Original Night Stalker
Encyclopedia
The Original Night Stalker is the moniker for an unidentified serial killer
and rapist
who murdered at least ten people in Southern California
from 1979 through 1986 and sexually assaulted
at least fifty in Northern California
from June 1976 to July 1979. However, the connection to the Northern California assaults was not made until 2001, until which time the perpetrator was dubbed as The East Area Rapist.
The Original Night Stalker/The East Area Rapist may be considered one of the worst and most prolific "unapprehended" serial offenders in history since the Middle Ages
. So far in the investigation, every named or investigated suspect has been cleared through DNA
, alibi
or other investigative means and methods.
, remains one of the most prominent and mysterious unsolved serial crimes in American history. Some California law enforcement authorities estimate his combined total number of victims at well over 50, including his rape
victims in Sacramento County
and Contra Costa County
, and his rape and murder victims in Goleta
, Ventura
, Dana Point
, and Irvine, California
. Additionally, some law enforcement authorities have attempted to link an additional 94 burglaries and a further murder, in Visalia, California
, to the Original Night Stalker.
The perpetrator's modus operandi
was to stalk
middle class
neighborhoods for victims who lived in single story homes, then commit hot prowl burglaries
. Early in his spree, the criminal sought out women alone by themselves, but later partially changed focus towards couples. During the time the perpetrator was known as the "East Area Rapist" his victims were left alive following the attack. Later the perpetrator began killing his victims and he became known as the "Original Night Stalker".
Typically he stealthily entered their living space late at night, and then took control with a handgun in a surprise home invasion. All victims were bound with ligatures the criminal brought to the crime scene. The male companion, if present, was either isolated or killed first, by gunshot in the first murder, and by bludgeoning
thereafter. Then, in most cases, a considerable amount of time would be spent sexually assaulting the female victim before bludgeoning her to death and ransacking the home.
The Original Night Stalker/East Area Rapist case was the motivating factor in the passage of legislation leading to the establishment of California's
DNA database
, which authorizes the collection of the DNA of all the accused and convicted felons in California. California's DNA data retrieval and storage program is considered by experts to be second only to Virginia's
in size and effectiveness in solving cold cases. Ironically, while the California DNA database motivated by this case has solved numerous previously unsolved cold cases across the country, the original case remains unsolved.
"Bird with a Broken Wing," a film based upon the life of Janelle Lisa Cruz, is currently in pre-production.
s.
attack on a couple living just blocks away in the same roughly two mile square (5 km²) area of the unincorporated Santa Barbara County community of Goleta, near San Jose Creek or one of its tributaries. In this attack, the perpetrator attacked a couple sleeping in their single story home on Queen Anne Lane. He had just stolen a bike from an open garage about a quarter mile to the west. It was a warm night and many windows were open. The attacker broke into the victims' home, took a knife from the kitchen and threatened the victims. After tying them up, the attacker briefly left the victims alone, allowing them to escape separately. The noise this created compelled the attacker, who was unable to chase both victims simultaneously, to abandon his attack and flee on the bike. A neighbor who was an FBI agent, responded to the noise and briefly pursued the perpetrator until he abandoned the bike and fled on foot through local back yards. The attacker also abandoned the knife at this point. The attack was later linked physically to the Offerman-Manning murders by shoeprints and the same roll of twine being used to bind the victims. When Goleta was incorporated as a city in 2002, the locations of the three crimes were outside the new city boundaries, just to the east.
Even prior to 2001's connection of the Original Night Stalker to the East Area Rapist, some law enforcement officials, particularly several from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, sought to link the Goleta cases separately to the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker. These postulated links were considered primarily due to similarity in modus operandi
. One of the already linked Original Night Stalker double murders did take place in Ventura, California, 40 miles east of Goleta, while the remaining murders took place in Orange County, California, an additional 90 miles to the southeast. A possible reason for discounting a connection was that the murderer in Goleta appeared to lose control of his victims and did not rape his female victims even when he had the opportunity to do so. Additionally, the Goleta murders show distinctive characteristics not found in the later crimes, such as the shooting of the victims with a gun and the presence of a recently stolen bicycle at the crime scene. In 2000 an official from the Santa Barbara
Sheriff's Department claimed that DNA found at a Goleta crime scene did not match that found in the linked Original Night Stalker crimes. However, not all of the seminal fluid or hair samples from the Goleta crimes have been preserved. Nevertheless, in 2011, DNA evidence proved that the Domingo-Sanchez murders (and therefore, via the dog, the Offerman-Manning murders) were committed by the Original Night Stalker.
