The basic facts of the Katie and Brian Maggiore homicides are clear from the investigative reports:

•Young married couple, Brian and Katie Maggiore, were murdered by a single white male shooter on February 2, 1978 at 9:10 pm; 

•The first 911 call to police came in at 9:11 pm from 10140 La Gloria Drive, Rancho Cordova, Sacramento County, reporting shots fired, and screaming from the neighbor's house at 10154 La Gloria;

•The crime scene was adjoining rear yards at 10166 La Alegria and 10154 La Gloria Drive;

•The Maggiores had no connection to either residence. Witness accounts placed the couple in the same area frequently for several months prior to the shooting, approximately four blocks from their apartment. The couple had been observed walking together with their dog at the same time/route;

•The investigation showed that the Maggiores were confronted by a masked man with a gun on the sidewalk in front of the Kahn home at 10140 La Gloria Drive, and directed back towards the open side gate next to the garage;

•Given DeAngelo's known MO in similar driveway confrontations, he likely told the couple that he just wanted money, and then moved them into a concealed area next to the Kahn's garage to tie them up.

•DeAngelo's normal pattern would have been to hand Katie a pre-tied shoelace, and order her to use it to bind Brian's hands behind his back. DeAngelo then would have tied Katie's hands tightly with another shoelace, and then retied Brian's hands--making the binding tighter. 

•However, it appears that Brian was unwilling to go along with having his hands tied, possibly because he recognized the situation, and wanted to protect Katie from the East Area Rapist. Katie ran first, with Brian and DeAngelo right behind her:

•The neighbors to the west of the Kahn house, at 10140 La Gloria, heard the shots and screaming in the side yard, and made the first call to 911:

•David Kahn was in his second floor bedroom shortly after 9:00 pm when he heard two gun shots and a woman screaming for help on the west side of his home. David then observed a masked man wearing dark clothing chase Katie Maggiore (20), and Brian Maggiore (21) from his side yard into the patio pool area, and through the fence into the Ottlinger's yard. Katie was in the lead, and Brian appeared to trip and fall. The shooter then approached Brian and shot him in the chest at close range:

•When Brian was shot, Katie was at the rear patio door of the Ottlinger house screaming for help. DeAngelo then turned towards Katie and fired a shot at her. Katie ran down the yard on the east side of the neighbor's house, and he followed her. David lost sight of them, but he heard one more shot. David then proceeded downstairs, and he and his father went outside.

•David Kahn and his father found Katie crouched by the gate that led from the Ottlinger's side yard, out to their driveway. She had been shot in the top of the head, and footprints in her blood indicated that DeAngelo had stepped on her to get over the gate, and make his escape. 

Side Yard Gate,

 10165 La Gloria Drive

•The next witness to observe the shooter was 17-year-old Karl Nollsch. He lived at 10157 La Alegria, two doors west of the Ottlingers' house. Nollsch told the reporting deputy that, at approximately 9:15 pm, he heard what he thought were two shots coming from just outside of his residence. As he walked out to the end of his driveway, he encountered his next door neighbor, Don Morris, who had just been dropped off by a friend, but had not yet entered his house. They heard two (possibly three) more shots.

•After hearing what they though could be “rustling” in the bushes, they observed the subject “jump the fence” at the Ottlinger house.

•Donna Morris lived between the Ottlinger and Nollsch homes, at 10153 La Alegria. She said that just after 9:00 pm she heard what sounded like two or three firecrackers go off. She then went to the front door and saw her husband's small suitcase on the porch. He had just arrived home from playing raquetball and was standing outside. Moments later, she heard sirens approaching.

•Mrs. Morris said that her husband, Don, who works for Marc-Morr Insurance, had told her that he and a friend, Tom Oliver, were approaching Morris' residence from Capitales, when they heard two shots. She said that her husband told her that he and Oliver sat at the curb in front of the Morris residence, talking for a few minutes. Oliver then drove off, west on La Alegria. She said that her husband told her that he was still standing near· the street when Karl Nollsch, next door, came outside. Mrs. Morris said that when her husband and Karl started to talk, a man ran towards them from the area of the scene.

•Mrs. Morris stated that her husband told her that he did not get a good look at the suspect as it was very dark at the time. 

•After Nollsch saw the shooter cross the street, he walked over to the area near the Ottlinger's gate where he was able to see and hear the Kahns checking on Katie. Nollsch was in the Ottlinger's driveway when the police arrived, and he was their first contact with the homicide scene. 

•Brian's keys were found next to his open hand, indicating that he had taken them out of his pocket before he started running. Brian was not carrying a wallet, but a dollar bill was found dropped at the scene by DeAngelo as he fled. This indicated that Brian may have offered him money per a robbery ruse, but put up a fight when it became clear that DeAngelo planned to tie them up. 

