeling for some time has been that an operation on this kind of scale would require an extremely significant time commitment, possibly to the extent that he couldn't have maintained a full-time job at the same time. I guess some others account for this time commitment by theorizing that he had a job that would have allowed him to do some of this work while on the clock, but for me I just can't see it. When accounting the time involved, one also has to include all the houses that he seemed to stake out to some extent but never hit, in which case the total time required expands exponentially. I think this pushes one towards an assumption that he was either a college student (perhaps even part time) or perhaps young and unemployed or employed part time (and hence one might assume living at home with parents) or even in high school. 

[magnumforce73]

Sept 26, 2014 19:16:13 GMT known_unknown said:

Sept 26, 2014 17:43:38 GMT magnumforce73 said:

That's why I'm convinced he went through people's things--their planners, Rolodexes, calendars--well ahead of when he planned to strike, or in some cases, the day of the attack.  He didn't just get to know his target--he made it his business to know the routines and schedules of everyone in the house.  Also, I remember on our old rotary phones there was a paper tab in the center of the wheel that had our home phone number printed in typewritten font.  I would imagine this was normal in the 70s--during one of his pre-strike burglaries, he could easily take a victim's number directly from the phone and scribble it in his little pad of horrors.  That's probably how he got the numbers in the first place.  Besides, I wouldn't put it past him to still keep tabs on victims--provided he's still alive.  He wouldn't have to necessarily do anything--I'll bet just driving down the same street, seeing a victim would be enough for him to relive his precious little glory days.

I suspect he didn't focus singularly on one target: he had Target B, Target C, and so forth.  He could keep tabs on multiple homes--remember, it wasn't just homes he hit that suffered the strange calls, the burglaries, the unlocked doors and windows; their neighbors also fell victim to his prowlings.  He started off as a cat burglar first--that's his strongest skill, augmented by his ability to outrun and outmaneuver his pursuers--on multiple occasions.  I'm convinced this guy kept a notebook(s) that detailed everything about his targets and their families.  That's really the reason he's been such a difficult adversary for police: he's rigged the game; he gets to prepare the venue and all entrance/exit points and the police have no choice but to wait until they get "the call," or an alert, proactive officer on the beat sees him in the act or arriving or departing the scene.  He's just a little reptilian coward.

This is why he favored the cul-de-sacs, the fences, the greenbelts, etc.: he could hide himself easily and watch the comings & goings for hours.  People today are so oblivious to their surroundings--I have no doubt it was the same way in the 70s.  Would you expect a runner on an American River trail to be churning along while scanning the brush by the bank for a guy in a fatigue jacket and ski mask?

mf73

Very good points and very much in keeping with my intuitions about the case. What do you think the implications are for his profession and his age? My feeling for some time has been that an operation on this kind of scale would require an extremely significant time commitment, possibly to the extent that he couldn't have maintained a full-time job at the same time. I guess some others account for this time commitment by theorizing that he had a job that would have allowed him to do some of this work while on the clock, but for me I just can't see it. When accounting the time involved, one also has to include all the houses that he seemed to stake out to some extent but never hit, in which case the total time required expands exponentially. I think this pushes one towards an assumption that he was either a college student (perhaps even part time) or perhaps young and unemployed or employed part time (and hence one might assume living at home with parents) or even in high school. 

Hi ku--

Right now, I'm inclined towards the idea that he was just a laborer, but not any laborer.  I picture him as a jack-of-all-trades, a guy who could do painting, plumbing--anything involving construction.  That would give him the opportunity to make good money (cash, perhaps?) and basically work when he wants to work.  Frankly, I don't picture this offender keeping a square 9-to-5--with his prolific activity. 

Let's assume for a moment that he was involved in construction as a freelance man, or a guy working with regular crews.  He could very easily observe people in this kind of work--he'd be in public, whether private residents or commercial properties--and make mental notes, and he could even stalk them depending on the situation, but I agree with you: I don't see him pulling off all these crimes while holding down steady employment.  If he was a jack-of-all-trades, then I would think he would be a hot commodity in the construction world (NoCal & SoCal both) and it would be easy for him to bounce from place to place--exactly as he did.  I would also expect someone to remember a guy with a versatile set of skills like that.  I also can see him as something like an interior decorator or a window dresser.