. There are similarities in modus operandi, between the Visalia Ransacker and the Original Night Stalker/East Area Rapist.
At about the same time the Visalia Ransacker stopped his crime spree in Visalia, the East Area Rapist began attacking victims in Sacramento County, California. Based on witness descriptions of the East Area Rapist and the method of operation which was used to carry out his crimes, Detective McGowan, of the Visalia Police Department, attempted to link the Visalia Ransacker crimes to the East Area Rapist. Both the Visalia Ransacker and the East Area Rapist were described as physically fit white males in their twenties. In terms of modus operandi, both the Visalia Ransacker and the East Area Rapist pulled hot prowl burglaries on single-family residences in the middle of the night. Neither the Visalia Ransacker nor the East Area Rapist ever took valuable items from the homes they burglarized. Additionally, both the Visalia Ransacker and the East Area Rapist took firearms along when burglarizing residences.
The Visalia Ransacker has eluded capture as well and may actually have been the Original Night Stalker/East Area Rapist in his fledgling years.
It would not be until 1996 when DNA testing came on line that the murders would be linked.
In November 2002, journalist Colleen Cason wrote a newspaper series about the Original Night Stalker murders for the Ventura County Star. According to Cason's articles, Detective Larry Pool of the Orange County Sheriff's Department
visited California's Death Row at San Quentin State Prison
in an attempt to locate the Original Night Stalker. Detective Pool suspected that the Original Night Stalker had been captured and sentenced to death for some other violent crime. Nevertheless, none of the genetic samples collected from Death Row inmates at San Quentin matched the DNA of the Original Night Stalker.
In addition to describing the characteristics of the Original Night Stalker, the profile also speculates about the fate of the slayer. According to the profile, the Original Night Stalker could have been incarcerated following Janelle Cruz' murder or killed in the commission of a similar crime. As to the latter point, the profile indicates that law enforcement agencies should look into attempted hot prowl burglaries in the late 1980s which resulted in the death of a lone male offender. The profile also indicates that there is a slight chance the Original Night Stalker committed suicide; furthermore, it would be unlikely that he is confined in a mental institution.
The profile reveals that, following the original homicides in this series, teletypes were broadcast to law enforcement agencies throughout the United States. These teletypes requested information on similar home invasion attacks involving sexual assault, murder, bludgeoning, multiple victims, and/or bondage. As of 2011, no similar crimes have been reported in the United States. The profile propounds the possibility, however, that the Original Night Stalker could have continued committing his crimes in another country where records were not consulted for linkage purposes.
As a psychological profile is based on a probabilistic analysis, its accuracy cannot be assessed before the offender has been apprehended.
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
and rapist
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
who murdered at least ten people in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
from 1979 through 1986 and sexually assaulted
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
at least fifty in Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
from June 1976 to July 1979. However, the connection to the Northern California assaults was not made until 2001, until which time the perpetrator was dubbed as The East Area Rapist.
The Original Night Stalker/The East Area Rapist may be considered one of the worst and most prolific "unapprehended" serial offenders in history since the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. So far in the investigation, every named or investigated suspect has been cleared through DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
, alibi
Alibi
Alibi is a 1929 American crime film directed by Roland West. The screenplay was written by West and C. Gardner Sullivan, who adapted the 1927 Broadway stage play, Nightstick, written by Elaine Sterne Carrington, J.C...
or other investigative means and methods.
Background
This case, along with that of the Zodiac KillerZodiac Killer
The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The killer's identity remains unknown. The Zodiac murdered victims in Benicia, Vallejo, Lake Berryessa and San Francisco between December 1968 and October 1969. Four men and three women...
, remains one of the most prominent and mysterious unsolved serial crimes in American history. Some California law enforcement authorities estimate his combined total number of victims at well over 50, including his rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
victims in Sacramento County
Sacramento County, California
Sacramento County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Sacramento, which is also the state capital. As of 2010 the county had a population of 1,418,788....
and Contra Costa County
Contra Costa County, California
Contra Costa County is a primarily suburban county in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,049,025...