•The first deputy to reach Brian found a pre-tied shoelace on the grass, and recognized it as the MO of the East Area Rapist (EAR) who had already committed five attacks within a few blocks of the Maggiore scene.

•The forensic examination of the shoelace and knot concluded that they matched the pre-tied shoelaces broght to the scenes of earlier EAR attacks:

•After speaking to the eye witnesses, investigators determined that the shooter was a lone white male in his 20s with brown hair, around 6ft with a medium build, wearing dark clothing and a mask, and carrying a gun--the exact physical description they had already developed for the EAR.

•The EAR attacks had started a couple of blocks away from the homicide scene, and the neighborhood continued to be favored for his prowlings, burglaries, and home invasion rapes.

•Deputies soon learned that the neighbor across the street from Nollsch, Rose Markee at 10162 La Alegria, also saw the shooter. At approximately 9:15 pm, Markee said that she was in her bedroom facing the street when she heard 4 or 5 shots. She went to the window and observed the shooter's encounter with Nollsch and Morris. Markee felt that the shooter was shorter than Nollsch's description, placing him at more like 5’9” She agreed that he was a young white male wearing a leather jacket. 

•Markee's teenaged daughter also reported going to her bedroom window on the second floor of the home when she heard the shots, and she said that she saw the shooter run south down the side yard of 10166 La Alegria. 

•In total, four neighbors saw DeAngelo come over the Ottlinger's fence, run down the driveway and cross La Alegria, and enter backyards heading south towards Capitales;

•James Hartman was standing in his driveway at 2639 Capitales just after 9:00 pm when he saw the shooter run by him. He had arrived home at 9:05 pm, and had not seen anyone walking or running on the street. At approximately 9:15 pm, he was inside his house when he  heard sirens. He had not heard any shots. Hartman stepped out of his front door to see what was going on, and as he did so, the shooter ran by the front of Hartman’s residence, traveling from west to east. 

•Hartman said that the shooter was on the sidewalk in front of his house on the north side of Capitales, about 12 feet in front of him.  Hartman first noticed the shooter as he appeared to come from his west side yard out onto the sidewalk. 

•Hartman described the subject as 6'-0", 150-160 lbs., dark hair over the ears, in his early twenties, wearing a waist length, dark brown leather jacket, dark blue pants, and soft soled shoes that did not make noise, like crepe or tennis shoes. 

•Hartman said that the shooter was carrying something in his hands, held slightly in front of him. He described it as some type of dark cloth object, possibly rolled up, about the size of a football. None of the La Alegria witnesses had seen the "football" object, so it was something that DeAngelo likely picked up from the vacant home at 10166 La Alegria.

•At about 9:10pm, Jacqueline Ferko arrived home, and parked in front of her house at 2656 Capitales. She went inside and turned on the TV, and then went back out to get the groceries from her car. While going back outside to her blue Camaro, she observed a male subject running eastbound on Capitales, toward E. La Loma Drive:

•Ferko's description and composite were a good match to DeAngelo:

•Ferko's description and composite also directly matched Agent McGowen's portrayal of the Visalia Ransacker:

Agent McGowen's 1st Composite of the VR

•There was one other detail that seemed to match Agent McGowen's encounter with the VR, and likely explained the weight discrepancy between Hartman and Ferko's descriptions. After the VR shot McGowen, and was running away, he dropped a sock filled with 11 lbs of coins and stolen items on the patio. The sock had been tucked into the top of his pants, covered by his zippered jacket. When Ferko saw the shooter, he was no longer carrying the "football" object, and likely had placed it inside the front of his jacket.

•Ferko last saw the shooter heading north on E. La Loma:

•The shooter was next spotted just after 9:15 pm at 2579 Las Casas Way hiding behind a bush. When he was called out by a witness, he stepped out right in front of the homeowner, and said "I'm trespassing, sorry," and jogged off north on Las Casas. This was witnessed by the homeowner Mr. Grunz, his wife, and two teen boys, William Scott and Walter Lyons, who were in the street after hearing shots and police activity. 

•Mrs. Granz stated that the man they saw was wearing a dark jacket, possibly leather or vinyl, waist length. His voice made her feel that he was not old, but older than a teenager. She said that neither she nor her husband saw the man's face, because he raised his coat to hide it. She said that he had dark hair, and a stocky build. The witnesses noted that the man had an unusual tiptoe gait. 

•The man ran on Las Casas towards Las Palos, and the teens started running after him but lost sight of him in the dark near La Presa Way. 

***At this point, DeAngelo had run from the Maggiore scene, directly to a nearly identical MO EAR attack he committed on October 18, 1976:***

•The area of Rancho Cordova prowled by DeAngelo was intentionally built with no streets lights, and the homes were set back to maintain the neighborhood's rural feel. The streets and sidewalks were totally dark, which is why Scott and Lyons lost sight of him so quickly. 

