Hunting a Psychopath by Richard Shelby

Hunting a Psychopath by Richard Shelby

JUNE 16, 2016 - At a press conference today in Sacramento, the FBI and local law enforcement agencies announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the East Area Rapist/killer along with a nationwide multimedia campaign to once again bring the case to the public's attention.

Hunting A Psychopath chronicles the on-going search for the identity of the serial rapist and murderer known both as the East Area Rapist and Original Night Stalker. The author first lays the ground work for how the investigation was conducted. Then using what reports are still available, plus some personal insights, he examines each assault in the order they occurred. Gradually the methods used by the EAR/ONS in first searching out his victims, then stalking them, come to light.

The EAR/ONS first surfaced in June,1976, in Sacramento, CA. He was last heard from in May, 1986, in Irvine, CA, where he brutally murdered an eighteen year old woman. In between those years he stayed busy, assaulting fifty-three people, and murdering twelve more, while spreading a blanket of fear across central CA and parts of Southern CA. It has been over thirty-years now, and still he has not been brought to justice.

Although there have been other unsolved crimes of this same nature and of even greater magnitude, this series seems to have had a lasting impact on the public -- enough so that a virtual army of private citizens are pursuing this investigation on their own. When time permits, there are full time police officers who also work this investigation.

By examining the information from each assault, it gradually becomes clear just how meticulous the EAR/ONS was. Every detail, from selecting a victim, to the actual assault, appear to have been carefully planned and orchestrated. The EAR/ONS was as devoted to committing sexual assaults and murders as anyone devoted to their own profession. In a distorted way, he was a professional rapist / murderer, and quite probably a certifiable psychopath.

Perhaps this continuing interest is because those wanting to involve themselves in the investigation know it can still be brought to a satisfactory conclusion.