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When the East Area Rapist began his crime spree over 40 years ago, and reached crescendo over 1977-78, no one knew he would advance to become California’s No 1 serial predator in history. He began in the eastern suburbs of Sacramento, California’s capital, in 1976, and after repeated assaults on houses and their occupants was dubbed the East Area Rapist. Eventually he expanded to Stockton, then Modesto, Davis, and then Contra Costa County in the East Bay Area of San Francisco. His first and somewhat dull moniker EAR— the acronym for East Area Rapist— stuck with him. In the other community newspapers he was referred to as Sacramento’s East Area Rapist. Frankly, such a moniker was accurate enough.
In 1979 he vanished from northern California. An attack eerily reminiscent of his MO happened in October 1979 in Goleta, just north of Santa Barbara in southern California. Later that December, again nearby in Goleta there was the first double murder. Over 1979-1981 more double murders (couples in bed) occurred, and two single murders of women home alone. These were spread over the greater Los Angeles area of So. California. The killer bludgeoned his victims to death. There were no survivors of the murders, obviously, so it was impossible to be definitely sure that EAR was the culprit despite some indications pointing to his distinctive prowling MO. Local So. Cal jurisdictions dubbed this murderer “Night Stalker.” It was the most appropriate name he ever had.
“Night Stalker” struck over such a wide swath of territory that it was still difficult to determine if one killer was involved. With such ambiguity haunting the murders, Night Stalker never gleaned any kind of real press attention. The moniker was not something the public knew about. When Richard Ramirez was dubbed The Night Stalker, the name was reserved for him in the popular forum. But DNA and forensics would eventually link EAR to the So. Cal murders. It took 20 years to do so, but by the early 21st century it was known he had turned murderer and killed 10 victims, his last in 1986. Thereafter there were no more murders or rapes reflecting EAR’s distinctive MO. Apparently he had vanished for good. Thus after 10 years ended the crime spree of EAR, and it took about 15 years to put it all in perspective.
After this, EAR became known by the combined East Area Rapist/Original Night Stalker— EAR/ONS. Granted, neither alone nor combined do we get a very catchy handle. Some amateurs tried to rectify this. The Diamond Knot Killer was one attempt. But it sounded too Dashiell Hammet and was very inaccurate. It didn’t include the years of raping, stalking and terrorizing. It only tried to capitalize on the most marketable aspects of his crimes. It was a title that came from the “buffs” and their yen for reading about murders. It finally faded away. Another was The Golden State Killer. It equally excluded anything distinctive about EAR and concentrated only on the murders. The motive for this moniker is even harder to fathom. It too was never official, but unlike the Film Noir Diamond Knot Killer it had the offensive quality of glorifying a serial killer and elevating him to a State’s official nickname. Unfortunately, for some extraordinary reason the name still gets bandied about without any thought to its origins and the offensive implications of glorifying a serial murderer.
No serial killer has ever been given the honor, the distinction if you will, of meriting a State’s official nickname. Period. There is no Show-Me State Killer for Missouri. No Empire State Killer for New York. No Volunteer State Killer for Tennessee. No Lone Star State Killer for Texas. No killer has ever been elevated to an official product or tourist attraction of the State.
There is a convention to naming serial killers/criminals, and most names either come from the killer themselves or from the press or law enforcement. Each reflects the killer’s modus operandi or signature. “Golden State Killer,” aside from sounding like it should be on a crate of produce or highway sign, only indicates the territory. EAR did kill in California. But many serial killers have.
I have used “Night Predator” as the most accurate and closely resembling his original official moniker Night Stalker before it was usurped for a killer who simply got more media attention. Nothing really is going to surpass EAR/ONS, and at this stage in the narrative nothing probably should. If a name does surpass that awkward acronym, it most certainly can’t be some strangely glorifying usurpation of a sovereign State’s official nickname.
The moniker is never used on here and never will be.
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