Post by zforce on Aug 17, 2014 15:18:54 GMT
I come from an LE family and studied Criminology for a couple years in college, but that's the extent of my association.
From a timeline/geographic perspective, if you consider the Eva Taylor murder one of his then I'm more inclined to believe that he may have some roots in Goleta as opposed to going there for work in 1979. It's hard for me to wrap my head around why he would drift from murder, then to rape for a number of years, and then explode into a vicious serial killer after that.
I consider the 10/24/79 rape to be a solid lead, which would make him very young, possibly high school age at the time of the Taylor murder. He would likely live nearby and possibly be personally acquainted with Taylor via a family member or other means. It's actually mentioned in another thread that a youth was seen jumping fences the night of the crime, which fits the profile. To me, her case sounds more like a classic interrupted burglary.
But saying this kid goes on to become EAR/ONS, it makes him unlikely to be VR as the ransackings there began at the exact same time as the Taylor murder and VR was known to be out prowling in 1973 as well.
Taylor murder aside though, I don't see a lot different in 1979 Goleta from his activity in Sac. I think the 10/24/1979 lead could be explosive to the case because of the vivid description that pins an accurate age to the offender, which would then allow all jurisdictions to reevaluate their cases.
I find it hard to believe there's two rapists of similar description using the creek beds of Goleta at the exact same time. Possible but not probable. Still, LE needs to weigh in because they have the decisive opinion here.
I think the Taylor crime could easily be a stand alone crime, particularly if it were a burglary gone wrong committed by a teenager. Unless I'm missing a crime wave that broke out in Goleta between the murder and summer 1976 when EAR turned up in Sac, it really does sound that way.
I'm of the belief the 10/24/79 rape makes for a better discussion piece than the Taylor murder, but that's just me.