The Golden State Killer: It's Not Over

MORNING.

I'D -- I'D LIKE TO JUST COME TODAY FROM BOTH A PROFESSIONAL,

BUT ALSO A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE ON THIS CASE.

I GREW UP IN THE EAST AREA OF SACRAMENTO.

WE DIDN'T LOCK OUR DOORS AT NIGHT.

WE RODE OUR BIKES AROUND.

IT WAS A TIME OF INNOCENCE.

AND THEN IN JUNE OF 1976, THAT ALL CHANGED.

A PREDATOR KNOWN AS THE EAST AREA RAPIST

BRINGS TERROR TO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

HE HAS A SKI MASK ON, HE HAS A GUN.

HE KNEW THAT THERE WAS NO DEFENSE.

ALL I KNEW WAS FEAR.

FROM 1976 TO 1978, THE MASKED ATTACKER RAPES

50 WOMEN IN THEIR QUIET SUBURBAN HOMES.

THESE ARE PEOPLE SLEEPING IN THEIR HOUSES.

ANYBODY COULD BECOME A VICTIM.

YOU MUST INJURE YOUR ATTACKER TO INCAPACITATE HIM

IN ANY WAY THAT YOU CAN.

A FEW YEARS LATER, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

FACES ITS OWN NIGHTMARE WHEN A PROWLER CALLED

THE ORIGINAL NIGHT STALKER STRIKES, KILLING 10 PEOPLE.

MORE THAN 100 DETECTIVES HAVE BEEN HUNTING THIS GUY

AND NO ONE HAS A CLUE WHO HE IS.

IN 2001, LAW ENFORCEMENT IS SHOCKED

WHEN DNA PROVES THAT ALL THE RAPES AND MURDERS

WERE COMMITTED BY ONE MAN,

EARNING ONE OF THE FBI'S MOST WANTED A NEW NAME,

THE GOLDEN STATE KILLER.

THAT INDIVIDUAL IS ONE OF THE MOST PROLIFIC SERIAL KILLERS

IN THE HISTORY OF THIS STATE, IF NOT, IN THIS NATION.

NOW, AN INVESTIGATION SPANNING FOUR DECADES

IS PICKING UP STEAM.

THE ANSWER'S OUT THERE. WE NEED A NAME.

BUT CAN THEY CATCH HIM BEFORE TIME RUNS OUT?

SOME OF THESE VICTIMS THINK

THAT THIS GUY'S STILL GONNA COME BACK AND GET THEM,

AND THEY'RE SCARED.

HE IS A NIGHTMARE COME TO LIFE, AND HE COULD BE ANYWHERE.

ON THE MORNING OF JULY 27, 1981,

15-YEAR-OLD DEBBI DOMINGO IS AT A FRIEND'S HOUSE.

SHE GETS A PHONE CALL FROM A NEIGHBOR

TO COME HOME IMMEDIATELY.

I GOT TO THE CUL-DE-SAC, AND I'M LOOKING,

AND THERE'S THAT YELLOW TAPE.

AND I THOUGHT, "MAN, YOU KNOW, YELLOW TAPE,

EVERYBODY KNOWS WHAT THAT MEANS.

THERE'S GOT TO BE SOMEBODY DEAD OR SOMETHING --

SOMETHING BAD HAPPENED."

DEBBI'S MOTHER, 35-YEAR-OLD CHERI DOMINGO,

AND HER BOYFRIEND, 27-YEAR-OLD GREG SANCHEZ,

HAD BEEN FOUND DEAD.

I JUST KEPT WANTING TO GO INTO THE HOUSE.

I WANTED TO GO INTO MY BEDROOM.

I DON'T THINK I EVER EVEN GOT TO GO INTO MY BEDROOM AGAIN,

MUCH LESS HERS.

AND SO I'VE ALWAYS -- ALWAYS HAD QUESTIONS ABOUT REALLY,

WHAT THE CRIME SCENE LOOKED LIKE AND --

AND HOW -- HOW GRUESOME WAS IT?

I'VE HEARD -- I'VE HEARD ABOUT HOW GRUESOME IT WAS, BUT I --

BUT THE IMAGINATION IS JUST...

AND I GUESS THAT'S OKAY.

CHERI AND GREG'S KILLER

HAS ESCAPED DETECTION FOR 36 YEARS.

BUT POLICE HOPE THAT'S ABOUT TO CHANGE.