, and his rape and murder victims in Goleta
Goleta, California
Goleta is a city in southern Santa Barbara County, California, USA. It was incorporated as a city in 2002, after a long period as the largest unincorporated, populated area in the county. As of the 2000 census, the Census-designated place had a total population of 55,204, however, a significant...
, Ventura
Ventura, California
Ventura is the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States, incorporated in 1866. The population was 106,433 at the 2010 census, up from 100,916 at the 2000 census. Ventura is accessible via U.S...
, Dana Point
Dana Point, California
-Climate:Dana Point enjoys a mild climate where temperatures tend to average around the 60's. The warmest month of the year is August with an average temperature of 79 degrees Fahrenheit. The coldest month is December with an average minimum temperature of 44 degrees Fahrenheit.-2010:The 2010...
, and Irvine, California
Irvine, California
Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...
. Additionally, some law enforcement authorities have attempted to link an additional 94 burglaries and a further murder, in Visalia, California
Visalia, California
Visalia is a Central California city situated in the heart of California’s agricultural San Joaquin Valley, approximately southeast of San Francisco and north of Los Angeles...
, to the Original Night Stalker.
The perpetrator's modus operandi
Modus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
was to stalk
Stalking
Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
neighborhoods for victims who lived in single story homes, then commit hot prowl burglaries
Hot prowl burglary
A hot prowl burglary is a sub-type of burglary in which the offender enters a building or residence while occupants are inside the location. The overarching intent of a hot prowl burglary can be theft, robbery, sexual assault, murder, or another crime...
. Early in his spree, the criminal sought out women alone by themselves, but later partially changed focus towards couples. During the time the perpetrator was known as the "East Area Rapist" his victims were left alive following the attack. Later the perpetrator began killing his victims and he became known as the "Original Night Stalker".
Typically he stealthily entered their living space late at night, and then took control with a handgun in a surprise home invasion. All victims were bound with ligatures the criminal brought to the crime scene. The male companion, if present, was either isolated or killed first, by gunshot in the first murder, and by bludgeoning
Club (weapon)
A club is among the simplest of all weapons. A club is essentially a short staff, or stick, usually made of wood, and wielded as a weapon since prehistoric times....
thereafter. Then, in most cases, a considerable amount of time would be spent sexually assaulting the female victim before bludgeoning her to death and ransacking the home.
The Original Night Stalker/East Area Rapist case was the motivating factor in the passage of legislation leading to the establishment of California's
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
DNA database
DNA database
A DNA database or DNA databank is a database of DNA data. A DNA database can be used in the analysis of genetic diseases, genetic fingerprinting for criminology, or genetic genealogy. DNA databases may be public or private. These databases do not normally hold DNA except for a short time...
, which authorizes the collection of the DNA of all the accused and convicted felons in California. California's DNA data retrieval and storage program is considered by experts to be second only to Virginia's
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
in size and effectiveness in solving cold cases. Ironically, while the California DNA database motivated by this case has solved numerous previously unsolved cold cases across the country, the original case remains unsolved.
Southern California
Ten murders in Goleta, Ventura, Dana Point and Irvine, California, have been linked by DNA evidence to the Original Night Stalker.- On December 30, 1979, Dr. Robert Offerman, 44, and Debra Alexandra Manning, 35, were found shot dead in bed at Offerman's condominium on Avendida Pequena in Goleta. The bindings on Offerman were untied indicating he had apparently lunged at the attacker. Neighbors heard the gunshots but failed to respond to them, attributing them to innocuous causes. The killer brought a white German Shepherd DogGerman Shepherd DogThe German Shepherd Dog , also known as an Alsatian or just the German Shepherd, is a breed of large-sized dog that originated in Germany. The German Shepherd is a relatively new breed of dog, with its origin dating to 1899. As part of the Herding Group, the German Shepherd is a working dog...
(with a missing toe) with him and fed it a leftover Christmas turkey. The killer also broke into the adjoining residence to the west of the crime scene, which was vacant at the time, and stole a bicycle from outside another neighboring residence. The bicycle was later found abandoned on a street to the north of the crime scene.