Agewise, I would guess him to have been in his early twenties when the first canonical EAR attack occurred in 1976.  I can see him as a college student, but I can't see him as someone who passed basic training and served in a branch of our armed forces.

Bottom line: no, I don't see him with a regular job, not during the EAR phase.  Was he as young as 18?  Possibly, but I doubt it.  20 - 22 in 1976--that's my feeling.

mf73

[portofleith]

Sept 26, 2014 16:13:59 GMT known_unknown said:

Aug 4, 2014 15:30:15 GMT portofleith said:

This victim was so courageous to write this book and each time I go back to reference passages she has written, I make notes or flag questions about her attack.

His very precise knowledge of schedules is one of the more mystifying elements of his crimes. I don't have ST at hand, but didn't some of the crimes involving younger girls, either babysitters or just teenagers home alone, take place within similar narrow time windows? The husband leaving for work is one thing as this tends to be at the same from day to day and therefore easily discoverable with stalking, but with some of the other incidents I'm pretty sure the parents were going out to do a one-time event so their departure time would not have been discoverable before hand. So did he just target a victim and wait/watch till they were alone? But how could he be sure that they wouldn't return in 5 minutes? So what does that leave? That he must have been in the house earlier and looked at their calendars so that he knew what they were doing and how long they would be gone? This would obviously not have been out of keeping with other evidence that he may have done this type of preliminary work, but as always I come back to the huge time commitment and organizational issues involved.  

Knuk-  The babysitter and young teen attacks are interesting and I think the door kicking in #29/#30 reflects an urgency on the part of EAR, who either did not know the sisters routine well enough or he just needed to act quickly not knowing when the parents would be home.  I believe that is also the factor in taking the teen girls outside to commit the rapes.. . .he knew that he could always scape into the darkness and the waterways if surprised by returning parents or siblings.

[Deleted]

Aug 17, 2014 12:08:08 GMT trickofthetail said:

Jul 25, 2014 22:12:05 GMT sammyt said:

True, but I think that compared to most offenders, EAR really, really didn't want to get caught (and still doesn't which may be why, despite an obvious ego, he hasn't re-emerged BTK style).

Sammy T..With his obvious ego and all the taunting in the past you'd  think he couldn't help but contact the media..LE etc.  Maybe he has sent an email or called LE and we "The Public" wouldn't know any different.

Come to think of it...does anyone have that photo from the old board where Ear/Ons and his wife are in the police station and she's wearing the shirt that says I'm with Ear/Ons!!!!Not to make fun of these crimes but hey he sure was able to get away with so many crimes! I mean come on?He walks into that old folks home or whatever in sac.and tells on himself and they tell him to kick rocks!He should of been called EARMAN with a cape but buck necked!!!

All I know is if any LE agency has any evidence they need to release it like ASAP!!!!

That is one hell of an image youve painted into my mind

[thrax]

Nov 14, 2014 16:18:47 GMT slumbergirl said:

Has anyone noticed that Shelby says a Diamond Knot was used in the October 5, 1976 EAR attack on "Jan" (ST calls her "Francis Woods", but it is Jane Carson-Sandler) in Citrus Heights? However, Jane Carson-Sandler does not mention this in her book.

I bookmarked that, yeah. I wonder if it's just that the particular knot used wasn't really important to her, and so was either left out or something she never knew about in the first place. I haven't read her book though, and it's definitely an interesting question. Could that have originally been a deliberate police holdback? There may well have been other cases where it was used and neither Shelby nor Crompton mentioned it.

[slumbergirl]

It would be very interesting to hear what Jane Carson-Sandler says about the diamond knot - especially how long it took for him to tie it if it was not pre-tied. However, she also said in her book that she does not remember portions of the sexual assault. I don't know if the knot-tying falls into that window or not.

[Drifter]

I have moved recent poster responses posted in book club (not allowed in book club section) to this more appropriate Library thread.

The book club is for poster reviews of books and poster questions for authors.

Drifter

[lepke]

The first rule of book club is: You do not talk about book club. The second rule of book club is: You do not talk about book club.

[slumbergirl]

Nov 14, 2014 23:51:58 GMT Drifter said:

I have moved recent poster responses posted in book club (not allowed in book club section) to this more appropriate Library thread.

The book club is for poster reviews of books and poster questions for authors.