IN 2015, THE FBI OFFERED A $50,000 REWARD

FOR INFORMATION

LEADING TO THE CAPTURE OF THE GOLDEN STATE KILLER.

THE OFFER AND THE ENSUING MEDIA FRENZY

HAVE PUT THIS CASE IN THE SPOTLIGHT.

TODAY, A MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL MANHUNT FOR THE NOTORIOUS KILLER

IS WORKING ON OVERDRIVE

AS DETECTIVES GET CLOSER TO FINDING HIM.

IN CONTRA COSTA COUNTY,

WHERE NINE OF THE BRUTAL ATTACKS OCCURRED,

COLD-CASE INVESTIGATOR PAUL HOLES

HEADS UP THE INVESTIGATION.

I'VE BEEN INVOLVED IN THIS CASE FOR 23 YEARS.

I WAS JUST STARTING MY CAREER,

AND I WAS STARTING TO READ UP ON SERIAL PREDATORS.

AND I WAS FASCINATED WITH COLD CASES, SO I THOUGHT,

"WELL, HERE'S A COLD CASE.

IT'S OBVIOUSLY A SERIAL PREDATOR.

LET'S SEE WHAT I CAN DO WITH IT."

BUT OVER TIME, IN READING WHAT THIS GUY DID

AND SEEING THE DEVASTATION THAT HE WRECKED ACROSS CALIFORNIA,

YOU ALMOST HAVE A PERSONAL OBLIGATION.

YOU'VE GOT TO CATCH THIS GUY NOW.

THE NUMBER OF VICTIMS ACROSS THE ENTIRE STATE IS HUGE,

IT'S STAGGERING.

THIS IS ONE OF THE WORST SERIAL PREDATORS THAT I'M AWARE OF.

THE GOLDEN STATE KILLER SERIES

STARTED IN JUNE OF 1976 UP IN SACRAMENTO.

HE COMMITTED 50 ATTACKS IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA,

ALL INVOLVING SEXUAL ASSAULTS OF FEMALES

AND THEN DOWN IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, HE KILLED 10 PEOPLE.

I'VE TALKED TO MULTIPLE VICTIMS IN THE CASE.

I SEE HOW THEY'RE TRAUMATIZED STILL, TO THIS DAY,

AND HOW MUCH THEY NEED TO FEEL SAFE.

AND I DO BELIEVE THAT THIS GUY VERY LIKELY IS STILL ALIVE,

BASED ON WHAT HIS CHRONOLOGICAL AGE MOST LIKELY IS,

BETWEEN ROUGHLY 60 TO 70 YEARS OLD,

AND I THINK WE ARE CLOSER THAN EVER BEFORE.

THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS IN SOLVING A CRIME SPREE

OF THIS MAGNITUDE.

TO DEVELOP NEW LEADS,

INVESTIGATORS MUST DECONSTRUCT HIS M.O.,

FOLLOW THE ESCALATION OF HIS ATTACKS,

AND SCRUTINIZE THE EVIDENCE HE LEFT BEHIND.

SO, THEY RETRACED THE GOLDEN STATE KILLER'S CRIMES

STARTING FROM THE BEGINNING,

WHEN HE WAS KNOWN AS THE EAST AREA RAPIST.

WE'VE BEEN HERE FOR 48 YEARS.

AT THE TIME THE RAPES WERE GOING, THIS IS WHERE WE LIVED.

I DOUBLE-CHECK EVERYTHING.

WE KEEP LIGHTS ON ALL AROUND.

AND THAT'S WHAT WE TOLD PEOPLE AT THE TIME,

LOCK YOUR DOORS, LOCK YOUR WINDOWS.

CAROL DALY, A RETIRED DETECTIVE

WITH THE SACRAMENTO SHERIFF'S OFFICE,

PROVIDES INVALUABLE INSIGHT INTO THE EARLY ATTACKS.

I HAVE THE NOTEBOOK THAT I HAVE KEPT

OVER ALL OF THE YEARS OF TIDBITS OF INFORMATION

ON THE EAST AREA RAPIST AND SO, IT JUST STAYS FRESH IN MY MIND.

I HAVE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION ON ALL OF THE OFFICERS

AND THE PEOPLE OVER THE YEARS THAT HAVE WORKED ON THE CASE,

ALL OF THE VICTIMS, THEIR ADDRESSES, DATES,

AND TIMES.

AND I AM NOT ABLE TO SHOW THIS TO YOU.