- On March 13, 1980, Charlene Smith, 33, and Lyman Smith, 43, were found murdered in their home in Ventura. A log from the fireplace was used to bludgeon both the victims. Their wrists and ankles were bound with drapery cord and an unusual Chinese knot, known as the diamond knotDiamond knotThe diamond knot is a knot for forming a decorative loop on the end of a cord such as on a lanyard.-Tying:The diamond knot begins as a carrick bend with the ends exiting diagonally opposite each other...
, was used on their wrists.
- On August 19, 1980, Keith Harrington, 24, and Patrice Harrington, 27, were found bludgeoned to death in their home in the Niguel Shores gated community in Dana Point. Although there was evidence that the Harringtons were bound at the wrist and ankles, no ligatureLigature (medicine)In surgery or medical procedure, a ligature consists of a piece of thread tied around an anatomical structure, usually a blood vessel or another hollow structure to shut it off. With a blood vessel the surgeon will clamp the vessel perpendicular to the axis of the artery or vein with a hemostat,...
s or murder weapon were found at the scene. The Harringtons were married only three months at the time of their deaths. Patrice was a nurse in Irvine, while Keith was a medical student at the University of California, IrvineUniversity of California, IrvineThe University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
.
- On February 6, 1981, Manuela Witthuhn, 28, was murdered in her home in Irvine. Again, while the body showed signs of being tied before being bludgeoned, no ligatures or murder weapon were found at the scene. The victim was married, but her husband was recuperating from an illness in the hospital; thus she was alone at the time of the attack. A lamp and crystal curio was removed from her house, presumably by the killer. Also, detectives remarked that Mrs. Witthuhn's television was found in the backyard, which was possibly the killer's attempt to make it appear as a botched robbery.
- On July 26/27, 1981, Cheri Domingo, 35, and Gregory Sanchez, 27, were bludgeoned to death in Domingo's home on Toltec Way in Goleta, several blocks south of the Offerman-Manning crime scene, with a tool taken from a small shed in the backyard. Sanchez was also shot and not tied up. His body was found in front of the bedroom closet. Apparently he managed to lunge at the attacker before he could be tied up and was incapacitated with a gunshot wound. As in the Offerman-Manning case, although residences were relatively close together, no neighbors responded to the sound of the gunshot. The dog was also present at this crime scene.
- On May 4, 1986, Janelle Lisa Cruz, 18, was found bludgeoned to death in her Irvine home. Her family was on vacation in Mexico at the time of the attack. A pipe wrenchPipe wrenchThe pipe wrench is an adjustable wrench used for turning soft iron pipes and fittings with a rounded surface. The design of the adjustable jaw allows it to rock in the frame, such that any forward pressure on the handle tends to pull the jaws tighter together. Teeth angled in the direction of turn...
was reported missing by Cruz' stepfather and was the probable murder weapon.
"Bird with a Broken Wing," a film based upon the life of Janelle Lisa Cruz, is currently in pre-production.
Northern California
In 2001, California law enforcement linked DNA evidence from three presumed East Area Rapist crimes committed in Sacramento and Contra Costa County, California to DNA found from Southern California victims of the Original Night Stalker. The connection of the East Area Rapist to the Original Night Stalker make this the most extensive and geographically widespread crime series in California history. The case remains open in multiple California jurisdictionJurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
s.
Goleta murders
The Goleta Murders were the Offerman-Manning and Domingo-Sanchez double murders mentioned above. They were preceded on October 1, 1979, by another home invasionHome invasion
Home invasion is the act of illegally burgling or entering a private and occupied dwelling for the purpose of committing a crime Home invasion is the act of illegally burgling or entering a private and occupied dwelling for the purpose of committing a crime Home invasion is the act of illegally...
attack on a couple living just blocks away in the same roughly two mile square (5 km²) area of the unincorporated Santa Barbara County community of Goleta, near San Jose Creek or one of its tributaries. In this attack, the perpetrator attacked a couple sleeping in their single story home on Queen Anne Lane. He had just stolen a bike from an open garage about a quarter mile to the west. It was a warm night and many windows were open. The attacker broke into the victims' home, took a knife from the kitchen and threatened the victims. After tying them up, the attacker briefly left the victims alone, allowing them to escape separately. The noise this created compelled the attacker, who was unable to chase both victims simultaneously, to abandon his attack and flee on the bike. A neighbor who was an FBI agent, responded to the noise and briefly pursued the perpetrator until he abandoned the bike and fled on foot through local back yards. The attacker also abandoned the knife at this point. The attack was later linked physically to the Offerman-Manning murders by shoeprints and the same roll of twine being used to bind the victims. When Goleta was incorporated as a city in 2002, the locations of the three crimes were outside the new city boundaries, just to the east.