Drifter

Drifter - I think if we don't allow commentary on the contents of the book in the Book Club section, it will be an empty section.  The books have already pretty much been reviewed in other threads and, as far as I know, none of the authors are going to visit and answer our questions. 

The limited scope of the Book Club section may work for the Michelle McNamara book because it has not been read and reviewed, yet.  Also, I guess it is possible that she will visit and answer questions.

[Drifter]

Nov 17, 2014 1:53:12 GMT slumbergirl said:

Nov 14, 2014 23:51:58 GMT Drifter said:

I have moved recent poster responses posted in book club (not allowed in book club section) to this more appropriate Library thread.

The book club is for poster reviews of books and poster questions for authors.

Drifter

Drifter - I think if we don't allow commentary on the contents of the book in the Book Club section, it will be an empty section.  The books have already pretty much been reviewed in other threads and, as far as I know, none of the authors are going to visit and answer our questions. 

The limited scope of the Book Club section may work for the Michelle McNamara book because it has not been read and reviewed, yet.  Also, I guess it is possible that she will visit and answer questions.

Yeah, I know what you're saying.  But if we allow commentary, then the threads in the Book Club won't be much different than threads in the main Library section.

What I may do is move selected formal reviews out of the Library section and into the Book Club.  We'll see how it goes.  We can make other changes later, as need arises.

Drifter

[Deleted]

I've just finished reading this book. It was very good, though very short. She's had an interesting career as a nurse, living all over the place. She didn't really talk about the rape. One interesting thing was she never discussed it with her son Paul, who was the three year old in bed with her, until he was in college. The only thing he remembered about it was a 'robber' moved him from one bed to the next.

When talking about being a recovering alcoholic, she said this, "God removed my addiction". What do we think of that comment? 

She's 70 this year.

[morf13]

May 14, 2016 22:23:17 GMT terri said:

I've just finished reading this book. It was very good, though very short. She's had an interesting career as a nurse, living all over the place. She didn't really talk about the rape. One interesting thing was she never discussed it with her son Paul, who was the three year old in bed with her, until he was in college. The only thing he remembered about it was a 'robber' moved him from one bed to the next.

When talking about being a recovering alcoholic, she said this, "God removed my addiction". What do we think of that comment? 

She's 70 this year.

Wow that is interesting, a NURSE. Did she have any medical field training or related type job around the time of her attack?

[Deleted]

Jane was an experienced nurse who had only been stationed at Travis AFB a short time when the attack took place. The rape was touched on but not in great detail which was good as the book was more about how she ultimately recovered from it and became a stronger person.

The one really unique aspect of this attack was that EAR seemed unusually preoccupied with her husband having first threatened to kill him over the phone and then making several references to his military rank during the assault calling him "The Captain."

According to Shelby EAR told her he had seen her at the McClellan Air Force Base Officers' Club but it was unclear to me whether she had actually been to that facility. The encounter with the strange man at Travis AFB was also addressed in more detail in 'Sudden Terror' than in Mrs. Sandler's account.

Overall I agree with Terri's assessment in that it was very good but short and hopefully it was therapeutic for her to have written it.

[meme]

Aug 17, 2014 12:08:08 GMT trickofthetail said:

Jul 25, 2014 22:12:05 GMT sammyt said:

True, but I think that compared to most offenders, EAR really, really didn't want to get caught (and still doesn't which may be why, despite an obvious ego, he hasn't re-emerged BTK style).

Sammy T..With his obvious ego and all the taunting in the past you'd  think he couldn't help but contact the media..LE etc.  Maybe he has sent an email or called LE and we "The Public" wouldn't know any different.

Come to think of it...does anyone have that photo from the old board where Ear/Ons and his wife are in the police station and she's wearing the shirt that says I'm with Ear/Ons!!!!Not to make fun of these crimes but hey he sure was able to get away with so many crimes! I mean come on?He walks into that old folks home or whatever in sac.and tells on himself and they tell him to kick rocks!He should of been called EARMAN with a cape but buck necked!!!

All I know is if any LE agency has any evidence they need to release it like ASAP!!!!

Haha so funny, stealing sex and people's lives. If you weren't believed it would have been because no one would have looked at your fat, genetic disorder looking self and thought you capable of climbing a fence, much less climbing out of bed. Try harder.