•After losing the boys, DeAngelo started a double back. That was a MO that had been well-documented by Visalia PD. They had tried to warn SSD about it, but were ignored. It should have been clear to SSD that the shooter wanted to head west towards W. La Loma, but turned to the southeast when he ran into Nollsch. No deputies were positioned to the west of the scene in case he returned.

•From the intersection of Las Casas and La Presa, DeAngelo traveled southwest to the Maggiore's apartment complex--possibly to see if there was police activity there. After he killed Claude Snelling in Visalia, he had fled on foot to the northeast, and then returned west to the scene as an Exeter Police Sgt. responding to the radio call that had gone out to all agencies for assistance. DeAngelo may have been planning something similar at the Maggiore's apartment in order to find out what law enforcement knew about him. 

•The next sighting of the shooter was behind the Maggiore's complex, by Kimberly Patellos:

•The next confirmed sighting of the shooter was on the corner of W. La Loma and Capitales, about two blocks southwest of the homicide scene--so exactly where he appeared to be heading before he ran into Nollsch. After checking the Maggiore complex, he doubled back using a parallel route that took him through apartment complexes and side streets until he reappeared on Capitales.

•Sharon Berwick was in her apartment at 2590 Capitales when she heard sirens, and her dog was frantic to go outside. Once she reached the sidewalk she encountered the shooter:

•Berwick met with the sketch artist and created a composite of the shooter:

•Berwick's composite and description were a good match to DeAngelo:

•Visalia PD had published a comparison between Agent McGowen's 2nd composite of the Visalia Ransacker and the East Area Rapist in May, 1977. This was done after VPD had reviewed the EAR burglary and rape case files, and visited with SSD Inspector Richard Shelby in Sacramento to discuss possible suspects-- including active duty members of law enforcement:

•Berwick got a close, well-illuminated look at the shooter without his mask, and both her composite and physical description matched Agent McGowen's, who put him at 180 lbs, and 5"10" (compared to Berwick's 170 lbs, 5'11" and Ferko's 180 lbs, 5'11"). McGowen had seen the VR's face after confronting him at gunpoint, and having him remove his mask while being illuminated by McGowen's flashlight.

•There was never any meaningful discrepancy between the physical description of the VR, and the Maggiore shooter. Showing the public all four composites, along with the information about Visalia could have led to DeAngelo's identification.

•The Mather Drive-In had closed a few months prior to the Maggiore homicides. The property was vacant, and the access spot in the fence witnessed by Berwick was about two blocks southwest of the murder scene. It would have taken DeAngelo less than a minute to reach his escape route if he hadn't run into Nollsch. DeAngelo created the false trail to the northeast knowing that it would send resources in that direction, while he doubled back. 

•The last witness sighting of the shooter was just after he exited the drive-in property, headed south towards Folsom Blvd:

•Although it is clear that SSD canvassed the homes on La Alegria looking for witnesses the night of the homicides, there is no report for their contact with the house at 10166 La Alegria--directly across from the Ottlinger home. Presumably deputies knocked, and receiving no answer, moved on.

•The home at 10166 was owned by the Piersons. They had purchased a new home in Fair Oaks, and moved out in September, 1977. The house had been empty for about five months prior to the Maggiore homicides, but was being prepared for sale by a local real estate agent. 

•Apparently, deputies were not told that the Pierson house was vacant, and they made no search of the property. The next afternoon, three neighbor boys decided to investigate the vacant house for themselves:

•The realtor confirmed that all of the doors, windows, and gate had been closed and locked prior to the homicides. Additionally, he said that the broken window, attic access, and carpet stain had been done by the burglar:

•The description of the state of the house matched the well-known Visallia Ransacker/East Area Rapist MO: the home was vacant and for sale; the side yard gate was left open; two sliding glass doors had been unlocked; there were bent and disturbed window screens; the door between the kitchen and garage was open; the attic crawl space was entered; the window and door anti-theft devices had been removed; the phone had been unplugged; and, the point of entry was a window, that had been broken from prying. 

•The homeowner, Mrs. Pierson, confirmed that they had not been to the house in several months, but she did remember Katie and Brian walking their dog on her street each evening:

•Since the shooter was seen in the side yard of 10166 La Alegria, and then a few minutes later emerged on Capitales carrying the "football" sized object, he likely stopped at the vacant house to retrieve items he had laid for an attack on Katie. That would have removed evidence from the scene that could have implicated him in a double homicide, and created investigative confusion about the motive. 