Even prior to 2001's connection of the Original Night Stalker to the East Area Rapist, some law enforcement officials, particularly several from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, sought to link the Goleta cases separately to the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker. These postulated links were considered primarily due to similarity in modus operandi
Modus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
. One of the already linked Original Night Stalker double murders did take place in Ventura, California, 40 miles east of Goleta, while the remaining murders took place in Orange County, California, an additional 90 miles to the southeast. A possible reason for discounting a connection was that the murderer in Goleta appeared to lose control of his victims and did not rape his female victims even when he had the opportunity to do so. Additionally, the Goleta murders show distinctive characteristics not found in the later crimes, such as the shooting of the victims with a gun and the presence of a recently stolen bicycle at the crime scene. In 2000 an official from the Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
Sheriff's Department claimed that DNA found at a Goleta crime scene did not match that found in the linked Original Night Stalker crimes. However, not all of the seminal fluid or hair samples from the Goleta crimes have been preserved. Nevertheless, in 2011, DNA evidence proved that the Domingo-Sanchez murders (and therefore, via the dog, the Offerman-Manning murders) were committed by the Original Night Stalker.
Visalia Ransacker
The Visalia Ransacker is linked to some 94 burglaries and the murder of Claude Snelling, occurring in the mid 1970s, in Visalia, CaliforniaVisalia, California
Visalia is a Central California city situated in the heart of California’s agricultural San Joaquin Valley, approximately southeast of San Francisco and north of Los Angeles...
. There are similarities in modus operandi, between the Visalia Ransacker and the Original Night Stalker/East Area Rapist.
At about the same time the Visalia Ransacker stopped his crime spree in Visalia, the East Area Rapist began attacking victims in Sacramento County, California. Based on witness descriptions of the East Area Rapist and the method of operation which was used to carry out his crimes, Detective McGowan, of the Visalia Police Department, attempted to link the Visalia Ransacker crimes to the East Area Rapist. Both the Visalia Ransacker and the East Area Rapist were described as physically fit white males in their twenties. In terms of modus operandi, both the Visalia Ransacker and the East Area Rapist pulled hot prowl burglaries on single-family residences in the middle of the night. Neither the Visalia Ransacker nor the East Area Rapist ever took valuable items from the homes they burglarized. Additionally, both the Visalia Ransacker and the East Area Rapist took firearms along when burglarizing residences.
The Visalia Ransacker has eluded capture as well and may actually have been the Original Night Stalker/East Area Rapist in his fledgling years.
Suspects eliminated
Throughout the course of the investigation into the Original Night Stalker murders, the following persons were suspected of committing the crimes, only to be determined to not be the culprit:- Brett Glasby — An alleged drug dealer and gangbanger from Goleta, CaliforniaGoleta, CaliforniaGoleta is a city in southern Santa Barbara County, California, USA. It was incorporated as a city in 2002, after a long period as the largest unincorporated, populated area in the county. As of the 2000 census, the Census-designated place had a total population of 55,204, however, a significant...
who was killed in Mexico in 1982. Glasby's untimely death, prior to the murder of Janelle Cruz, eliminates him as a suspect. - Paul "Cornfed" Schneider — A high-ranking member of the Aryan BrotherhoodAryan BrotherhoodThe Aryan Brotherhood, also known as The Brand, the AB, or the One-Two, is a white supremacist prison gang and organized crime syndicate in the United States with about 20,000 members in and out of prison...
prison gang. Schneider is a career criminal who was living in Orange County, CaliforniaOrange County, CaliforniaOrange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
when the murders of the Harringtons, Manuela Witthuhn, and Janelle Cruz occurred. In the late 1990s, while serving time at Pelican Bay State PrisonPelican Bay State PrisonPelican Bay State Prison is a supermax California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison near Crescent City in unincorporated Del Norte County, California. The facility is explicitly designed to keep California’s alleged “worst of the worst” prisoners in long-term solitary...
in Crescent City, CaliforniaCrescent City, CaliforniaCrescent City is the county seat and only incorporated city in Del Norte County, California. Named for the crescent-shaped stretch of sandy beach south of the city, Crescent City had a total population of 7,643 in the 2010 census, up from 4,006 in the 2000 census...
