DNA evidence linked DeAngelo to eight murders in
Goleta,
Ventura,
Dana Point, and
Irvine; two other murders in Goleta, lacking DNA evidence, were linked by
modus operandi. DeAngelo pleaded guilty to three other murders: two in Rancho Cordova and one in
Visalia. He also committed more than 50 known rapes in the California counties of
Sacramento,
Contra Costa,
Stanislaus,
San Joaquin,
Alameda,
Santa Clara, and
Yolo; and he was linked to hundreds of incidents of thefts,
burglaries,
vandalism,
peeping,
stalking, and prowling.
Visalia Ransacker (1974–1975) It was long suspected that the training ground of the criminal who became the East Area Rapist was
Visalia. Earlier Visalia crimes dating back as early as May 1973 and other sprees like that of the "Cordova
Cat Burglar", during which he killed several dogs by
blunt force, and the "Exeter Ransacker", as well as Visalia burglaries that took place after the shooting of Detective William McGowen (see below under "Shootings"), are now suspected to be linked also. Over a period of 20 months, DeAngelo is believed to have been responsible for one murder and around 120 burglaries. In late-April 2018, the Visalia chief of police stated that while there was no DNA linking DeAngelo to the Central Valley cases, his department had other evidence that played a role in the investigation; and he was "confident that the Visalia Ransacker has been captured". Though the
statutes of limitations for the burglaries have each expired, DeAngelo was formally charged on August 13, 2018, with the first degree murder of
Claude Snelling in 1975. In 2020, DeAngelo pleaded guilty to the Snelling murder.
Burglaries The first recorded ransacking occurred on March 19, 1974, when a sum of $50 in coins was stolen from a
piggy bank. Most of the Ransacker's activities involved breaking into houses, rifling through or vandalizing the owner's possessions, scattering women's underclothes and stealing a range of low-value items while often ignoring banknotes and higher-valued items in plain sight. The Ransacker would also often arrange or display items in the house. Items emptied included piggy banks and coin jars; and stolen items often included
Blue Chip Stamps, foreign or historic coins, and personal items (such as single earrings, cuff-links, rings, or medallions) but also included six weapons and various types of ammunition. There were 12 separate incidents on November 30, 1974. • climbing fences and moving through established routes such as parks, walkways, ditches, and trails • attempting to pry open multiple points of entry, particularly windows • leaving multiple points of escape open, especially windows, as well as the house, garage, and garden doors • moving removed window screens onto beds or into bedrooms • placing "warning items" such as dishes or bottles against doors and on door handles • wearing gloves (given the absence of fingerprint evidence)
Shootings On September 11, 1975, DeAngelo broke into the home of Claude Snelling, 45. Snelling, a
journalism professor at the College of the Sequoias, had previously chased a prowler discovered under his 16-year-old daughter's bedroom window around 10:00 p.m. on February 5, 1975. Upon leaving his bedroom, Snelling ran through the open back door and confronted a ski-masked intruder in his carport attempting to
kidnap his daughter, who had been subdued with threats of being stabbed or shot. Snelling was then shot twice, staggered back into the house to his wife, and later died. After the shooting, the assailant punched and kicked the daughter, leaving her on the ground, and fled the scene. A stolen
bicycle, linked to the assailant, was found nearby at 615 Redwood Street. a masked man entered the back yard of a house at 1505 W. Kaweah Avenue, near where the Ransacker had been reported to frequent. When Detective William McGowen (on
stakeout inside the garage) attempted to detain the man, the suspect shrieked, removed his mask, and feigned surrender after McGowen fired a warning shot. However, after jumping the fence to the house at 1501, he pulled out a
revolver with his left hand and fired once near McGowen's face, shattering his flashlight. Nearby officers rushed to aid McGowen, and the shooter was able to escape. DeAngelo's initial
modus operandi was to stalk middle-class neighborhoods at night in search of women who were alone in one-story homes, usually near a school, creek, trail or other open space that would provide a quick escape. He was seen a number of times but always successfully fled; on one occasion, he shot and seriously wounded a young pursuer. Most victims had seen or heard a prowler on their property before the attacks, and many had experienced break-ins. Police believed that the offender would conduct extensive
reconnaissance in a targeted neighborhood—looking into windows and prowling in yards—before selecting a home to attack. It was believed that he sometimes entered the homes of future victims to unlock windows, unload guns, and plant
ligatures for later use. He frequently telephoned future victims, sometimes for months in advance, to learn their daily routines. Although DeAngelo originally targeted women alone in their homes or with children, he eventually preferred attacking couples. This change in
modus operandi is believed to be a direct result of media reports claiming he only attacked women alone in the home. His usual method was to break in through a window or sliding glass door and awaken the sleeping occupants with a flashlight, threatening them with a
handgun. The bindings were often so tight that the victims' hands were numb for hours after being untied. He then separated the couple, often stacking dishes on the man's back and threatening to kill everyone in the house if he heard them rattle. He would then move the woman to the living room and rape her repeatedly. A decade later, police reported that DeAngelo repeatedly said, "I hate you, Bonnie" (the name of his former fiancée) during a 1978 rape, the 37th attack. DeAngelo sometimes spent hours in the home ransacking closets and drawers, eating food in the kitchen, drinking beer, raping the woman again, or making additional threats. Victims sometimes thought he had left the house before he "jump[ed] from the darkness". The Maggiores fled after a confrontation in the street but were chased down and shot to death. Some investigators suspected that they had been murdered by the East Area Rapist because of their proximity to the other attacks' locations, and a shoelace was found nearby. The FBI announced on June 15, 2016, that it was confident that the East Area Rapist had murdered the Maggiores. On June 29, 2020, DeAngelo entered a plea of guilty to these murders.
