New evidence found in decades-old case of Calif. serial killer, known as "East Area Rapist," report says
(CBS/AP) SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Decades-old DNA evidence has detectives in Santa Barbara County, California, taking another look at the "East Area Rapist" case.
They are trying to identify the serial killer suspected in at least eight killings and numerous rapes that took place from 1979 to 1986. More than three decades later, the cases remain unsolved.
According to CBS Sacramento, the suspect attacked at least 50 women before he moved to Southern California, where he is believed to have killed about a dozen people.
Traces of paint found in two of the rapes and one homicide scene has investigators looking into the possibility that the suspect may have worked at a construction site, possibly as a painter.
Detectives now want to talk to anyone who worked on the strip mall project in Goleta around the time of the slayings in 1979.
In the Santa Barbara area, the serial killer is known as the "Original Night Stalker."
Although police are another step closer to finding the suspect, an official told the station, "We have to temper our excitement for the fact that this case isn't going to be solved on one piece of evidence."