, Schneider provided a DNA sample to authorities. This sample cleared him as the Original Night Stalker. - Joe Alsip — A business partner of victim Lyman Smith. Alsip was a friend of the Smiths and visited their home on High Point Drive in Ventura the day before the murders. Alsip's pastor claimed that he had confessed to him during a family counseling session, but this confession was considered dubious by the Ventura County District Attorney's Office. Nevertheless, Alsip was arraigned for the murders of Lyman and Charlene Smith in 1982. After the preliminary hearingPreliminary hearingWithin some criminal justice systems, a preliminary hearing is a proceeding, after a criminal complaint has been filed by the prosecutor, to determine whether there is enough evidence to require a trial...
, however, all of the charges against him were dropped.
It would not be until 1996 when DNA testing came on line that the murders would be linked.
In November 2002, journalist Colleen Cason wrote a newspaper series about the Original Night Stalker murders for the Ventura County Star. According to Cason's articles, Detective Larry Pool of the Orange County Sheriff's Department
Orange County Sheriff's Department
The Orange County Sheriff's Department is the law enforcement agency serving Orange County, California. It currently serves the unincorporated areas of Orange County and twelve contract cities in the county: Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Mission...
visited California's Death Row at San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin State Prison is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men in unincorporated San Quentin, Marin County, California, United States. Opened in July 1852, it is the oldest prison in the state. California's only death row for male inmates, the largest...
in an attempt to locate the Original Night Stalker. Detective Pool suspected that the Original Night Stalker had been captured and sentenced to death for some other violent crime. Nevertheless, none of the genetic samples collected from Death Row inmates at San Quentin matched the DNA of the Original Night Stalker.
Psychological profile
After criminalists matched serological evidence found at the southern California murder scenes, a psychological profile of the Original Night Stalker was compiled. According to Leslie D'Ambrosia, who was the primary author of the profile, it's likely that the Original Night Stalker would possess the following characteristics:- White male
- Emotional age of 26 to 30 at the time the crimes were committed
- Likely began as a voyeur in his late teens or early twenties.
- Lived and/or worked near Ventura, California in 1980
- Had some means of income, but did not work in the early morning hours
- Drove a well-maintained car
- Dressed well and would not stand out in upscale neighborhoods
- Would appear harmless
- Intelligent and articulate
- Neat and well-organized in his personal life
- Possibly unmarried and did not enter into long-term relationships
- Would have been described by those who knew him as arrogant, domineering, manipulative, and a chronic liar
- Had some knowledge of police investigative methods and evidence gathering techniques
- Was a skilled and experienced cat burglar and may have begun that way
- Was in good physical condition
- Had a criminal record as a teenager which was expunged
- Engaged in sex with prostitutes
- Peeped into the windows of many potential victims who were not attacked
- Engaged in deviant paraphilic behavior and brutal sex in his personal life
- Sexually functional and capable of ejaculation with consenting and non-consenting partners
- Self-assured and confident in his abilities
- Hated women for real or perceived wrongs
- Would continue committing violent crimes until incapacitated by prison, death, or some other intervention
- If married, probably has a submissive spouse who tolerated his sexually deviant behavior
In addition to describing the characteristics of the Original Night Stalker, the profile also speculates about the fate of the slayer. According to the profile, the Original Night Stalker could have been incarcerated following Janelle Cruz' murder or killed in the commission of a similar crime. As to the latter point, the profile indicates that law enforcement agencies should look into attempted hot prowl burglaries in the late 1980s which resulted in the death of a lone male offender. The profile also indicates that there is a slight chance the Original Night Stalker committed suicide; furthermore, it would be unlikely that he is confined in a mental institution.
The profile reveals that, following the original homicides in this series, teletypes were broadcast to law enforcement agencies throughout the United States. These teletypes requested information on similar home invasion attacks involving sexual assault, murder, bludgeoning, multiple victims, and/or bondage. As of 2011, no similar crimes have been reported in the United States. The profile propounds the possibility, however, that the Original Night Stalker could have continued committing his crimes in another country where records were not consulted for linkage purposes.
As a psychological profile is based on a probabilistic analysis, its accuracy cannot be assessed before the offender has been apprehended.