Original Night Stalker (1979–1986) Shortly after the rape committed on July 5, 1979, DeAngelo moved to
Southern California and began killing his victims, first striking in
Santa Barbara County in October. The attacks lasted until 1981, with a lone 1986 attack. Only the couple in the first attack survived, alerting neighbors and forcing the intruder to flee; the other victims were murdered by gunshot or
bludgeoning. Since DeAngelo was not linked to these crimes for decades, he was known as the Night Stalker by Santa Barbara County investigators. The other murders in
Ventura,
Irvine and
Dana Point were linked together through DNA evidence prior to 2000, and the assailant was renamed the Original Night Stalker after serial killer
Richard Ramirez had been designated with the former nickname.
1979 On October 1, an intruder broke in and tied up a Goleta couple. Alarmed at hearing him say, "I'll kill 'em" to himself, the man and woman tried to escape when he left the room, and the woman screamed. Realizing that the alarm had been raised, the intruder fled on a bicycle. Paw prints of a large dog were found at the scene, leading to speculation that the killer may have brought one with him. The killer ate leftover Christmas turkey from Offerman's refrigerator, leaving the remnants in the kitchen. There was also evidence the killer had broken into the vacant adjoining condo and stolen a
bicycle, later found abandoned on a street north of the scene, from a third residence in the complex.
1980 On March 13, 33-year-old interior designer Charlene Smith and 43-year-old attorney Lyman Smith were murdered in their Ventura home. Charlene had also been raped. Their wrists and ankles had been bound with
drapery cord. On August 19, 24-year-old Keith Eli Harrington and 27-year-old Patrice Anne Harrington were found bludgeoned to death in their home on Cockleshell Drive in Dana Point's Niguel Shores
gated community. Patrice Harrington had also been raped. She was bludgeoned so severely that her face and skull were pulverized. Although there was evidence that the Harringtons' wrists and ankles were bound, no murder weapon or ligatures were found at the scene. The Harringtons had been married for three months at the time of their deaths. Patrice was a pediatric nurse in Irvine, and Keith was a fourth year medical student at
UC Irvine. He was on course to graduate early in December 1980.
1981 On February 6, 28-year-old Manuela Witthuhn was raped and murdered in her Irvine home. Although Witthuhn's body had signs of being tied before she was bludgeoned, On July 27, 35-year-old Cheri Domingo and 27-year-old Gregory Sanchez became the Original Night Stalker's tenth and eleventh murder victims. Both were attacked in Domingo's residence on Toltec Way in Goleta (several blocks south of Robert Offerman's condominium), where Domingo was living temporarily; it was owned by a relative and up for sale. The offender entered the house through a small bathroom window. Some believe that Sanchez may have realized he was dealing with the man responsible for the Offerman–Manning murders and tried to tackle the killer rather than be tied up. Again, no neighbors responded to the gunshot. Authorities believed that the attacker may have worked as a painter or in a similar job at the Calle Real Shopping Centre. and bludgeoned in her Irvine home. Her family was on vacation in Mexico at the time of the attack. The house was for sale and her body was discovered by a
realtor who stopped by to show the house to a prospective buyer. Janelle's body was found on her bed, beaten beyond recognition, with her teeth found in both her hair and lungs.
Other suspected murders After DeAngelo was arrested, he was also suspected of committing the 1974 Visalia rape and murder of Jennifer Armour, the 1975 Exeter rape and murder of Donna Jo Richmond, and a
1978 murder of a woman and her son in
Simi Valley, but was cleared as a suspect in all four murders by DNA testing.
Victoria Police ruled out a link between DeAngelo, who docked in Australia during his Navy service, and the Melbourne serial child rapist and murderer known as "
Mr Cruel". ==Communications==