•In the nearby October 18, 1976 attack, DeAngelo waited for the victim to arrive home, confronted her at her car in her driveway, demanded money, moved her to a shadowed area, tied her hands behind her back, and then walked her around the corner to the yard of a vacant house where he had laid out additional bindings, a blindfold, and a gag. The victim later admitted that she had been sexually assaulted at that secondary location, and items of evidence were sent for forensic testing. 

•The distance between the kidnapping and vacant house attack location was identical to the Maggiore sites. DeAngelo would have walked Katie around the corner on the unlit sidewalk past two homes, then across the street to 10166 La Alegria.

•It is clear from the evidence that DeAngelo was hiding behind some shrubs at the edge of the driveway at 10154 La Gloria, and confronted the Maggiores on the sidewalk at gunpoint. If he followed the MO of all of his other attacks on couples, he would have told them he needed money, and ordered them into the open side yard gate. It is unclear who dropped the pre-tied shoelace in the Ottlinger's yard, but it may have been either Katie or DeAngelo, depending upon exactely when Katie started running. 

•If DeAngelo planned to take Katie to the vacant house, then he was going to leave Brian tied up and gagged in the Kahn side yard. By the time Brian could summon help, it would have been too late. Even if he got free relatively quickly, the assumption would be that Katie was taken in a car, not walked a few houses away. 

•Since almost all of DeAngelo's other victims were carefully stalked and watched extensively before they were attacked, it is likely that he was specifically waiting for Katie that night. If he had become fixated on her as a target, that location may have been his only option. The Maggiores lived in a second floor apartment that was too risky for a home invasion. 

•Katie had recently quit her job at a local gas station because a man had been watching her:

•The physical description, and the ring both matched DeAngelo:

Within the first 18 hours of the investigation, SSD investigators had determined:

- There was a single suspect;

- The shooter was a white male in his 20s, 170-180 lbs, 5'11", brown hair;

- He was wearing a mask, carrying a .38/.357 revolver, and brought pre-tied shoelaces to the scene;

- He knew the neighborhood well, traveling easily over fences, and through yards;

- The motive was to kidnap Katie, and assault her at the vacant house;

- The MO matched prior kidnappings and couple attacks committed by the EAR; and,

- The same neighborhood had been the focus of the EAR for nearly two years.

As lead homicide investigator Ray Biondi later confirmed in 2018, they knew within the first hour that the EAR had killed Katie and Brian Maggiore:

•The first APB in the case went out about 48 hours after the homicides. As an active duty Auburn PD officer, with full access to CLETS, DeAngelo would have immediately read this:

•When Visalia PD Sgt. John Vaughan saw the APB, he also knew everything about the suspect and circumstances except the fact that the murder weapon matched the unique Miroku stolen by the VR, and later used to kill Claude Snelling. 

•Although the Sacramento Sheriff's Office started looking for Miroku revolvers less than 24 hours after the homicide, they never shared that information with anyone outside of their own unit, including the EAR Task Force:

•Manufactured in postwar Japan, Miroku revolvers were sold in the US for only a few years in the late 1960s. Colt Arms alleged that the Miroku design was really just a duplicate of their existing model, and the court agreed with Colt. After that decision, US import and distribution were stopped. 

•It’s hard to know the exact number of Miroku revolvers that were in the U.S. because most were imported prior to gun registration laws, but no more than 1,500 were sold here.  The Colt was more popular, but it was an expensive model in its class, and also relatively rare. 

 •There were three different Miroku models available, but the one that Visalia PD was looking for was the “Special Police Model.” It had a four and 1/2 inch barrel, held six rounds in the chamber, had a 6 lefthand twist firing, and .38 caliber ammunition:

•Several of the investigators working on the Maggiore homicides had also worked on the EAR cases, and were well-aware of the Snelling details, and the exact model of gun Visalia PD had identified as the murder weapon. Visalia PD had not only uploaded all of the Snelling Miroku details to CII's MO database and NCIC, they had run a double check to make sure that other agencies would be alerted if they searched for crimes using the same gun model, or if they entered the Miroku's registration number:

•In early 1977, the CII computer system had matched the Visalia Ransacker and East Area Rapist cases as sharing both physical description and MO. That caused Sgt. Vaughan to contact SSD Inspector Shelby to discuss the case, and share information:

•Although it is not contained in their reports (for obvious reasons), both Shelby and Vaughan believed that the offender was a member of law enforcement. They reached that conclusion separately, but based upon similar evidence:

--The offender had not left any fingerprints at nearly 200 burglary and rape scenes;

--The offender seemed to be aware of their departmental shift schedules, assignments, and stakeouts. It appeared that he not only monitored their radio frequencies, but had access to information held within their offices and computers. His activity always neatly avoided patrols and dedicated efforts to catch him;

--The offender called to taunt them on their back phone lines, which were not recorded;

