Post by truthandsoul on Jul 13, 2013 0:59:34 GMT
I’ve been very interested in the possibility that there are more unsolved murders in Orange County (and perhaps elsewhere) that might be the work of the GSK. It’s hard for me to believe he was so active in Sacramento/Contra Costa, but then slowed down so enormously when in Southern California. The big gap between Domingo/Sanchez and Cruz is also something that leaves me scratching my head.
The best way to start, since apparently there’s no DNA evidence to link the GSK to these unsolved cases, is linking by MO. I tend to characterize GSK’s MO as bludgeoning, but he’s known to have carried a gun and a knife, and having at least shot Offerman, Manning, Domingo and Sanchez, if not additionally, the Maggiores and Snelling, it seems the bludgeoning characterization is limiting. However, all of the GSK’s Orange County victims: the Harringtons, Witthuhn and Cruz, were all bludgeoned to death, and the females raped.
Coincidentally, there was another serial killer in Orange County in the late 1970’s whose MO was rape and murder by bludgeoning, this is Gerald Parker aka “the Bedroom Basher”. Parker was linked in 1996, by DNA evidence or confession, to six murders from 1978 and 1979. He was already incarcerated for rape in 1980 at the time the murders charges were filed against him, and was linked to a few other unsolved rapes, but the statute of limitations on those charges had run out. Parker’s MO additionally tended to include breaking into first story apartments and then bludgeoning and raping single women. Since the MO of the Witthuhn and Cruz ONS murders is somewhat similar and Parker had not yet been linked to the Bedroom Basher crimes when Witthuhn and Cruz were murdered, I’ve been curious if the ONS was copycatting or “hiding in the shadows” of the UNSUB who would eventually be recognized as Parker.
To this end, I’ve been looking at unsolved murders in Orange County, at this point, largely with an MO involving bludgeoning, a single female, where rape was ostensibly the aim occurring from the mid-70s to early 80s. Unfortunately, my list below is by no means complete; every time I do a little more reading, I find another name or two, but at least this is a place to start.
You’ll see a few other names of suspects that were eventually convicted of singular murders from the list. Historically, as you read the newspaper clippings, the LE was careful to not attribute all the murders, at least the bludgeoning/rape ones, to a single serial killer, but at some point, they seemed overwhelmed with 10 or 11 unsolved murders and/or rapes in the same general area with the same general MO. In fact, several of the articles on the Witthuhn murder mentioned the possible link to the unsolved OC series.
The victim’s names given as initial survived the attack. The most covered is “DG” whose ex-husband was wrongly convicted of the death of her unborn fetus and spent 17 years in prison before Parker confessed to that murder. Ironically, Parker is black and DG's ex is white. It's also worth noting that Parker was an ex-Marine, stationed in El Toro.
Separately, I’ll go a little bit into the Unsolved ones that I think are worth keeping in mind; specifically, Foster and Smith, although this happens before EAR #1 attack, Patricia Neufeld who was bludgeoned with a bowling pin and Jane Ellen Bennington who was strangled. The others are all interesting, but a bit of a stretch for GSK.
The best way to start, since apparently there’s no DNA evidence to link the GSK to these unsolved cases, is linking by MO. I tend to characterize GSK’s MO as bludgeoning, but he’s known to have carried a gun and a knife, and having at least shot Offerman, Manning, Domingo and Sanchez, if not additionally, the Maggiores and Snelling, it seems the bludgeoning characterization is limiting. However, all of the GSK’s Orange County victims: the Harringtons, Witthuhn and Cruz, were all bludgeoned to death, and the females raped.
Coincidentally, there was another serial killer in Orange County in the late 1970’s whose MO was rape and murder by bludgeoning, this is Gerald Parker aka “the Bedroom Basher”. Parker was linked in 1996, by DNA evidence or confession, to six murders from 1978 and 1979. He was already incarcerated for rape in 1980 at the time the murders charges were filed against him, and was linked to a few other unsolved rapes, but the statute of limitations on those charges had run out. Parker’s MO additionally tended to include breaking into first story apartments and then bludgeoning and raping single women. Since the MO of the Witthuhn and Cruz ONS murders is somewhat similar and Parker had not yet been linked to the Bedroom Basher crimes when Witthuhn and Cruz were murdered, I’ve been curious if the ONS was copycatting or “hiding in the shadows” of the UNSUB who would eventually be recognized as Parker.
To this end, I’ve been looking at unsolved murders in Orange County, at this point, largely with an MO involving bludgeoning, a single female, where rape was ostensibly the aim occurring from the mid-70s to early 80s. Unfortunately, my list below is by no means complete; every time I do a little more reading, I find another name or two, but at least this is a place to start.
You’ll see a few other names of suspects that were eventually convicted of singular murders from the list. Historically, as you read the newspaper clippings, the LE was careful to not attribute all the murders, at least the bludgeoning/rape ones, to a single serial killer, but at some point, they seemed overwhelmed with 10 or 11 unsolved murders and/or rapes in the same general area with the same general MO. In fact, several of the articles on the Witthuhn murder mentioned the possible link to the unsolved OC series.
The victim’s names given as initial survived the attack. The most covered is “DG” whose ex-husband was wrongly convicted of the death of her unborn fetus and spent 17 years in prison before Parker confessed to that murder. Ironically, Parker is black and DG's ex is white. It's also worth noting that Parker was an ex-Marine, stationed in El Toro.
Separately, I’ll go a little bit into the Unsolved ones that I think are worth keeping in mind; specifically, Foster and Smith, although this happens before EAR #1 attack, Patricia Neufeld who was bludgeoned with a bowling pin and Jane Ellen Bennington who was strangled. The others are all interesting, but a bit of a stretch for GSK.