THIS IS A SYNOPSIS I PUT TOGETHER,

THE COUPLE OF YEARS OF WORKING THE CASES,

OF EVERYTHING WE DID TO TRY TO IDENTIFY THE EAST AREA RAPIST.

THAT WAS ME AT THE TIME OF THE INVESTIGATIONS.

MY BULL BARREL AND MY GUN.

THE RANGE MASTER ALWAYS MADE SURE I HAD

THE BEST FIREPOWER I COULD,

'CAUSE WE DIDN'T HAVE AUTOMATICS AT THE TIME.

CAROL DALY'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE CASE IS IMMEASURABLE

AND HER REPORTS ARE AMAZING.

SHE DID A TREMENDOUS JOB OF CAPTURING ALL THIS DETAIL

ABOUT THE OFFENDER.

AND THAT GIVES ME

A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHO THIS GUY IS,

AS WELL AS WHO THE FEMALE VICTIMS WERE.

I THINK SHE BONDED WITH THE VICTIMS

AND SHE WAS ABLE TO GET THEM TO FEEL COMFORTABLE ENOUGH

TO TALK ABOUT WHAT THIS GUY HAD DONE TO THEM.

IT TOOK US MAYBE INTO THE FOURTH AND FIFTH RAPE

BEFORE WE REALIZED

THAT WE REALLY HAD A SERIES GOING.

WE HAD A MAN WHO WAS ASSAULTING

WITH THE SAME METHOD OF OPERATION,

AND IT WAS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER RAPES.

IT WAS ALWAYS A SURPRISE ATTACK.

THEY WERE SLEEPING, HE'S AT THE FOOT OF THE BED,

FLASHLIGHT SHINING IN THEIR EYES.

OFTEN, HE HAD A GUN, HE ALWAYS WORE A SKI MASK.

AND HE WOULD BE BACK AND FORTH, TORMENTING THE VICTIM, TYING,

UNTYING, RAPING, SEXUALLY ASSAULTING,

MAKING THREATS TO HER THROUGH CLENCHED TEETH

IN A HOARSE WHISPER.

YOU KNOW, "DON'T MOVE, DON'T MOVE, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU,

I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, DON'T MOVE, I TOLD YOU NOT TO MOVE."

I will kill you if you move!

**

THE FIRST CRIME SCENE THAT I RESPONDED TO

WAS THE JANE CARSON CASE.

OUR HOUSE WAS IN CITRUS HEIGHTS.

IT WAS ABOUT 30 MINUTES FROM SACRAMENTO.

IT WAS THE FIRST HOME THAT WE HAD EVER OWNED,

AND IT WAS A NICE, FRIENDLY, QUIET NEIGHBORHOOD.

I WAS 30 YEARS OLD, A MOTHER OF A 3-YEAR-OLD,

A WIFE OF A MILITARY OFFICER.

AND I WAS ALSO ATTENDING SCHOOL GETTING MY NURSING DEGREE.

I WAS VICTIM NUMBER FIVE.

**

30 IN THE MORNING.

I WAS SNUGGLING WITH MY SON.

I HEARD THE GARAGE DOOR CLOSE,

AND I KNEW THAT MY HUSBAND HAD LEFT FOR WORK.

AND WITHIN TWO MINUTES,

I HEARD FOOTSTEPS COMING TOWARD MY BEDROOM.

THE NEXT THING I KNEW,

THERE HE WAS SHINING THIS LIGHT IN MY EYES,

AND ALL I COULD SEE WAS HIS SKI MASK AND A BUTCHER KNIFE.

AND HE SAID, "SHUT UP, SHUT UP, OR I'LL KILL YOU,"

WITH CLENCHED TEETH.

SO, YOU COULD IMAGINE THE FEAR,

ESPECIALLY WITH MY 3-YEAR-OLD SON LAYING NEXT TO ME.

THEN HE STARTED TO TIE US BOTH UP.

HE TIED MY ANKLES, TIED MY WRISTS, BLINDFOLDED ME,

AND STUFFED WASHCLOTHS IN MY MOUTH

SO I COULDN'T TALK.

THEN HE PROCEEDED TO DO THE SAME TO MY SON.

**

IT'S HARD TO DESCRIBE,

ESPECIALLY WITH YOUR 3-YEAR-OLD LAYING NEXT TO YOU.

IT'S HARD TO DESCRIBE THE FEAR.

THEN HE PROCEEDED TO UNTIE MY ANKLES

AND THAT'S WHEN I KNEW WHAT HE WAS THERE FOR.