--The offender usually made his own masks, so they were untraceable. Many were knit ski or watch caps with crudely cut eye holes (only) that were worn as hats until right before he pulled them down over his face. Others were hoods or stockings. He also frequently rotated his shoes, guns, ammo, and clothing, and they seemed to come from non-retail sources--likely all burglaries;

--The offender left false evidence at scenes (cigarettes, bandaid, beer, etc), moved items between crime locations, gave victims fake information knowing it would be repeated to law enforcement, created secondary diversions scenes, and intentionally framed others--all to confuse the investigators and cause them to argue among themselves; and

--The offender stole bicycles, or walked to his prowling areas, leaving him free to abandon the bikes if he needed to run. Many burglary victims reported missing key rings, or cars that were taken and returned, so it's likely that he drove those unreported stolen cars (used/returned overnight and written off as "joy rides") so that his own vehicles were never near a crime scene. 

•All of these behaviors indicated a criminal who had access to daily police files and deployments, knew investigative techniques and forensics, and all of the mistakes that criminals made that got them caught. 

•The offender also seemed to want his crimes to be recognized as linked, even though it gave away his behavior and location--which should have been important clues to his identity. Playing a game with the police seemed to be his main goal. 

•Shelby and Vaughan agreed on a proactive approach, identify areas of prowling and burglaries for stakeouts, rather than waiting to investigate rapes after the fact. Those stakeouts would be radio silent, and only communicated verbally to the team within the office. 

•A few days later, Sgt. Vaughan travelled to Sacramento and provided all of the VR files to Inspector Shelby and his unit at SSD. All of the information on the VR Miroku was given to SSD on March 2, 1977:

•Unfortunately, Sgt. Vaughan and Inspector Shelby's meeting was overshadowed by a double homicide in an upscale neighborhood near Folsom Lake that morning. Two PG&E workers were shot in the back of the head, at point blank range, as they sat in their Bronco in front of a home while out delivering service notices. The 11:00 am shooting had no apparent motive, and like the Snelling homicide, the weapon used was a .38 revolver loaded with jacketed hollow point rounds:

•After their meeting, Sgt. Vaughan and Inspector Shelby worked together to identify possible suspects who had moved from Tulare County to the Sacramento between December 10, 1975 and June 1, 1976:

•On May 18, 1977, VPD Agents McGowen and Shipley met with Inspector Shelby in Sacramento to discuss possible common suspects:

•Inspector Shelby was coming off a couple of days without sleep before his meeting with Agent McGowen. DeAngelo had just escaped a helicopter chase, and committed another EAR attack. The male victim was from Italy, and he had famously confronted Shelby at a community meeting the previous November. The man had scolded Shelby for failing to catch the EAR, and said that he would never let his wife be assaulted. 

•Shelby's reports from the 18th show that he was consumed with pressing tasks related to the latest attack--which was personally stressful due to his history with the male victim. He remembers going over a few specific suspects with McGowen, but felt his usefulness as a witness had diminished after the hypnosis session had left McGowen doubting his own memory of the suspect. 

•Shortly after Shelby's second meeting with Visalia PD, all of the case files and operational information were finally locked down:

•DeAngelo did not commit any EAR attacks in Sacramento between May 28th and September 6th, 1977, and the new unit security may have contributed to the pause. 

•One of the fatal investigative mistakes made by both Sgt. Vaughan and Inspector Shelby was their assumption that the VR/EAR had moved to Sacramento between December 10, 1975-June 1, 1976, and then only asking for records of professional transfers (utility, police, military, etc) between those dates. 

•The investigators both assumed that the offender had moved to the Sacramento area before the first attack in Rancho Cordova on June 18, 1976. In fact, DeAngelo continued to live and work in Exeter until his unexpected resignation at the end of August:

•DeAngelo committed the first two EAR attacks, on June 18th and July 17th, while he was still employed by Exeter PD, and living in his house on Emperor. DeAngelo clearly knew that he could confuse the investigation, and take possible suspicion off himself simply by planning ahead, and starting the series prior to moving. It was simple, and it worked.

•Into June of 1977, Inspector Shelby continued to look for suspects with a Visalia connection, including those with military training:

Just as Sgt. Vaughan and Inspector Shelby were starting to evalulate possible shared suspects, Shelby was ordered off the EAR case:

•SSD's interest in a possible Visalia Ransacker connection to the EAR ended the day Inspector Shelby left the case. Sgt. Vaughan's later requests to get information on new attacks, and search for mutual suspects were completely ignored. 

•The identification of the very specific and unusual 6 lefthand twist, and rare Miroku were the biggest potential leads in the Maggiore case. Visalia PD had uploaded those same details to all of the available law enforcement databases including CLETS, CII, and NCIC, and given the files directly to Sacramento Sheriff's investigators eleven months earlier. 

