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In order to fully understand the narrative of the case, it is necessary to preface with certain particulars of evidence. Prior to the attack, while victim still slept, assailant had entered house and strung clothesline (taken from backyard) across the hallway. These tied from bedroom doorknob to doorknob, creating a lattice or lacing across the hallway.
We can now proceed.
Victim, WFA late teens, was alone in the house. Her father was away. She was awakened from a deep sleep by a hand on her mouth. A man’s voice, speaking from an angry whisper through clenched teeth, ordered her to roll over. She attempted to scream, but the assailant told her to “Shut up!” or he would kill her. After she rolled over, he tied her hands tightly behind her back. He tied a cloth blindfold around her eyes and shoved a piece of towel in her mouth. She sleeps in the nude, so there was no need to remove any clothes.
“Get up!” he growled in an angry whisper.
He had grabbed her arm and now led her out into the hallway. Here he told her to duck down. She felt the clotheslines along her back as he pushed her along. She did not know what they were.
They went through the living room and out a glass slider patio door into the backyard. An overhang is connected to the house and shades a cement patio with wrought iron furniture on it. An outside fire pit has a chimney that extends through the patio covering.
Assailant had already placed a piece of carpet on the patio. As in the other cases, assailant made use of lies. He told the victim that he had frequently dreamed of her and of having sex with her. He also told her that she was not to scream after he finished with her and left, for he lived just down the street and he would hear her. The implication, apparently, was that he would exact revenge.
He had placed victim on her back. Though blindfolded, she heard him lubricating himself in anticipation. Then, as in other cases, he placed his penis in her hand and said “Play with it.” (contradiction: victim’s hands were tied behind her back).
At one point, assailant had warned her that he needed money for a fix and she better have something for him. He repeatedly warned her he would kill her if she screamed. He spoke in short breaths, in an angry whisper with teeth clenched.
After a while, he lifted her legs and placed her lower legs on his shoulders. He raped her. He then went into the house, apparently ransacking. He returned. He raped her again. He left and went in the house. Then he returned. He placed his penis in her hands and said “Play with it.” Then he raped her again. He returned into the house for a while. Then he returned to the patio. From the sounds, the victim thought he was now carrying paper bags. He tied victim’s feet. Grabbing hold of carpet, he dragged victim across patio and tied her legs (via the ankles) to one of the posts supporting the patio overhang.
It was then silent. . .
Victim got loose (from post), but could not untie her hands. She went inside the house but noticed the phone line had been cut. She waited for her neighbor, who was expected hours later in the early morning. After she rang the bell, victim let her in then neighbor cut her bindings. They went to neighbor’s house and there called the sheriffs. Victim showered and cleaned herself before deputies arrived.
Investigation
Investigators noted the scene. A piece of carpet was found pulled next to one of the posts of the overhang. The binding rope was still tied to the post, and a knotted towel was on the cement nearby. A candy dish (?) was on the ground by a rear window; the screen to that window was lying on the bush by it. The assailant had gained entry this way. They noticed that side gate to the front yard was open. Assailant had apparently entered the yard this way while the victim slept, left the gate open, padded through the backyard, pried open the window, then when finished left quietly through the open gate. When questioned victim had said she had not heard the side gate open or close. Thus it seems he had left it open the whole time.
The house had been ransacked. Each time the assailant had left the victim to go back in the house he had torn it apart. Drawers in the kitchen were open. Phone line conspicuously cut. Victim’s bedroom was also ransacked. Torn strips of towel and white shoelaces were on her bed.
The crisscrossing web of clothesline tied to the doorknobs of the hallway’s closed bedroom doors remained in place, and investigators had to routinely duck under them when processing the scene. No exact explanation exists for this elaborate system of holding closed the bedroom doors. However, the assailant obviously secured them before even waking the victim. Therefore he had spent some time in the house prior to his attack. He would have known no one was there. And if they were, could they not upon awaking and hearing the ruckus, open their windows and get out? Assailant came in with the cut clothesline. This being said, the assailant obviously had knowledge of the house’s floor plan and hallway layout. In previous attacks, assailant had demonstrated that he had stalked the intended victim and residence for some time. The webbing therefore makes no sense and remains a phenomenon.
The house is a single story. However, the driveways are narrow and the neighbor’s house’s bedroom windows are not that far from this victim’s bedroom house windows, and they almost line up. The neighbor’s son, mid 20s, was home but did not hear anything during the night. He did contact deputies when seeing them processing the house. He presented them a bag of cheap jewelry which he had found that morning in his parent’s bedroom. He knew it did not belong to his mother. Neighbor’s son was also home alone that night. This young male neighbor struck investigators as odd and a snoop. Placed on suspect list and later removed.
Miscellany
Questioning elicited from the victim that she had gone dancing once in a while at Mather AFB.
Perpetrator Description
Victim never saw the assailant. Only once when her blindfold slipped did she see his shoes. They were black leather, square-toe. It is not specified if these were military type. Assailant spoke in an angry whisper, as if his teeth were clenched. He took short breaths. Victim estimated his age around 25, based on his voice. She said she would not forget his smell. She did not mean odiferous; simply the smell of an unwanted body in close quarters to hers.
Geography
El Segundo Drive is in very close proximity to Paseo and Malaga, where No. 1 & 3, were hit earlier that summer. (See photos).
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