GENRE: Nonfiction/True Crime
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: D
FROM PUBLISHER: Murder on His Mind Serial Killer is the true story of the East Area Rapist aka The Original Night Stalker – Terrorizing Northern and Southern California from 1976 - 1986 The true story of how families were shattered as loved ones were lost to this perpetrator. The murder victims of this serial murderer and rapist were real people that had lives with meaning and families who loved them. Everything changed as this murderer randomly sought out and then stalked his victims. He carried out the murders of at least 12 people in and around Southern California but not before he had terrorized over 50 women and girls in Northern California where he was known as the East Area Rapist. His original rape victims lived in Rancho Cordova in the East part of Sacramento California.
This rapist moved about freely as law enforcement seemed unable to catch a break and have to this date been unable to apprehend him. A very deadly criminal this man was prepared to do whatever it took to be free. Many retired law enforcement still work the case. The FBI has once again joined in the chase. It has been 40 years since the first known attacks in Northern California. It has been 30 years since the last senseless murder of a young woman in Irvine California. How much longer will the families have to wait for justice in this case?
Anne Penn has written from the perspective of one who actually lived where this man hit in Sacramento when he first began his rapes. Living four blocks from one of the 32 attacks in Sacramento Anne has always felt the presence of evil in the city she was born. Are we allowing these crimes and this criminal to pass into history getting away with everything?
MY THOUGHTS/BOOK OVERVIEW: I didn't think this was a particularly good book nor was it well-written. It was poorly edited which is a shame because I don't think self-published books are inexpensive to publish. The structure is awful in quite a few sentences, commas weren't used when they should have been, words were improperly capitalized, words that should have been hyphenated weren't, et cetera.
There were a lot of reprinted articles with photos that were also written out verbatim, and too many pages devoted to Ted Bundy (and too much mention of other serial killers, especially BTK) and her believe that the EARONS was keeping up with him in the news and modeled himself after him a little.
Facts about the author:
She was born in 1956 late in the year. Several times she said she was a blue-eyed blonde, at least during youth. She has a background in psychology, sociology, criminal justice, was/is an addiction specialist, has worked with jail inmates in addiction recover programs, was a computer installation analyst.
In the summer of 1971 when she was 14 and walking home, a blonde man got out of the passenger side of a red truck with a matte finish (circa 1960) that had been following her and began chasing her. She ran to her friends house and banged on the door until someone let her in. The man was standing 15-20 feet away watching while she was banging on the door. She thought he may have been a neighbor who had a brother who's two years older than her.
She has a brother who's two years younger. Her parents separated when she was 14. Her father was a parole officer and worked for the Department of Rehabilitation in California. He worked too at Preston School of Industry in Ione for the California Youth Authority, working with boy's aged 17-21. Her stepfather was a parole agent.
She went to Nicholas Elementary School on Steiner Drive in South Sacramento. Like the EARONS she too had a mean 6th grade teacher who once cussed at her for talking. He'd gotten in trouble with the principle before for being mean.
She's in communication with a retired lieutenant and has met him. She's written to all medical examiner's involved in this case to try and get info but they can't release any since this is an active case.
Her thoughts on the EARONS:
She thinks the EARONS is also the VR (Vasalia Ransaker) and he lived farther south than Carmichael and is from the same neighborhood has herself.
Thinks he graduated high school in 1972 or 1973, putting his date of birth as 1954-1956.
She thinks he's the oldest sibling and has a brother and sister.
She thinks possibly his father was a strict disciplinarian and the mother just stood by.
Thinks his mother may not have felt any sort of connection to him. Based on the 'Mad is the Word' paper feels he was very frustrated and had no one to talk to.
Thinks he began killing animals at age 10-12.
Didn't get in trouble at school because he'd have been punished at home for it.
Thinks he was very smart but teachers didn't notice.
Has probably been divorced a few times.
Says 'conduct disorder' was probably one of his 'core personality issues'.
Probably was a traumatic event during childhood.
One thing I find a bit puzzling is her saying that this case has had a 'long-lasting life-changing' effect on her. Why would it?
Other nonfiction books on this case:
Sudden Terror by Larry Crompton
Hunting a Psychopath by Richard Shelby
Frozen in Fear, written by victim #5 Jane Carson-Sandler
Murder on His Mind Serial Killer
Fiction: Terror at 3am by Duane Wilson
A big thank you to Jason for sending this book to me.