Within the first 24 hours of the Maggiore investigation, SSD had physical evidence that could be definitively matched to the Snelling homicide (Tulare DA Ward has made statements that the bullets were, in fact, all fired from the same Miroku), and the EAR (shoelace), plus the MO and physical description matched both the VR and EAR cases. 

SSD had proof, and clearly knew that the Visalia Ransacker and East Area Rapist were the same man, and that he had killed the Maggiores during a botched attempt to kidnap Katie.

•Rather than share the identification of the Miroku with other jurisdictions, SSD investigators continued to hide the information while quietly looking for the murder weapon:

•Although Sgt. Vaughan did not know about the possible Miroku match, he was still convinced that the VR was the EAR, and that same man had killed the Maggiores. 

•He repeatedly called and wrote to SSD asking for another meeting, and a task force to work the cases together--comparing evidence and suspects. Sgt. Vaughan got no reply, and eventually he went to the Sacramento press to warn the public:

•Miller's assertions to the press were knowing bad faith lies about the facts and evidence. There were numerous examples of the EAR moving stolen items between scenes, and planting them to implicate others. It was well-documented in the case files, and included in Shelby's investigative notes. 

•In fact, one of the lead Maggiore investigators, Detective Hash, had just collected one of these items from an EAR victim a month before the homicides--on January 3, 1978:

•The VR and EAR left the same size 9 footprints, including some matching soles. 

•Miller refused to acknowledge the real VR description, and repeated some random details included in another officer's report of McGowen's hypnosis session--repeated after hearing the description of a different prowling suspect in Visalia.

•Four people clearly saw the VR. Bill Miller had all of these files in front of him. Each witness described a white male in his 20s who was able to easily jump over fences, hedges, and stairs, and had a strong chest, shoulders, and arms:

- Agent McGowen--180 lbs, 5'10" 

- Beth Snelling--150-170 lbs, 5'9"

- Debbie Ward--heavy build, 5'10"-5'11"

- William Ward--180 lbs, 5'10"

•SSD's profile of the EAR showed witness weight estimates that ranged from 140-180 lbs, and his height being 5'10"-5'11", so there was no discrepancy.

•Miller knew that the EAR had shot, and nearly killed Rodney Miller, who chased him from his yard on February 16, 1977:

•Just like in the Snelling, McGowen, and Maggiore shootings, DeAngelo's escape route was a double back:

•Although the statue of limitations had long expired, and DeAngelo could not be charged for shooting Rodney Miller, the attempted murder was used to support the arrest and search warrants. 

•There was never any real debate within Sacramento PD about whether or not the EAR was the shooter. The first officers to respond to the scene were literally on an EAR stakeout in the neighborhood.

•Sacramento PD knew that the EAR was active in the area because he had left a stolen car there just two weeks earlier:

•SSD Bill Miller also knew that the Maggiore homicides closely matched the shootings of Agent McGowen, and Claude Snelling in Visalia:

•SSD Bill Miller also knew that right after shooting Claude Snelling, the VR had pointed his gun at the top of Beth Snelling's head as she cowered on the ground, and then kicked her in the face several times in anger. That matched the death of Katie Maggiore trapped in the corner at the Ottlinger's gate. There was no reason to shoot Katie, she'd only seen him with a mask on, and Brian was no longer chasing him. Yet again, he was extremely angry at the victim for ruining his kidnapping plans, and acted violently. 

•Most importantly, Miller knew that the ammunition that killed the Maggiores and Snelling was jacketed hollow point .38 rounds, with a 6 lefthand twist. Both sets of projectiles were fired from a very specific model Miroku or Colt revolver. CalDOJ had already examined the Snelling slugs, and matched them to the VR stolen gun. It would have only taken hours to compare those slugs to the Maggiore evidence. Formally, it may not have been done until after DeAngelo was identified. 

•Sheriff Lowe called Visalia PD Chief Forsyth to complain about Sgt. Vaughan's statements to the press. Vaughan was ordered to make no further statements to anyone connecting the VR and EAR, even within his own department. Vaughan was also barred from all contact with Sacramento agencies, and told he would be demoted or fired if he violated those orders: 

•There was no further public mention of the possibility that the VR and the EAR were the same offender until Investigator Larry Pool gave an interview to the Visalia Times-Delta in 2008. For 30 years the connection remained discredited, and then hidden from the public. Pool's attempts to have the lead investigated by the EAR/ONS Task Force were ignored, and ridiculed as disproven. Even after DeAngelo was identified through his DNA, the lead was pushed to the side for several months because a police officer from Exeter was too embarrassing to pursue.

•Not only could DeAngelo have been stopped and caught in 1975 in Exeter, or 1977 in Sacramento, and at least a dozen lives saved, but the discrediting of Sgt. Vaughan also killed all press interest in Oscar Clifton's case. 

•In 1977-78, there were Sacramento reporters looking at the possibility that the EAR was in Exeter in December, 1975, and had been offending in Visalia since March, 1974. It all ended with SSD Bill Miller's intentional lies to the press. DeAngelo could have been easily identified by McGowen and convicted, and nobody else needed to be raped or murdered. Oscar could have been released, and rejoined his family.

•It was relatively easy for SSD to convince the local press to drop the Visalia connection. Reporters didn't know enough of the details to ask follow up questions, and the Bee generally acted as stenographers for law enforcement. The Union was far more critical of the Sheriff, but their editor died suddenly, and they changed their tone and focus.

•The larger mystery was how SSD managed to avoid any press speculation that the Maggiores were killed by the EAR. They hid the information about the shoelace, the vacant house, and the mask, but the fact that a man with a gun had attacked a couple just blocks from multiple EAR attacks should have been an obvious connection made by any journalist--at least a question to be asked and answered. 

The first newspaper accounts followed the facts, and the TV interviews given by the eye witnesses:

•Following the homicides, the first week of the investigative file is completely normal. SSD interviewed Brian and Katie's family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and supervisors looking for anyone who may have had a grudge or personal motive to kill the couple. 

•Brian's supervisor said that his work on the air base was basically file clerk. The most controversial aspect was processing parking citations. Despite later assertions, Brian did not investigate drug dealing, or other criminal activity. 

•Katie had left her job as a photographer's assistant after her employer had sexually harassed her, and then left her position at the gas station due to the stalker watching her. She was being treated for anxiety, but there was nothing in her personal life that would put her in danger of being killed. 

•Although people on La Alegria did not know Katie and Brian by name, they were regularly seen walking "Thumper" there, and had casual conversations with the residents. 

•Investigators did hear from one additional witness who they believed saw both the shooter, and Brian and Katie:

•The Maggiores were known to circle the blocks around La Alegria on their walk, and it appears that they were on their second loop of the evening when they were attacked:

•Steve Watson and the jogger, Benny Picket, viewed Katie and Brian at the same time as they approached W. La Loma--but from different vantage points. It appears that the man standing at the bushes may have been the shooter waiting to see Katie and Brian approaching to see if they did the loop on La Gloria, or Capitales since both were their habit. 

•The couple and their dog were walking fairly slowly, and it would have been easy for the shooter to sprint ahead in the dark, and wait for them to pass on LaGloria. 

•All of the witnesses painted the exact same picture of a single white male in a brown leather bomber jacket. He was seen before and after the shooting. 

•The Sheriff ordered that the public not be told that the EAR was a murderer. The official line was that it would complicate their investigation if the press started a panic, but Sheriff Lowe simply did not want to be criticized for failing to catch him earlier. 

•All of the initial interviews and investigation of the first two weeks pointed directly back to a stalking and kidnap attempt by the EAR, and SSD had confirmation from the crime lab that the same make of gun was used to kill Claude Snelling. Suddenly, the investigators were ordered to focus on a different witness tip received in the case:

•So, an 11-year-old girl reported seeing two men walking west, away from the Kahn house, sometime before the shooting...they weren't doing anything suspicious, just walking and smoking. 

•A couple of weeks after she made her report, Julie was asked to help draw composites under "hypnosis," and those became the basis for the two suspects SSD blamed for killing the Maggiores:

•Not only did the information released to the public stray from Julie's original description, it seemed designed to intentionally confuse, and hide the true suspect information.

•Now, the man with the stained brown leather bomber jacket was wearing cowboy boots, not the soft soled shoes described by the other witnesses.

•Similarly confusing, the formerly clean shaven man with the gun, now had a mustache, and was wearing a longer car coat.

•Soon, the story was that both men were seen fleeing the after the shooting:

•Even after they released Berwick's much better composite of the actual shooter, they still insisted that mustache man was also involved, and seen running from the scene. As long as there were two suspects, it could not have been the East Area Rapist, and the motive remained some type of unknown confrontation between Brian and the men. 

•The last appearance of the Maggiore case in the Sacramento Bee's "Secret Witness" program was in January, 1981, and SSD was still telling the public that there were two suspects:

•There were no further news stories on the case for the next nine years. The first mention of a possible EAR/Maggiore link was in March, 1990, but it was dismissed as a "theory," and the two suspects mentioned seems to discount it:

•Although the books released by Shelby, Crompton, and McNamara had speculated about the EAR as a Maggiore suspect, the true information was not released by SSD until February, 2018, months after they had secretly identified DeAngelo, and were drafting the warrants that contained the real facts.

•Perhaps the worst part of the false cover story was that SSD had immediately identified the two men seen by Julie Holaday. They had been walking to a nearby park, where they were when they heard the shots. Julie picked out a photo of the mustache man, and he passed a polygraph. SSD Detective Ken Clark admitted that the department continued to push the two suspect story and composites despite the fact that they were only seen walking away before the shooting, and then identified and cleared as suspects. 

•The two men seen by Holaday were stationed at Mather, and shared a nearby apartment. They were not from the area, and said that they were not familiar with the street names. They both described heading north from their apartment on E. La Loma, taking a jog over to W. La Loma, walking around the park, and then returning home on E. La Loma. The only real difference was that Griffin described turning left on Malaga (Capitales to the left), and Tkacz thought that it was at Sobrante. 

•Tkacz and Griffin did not dispute that they were likely the men seen by Holaday a few minutes before the shots rang out. They placed themselves on the north side of the park when they heard the shots, and then most of the way back home when the first sirens were arriving on the scene. 

•As SSD Detective Ken Clark eventually disclosed to the public in February of 2018, Holaday immediately picked Tkacz from two different photo lineups as the "Mustache Man" she saw, and Tkacz passed a polygraph exam:

•The two men in the composites drawn from Holaday's descriptions were identified and cleared by March 3, 1978. They didn't see the Maggiores or the shooter, and had nothing to offer as witnesses. 

•Inexplicably, SSD continued to lie to the press and public. This was the department's final official word on the Maggiore homicides, six weeks after clearing those same subjects:

•The Sacramento evening news interviewed Detective Biondi about the "Crime Bulletin" on the same day, April 14th, 1978:

•It appears that DeAngelo saw the Bulletin, the newscast, or both--and reacted with another EAR attack--his first since the Maggiore homicides. 

•The victim was a 15-year-old girl babysitting for a neighbor. The victim had only been alone with the child in the house for a short time before DeAngelo kicked his way in the door:

•KOVR reported the story from the scene the next day:

•From March, 1978-July, 1979, DeAngelo's attacks moved up and down the East Bay area, and back and forth to Sacramento, Modesto, and Davis. 

•When DeAngelo returned to Rancho Cordova in March, 1979, and the EAR Task Force determined it was the same offender, Sheriff Lowe ordered that the match be covered up:

•SSD lied to the press, and the case was never solved:

•When the March 20, 1979 victim was asked about her movements leading up to the attack, she said that she left work, shopped at Pay-n-Save on Sunrise & Greenback, and had a normal evening with her children at home:

•DeAngelo's work records show that he was off on March 20th and 21st, 1979.

•Four months later, at 3:00 pm on July 21, 1979, SSD deputies arrested and cited DeAngelo for shoplifting a hammer and dog repellant at the same Pay-n-Save at Sunrise & Greenback. His behavior was so strange that deputies investigated further, and discovered that the was active duty Auburn PD. They informed his supervisor there that he should not work another shift without a mental evaluation, and he was fired after refusing to cooperate:

•DeAngelo may have decided to abandon the East Bay area because the last couple in Danville, on July 5th, had heard about his MO, and made a plan to escape if confronted. DeAngelo barely made it away from the scene without being caught. 

•DeAngelo committed two more home invasion attacks prior to his trial; the first was on September 25th in Citrus Heights, and the second was in Goleta on October 1st. He also lost control of the Goleta scene:

•DeAngelo also lost control of the scene at a Rancho Cordova attack in August, 1976:

•The victim was beaten with a billy club that exactly matched the description of one stolen by the VR on October 24, 1975. She had swollen head injuries, and required stitches. DeAngelo admitted that attack in 2020.

•On October 26, 1979, DeAngelo was convicted of the shoplifting charges. All of his later confessed crimes occurred in Southern California. Because he was a former Tulare County officer who had moved to Auburn in the summer of 1976, SSD may have questioned him about the EAR cases--or, he just felt that he should give the impression that the EAR had moved to S. CA while he was still living in Auburn and Citrus Heights. 

•He had done the same thing by committing the first two EAR attacks while he was still living and working in Exeter. 

•DeAngleo's next attempted attack was in Goleta on December 30, 1979. Dr. Offerman fought back and DeAngelo shot and killed him, and Dr. Manning. Investigators found that the vacant condo unit next to them had been broken into, and bindings left behind. He may have been planning to take Dr. Manning there for a sexual assault, but never got that far according to the investigative summary:

•Not only was Lt. Root lying about the numerous times the EAR had completely lost control of a scene, but he was still hiding the fact that he knew that the EAR had already killed the Maggiores, and Claude Snelling. There is no question that DeAngelo immediately responded to Lt. Root's statements. 

•Charlene and Lyman Smith were dead before the next morning: