Ok I know this is almost a complete shot in the dark and highly unlikely, but someone got these guys confused in another thread. Plus people were comparing the I-70 killer with the killer in the Northeast thought to be Michael Nicholeau, so I figured why not discuss this possibility?

The strange thing about EAR, is that he was not linked to any crimes after 1986. However, he was reported to have phoned some of his victims in the early 1990's, make it unlikely that he was dead like many people thought.

Guys like that typically don't stop, so I've always wondered if EAR didn't move to another part of the country and possibly change his MO. What if he moved to Boston changed it to attacking women in shopping centers instead of home invasions?

The Boston Mall Rapist I am pretty sure attacked women in the late 80's, this was directly after the EAR attacks stopped. So the timeline at least fits. We know that if indeed the mysterious phone calls in the early 90's came from EAR, he was still alive, and I figure if he was still sick enough to call his victims, its unlikely that he stopped attacking woman. Someone mentioned the possibibility he got married, maybe he just couldn't attack women as often once he did.

But interestingly, the Boston Mall rapes I am fairly certain stopped sometime shortly after 1990, so maybe something happened to this guy sometime in the early 90's which incapacitated him. Because as far as I know the phone calls from EAR stopped after the early 90's as well.

Like I said, I know this is highly unlikely, but I've always believed that EAR almost had to be somewhere else still attacking women when he was making the phone calls to his victims in the early 90's. But you got these interesting facts.

1. The East Area Rapist/ONS was thought to be fairly young, so its highly unlikely he died after his last known crime in 1986.

2. The Boston Mall Rapist appeared in the late 1980's, after EAR's last known crime. But he was not known to be active prior to the late 80's that I know of.

3. EAR was known to be making threats to his past victims in the early 90's, so its pretty unlikely he had stopped attacking women at this time if he was still sick enough to do this. He most likely lived in a different part of the country and changed his MO.

Any thoughts anyone?

No, because the DNA would have hit when it was ran nationally.

Not that it matters, though. The Statute of Limitations is out on the Boston rapes.

First of all, I don't think thats a clincher. I'm fairly certain that national database for DNA was not set up until the late 90's at least. I doubt a complete DNA profile for every rape or crime committed before hand found its way into it for one reason or another, its probably not infallible. With EAR, they had a lot of samples to put together a profile cause he committed a lot of rapes. With this guy there were only a few at a time when DNA sampling was not perfected. So I don't know how good a profile they had on him.

Second of all, I would hardly say it doesn't matter, even though he can't be charged with the rapes of the Boston Mall Rapist, it would be some solace to the victims if he were found to be charged with another crime or discovered to be in prison.

I mean I myself acknowledged that its probably a million to one shot, but I think it makes for more interesting conversation personally than band names derived from Unsolved Mysteries. But thats just me.

(EDIT: DOUBLE POST)

I would completely reject it just based on the details of both cases without the DNA. EAR snuck into homes at night and usually surprised sleeping victims. Strip Mall Rapist waited until businesses were nearly closed and operated fairly openly. EAR was athletic and probably a former cat burglar. Strip Mall rapist was overweight.

I do know that the East Area Rapist and Original Night Stalker are one and the same. It was in 2000-2001 that they linked the two together. That's the only kind of connection involving the EAR so far.

An interesting idea, but I think the MOs are too different. The EAR/ONS murdered at least ten people. He escalated to murder from rape and escalated to rape from burglary. I think it's unlikely he would have deescalated back to rape just to commit the relatively benign (compared to EAR/ONS) Boston area attacks.

In fact, this type of reasoning about MOs is partially why some profilers don't believe that Albert DeSalvo was the Boston Stranger. While the brutal and sadistic stranglings were being committed by the Boston Strangler, DeSalvo was simultaneously committing burglaries and sexual assaults - He smooth talked his victims into letting him inside their apartments and he almost always apologized to his victims after the rape was over. DeSalvo was also married and had children. Whoever the Boston Strangler really was, he was a sadist, he hated women, and most likely wouldn't be in any sort of functional relationship with one, and he sure wouldn't apologize for his crimes. He also wouldn't escalate to sadistic and brutal torture and murder for some, and then simple rape for others.

Don't mean to get off track, but I thought the comparison might help.

I would completely reject it just based on the details of both cases without the DNA. EAR snuck into homes at night and usually surprised sleeping victims. Strip Mall Rapist waited until businesses were nearly closed and operated fairly openly. EAR was athletic and probably a former cat burglar. Strip Mall rapist was overweight.

fair point there, I didn't remember the the Strip Mall Rapist being described as overweight, it may have been just the guy in the reinactment I was thinking of and he wasn't overweight, I do tend to make that mistake from time to time.

Sometimes UM gives misleading reinactments, remember Megadeath? He was portrayed as a huge intimidating looking guy, but the eyewitness account said he was actually about medium build. Probably to dramatize it.

As to your other point, sometimes criminals change their MO's.

I think the main point I'm trying to make with this thread is to spark discussion of what happened to these guys. Cause EAR was thought to be fairly young, and thought to be making threatening calls to his victims in the early 90's, so its strange nothing was linked to him aftr 1986.

While quite a few rapists have moved to different cities and started their crimes up again I don't think it's the same guy. If we believe the UM segments, the Boston rapist made no attempt to hide his identity while the EAR-ONS only had his eyes uncovered. Of course, criminals do tend to get a lot bold after the first few crimes and they can shed their disguises, but I think we're dealing with two separate attackers here. The one thing that connects them is that to this day, we still don't know their identity.

Yeah, DNA evidence aside, they were just too different. Strip Mall rapist was 'nice' to his victims, ie reassuring them he would otherwise not harm them, and as I said operated very openly, making no attempt to disguise himself. EAR had a progression from cat burglar to serial rapist to serial killer. I doubt he moved across the country, put on 75 pounds, and became a 'nice' guy.

The Strip Mall Rapist was another case of an UM segment where the actor portraying him didnt match the composite of the suspect.

Not to get too far OT, but I see some confusion about the different appearance of the actor in the re-enactment and the composite of the Boston Mall Rapist shown at the end of the segment on that case.

For an unknown reason, the Lifetime version of the episode substituted a completely different series of composites for the composites shown during the NBC telecast. The composite shown on the NBC version very closely resembled the actor - face and build.

Could it be because the earlier sketch was inaccurate? I would tend to believe they wouldnt replace it unless there were problems with it.

Maybe I'm over thinking this, but I always wondered if just perhaps the UM coverage of the case caused the Boston Rapist to hang it up or move on to another part of the country. It just seems odd to me that the crimes stopped so abruptly after they were publicized on a national level.

Could it be because the earlier sketch was inaccurate? I would tend to believe they wouldnt replace it unless there were problems with it.

It's possible. I read a newspaper article on the case years ago that indicated a Boston area veterinarian was considered a suspect because he resembled the descriptions and composites. He was located, interviewed and cooperated with investigators and ultimately cleared as a suspect. So, I suppose it's possible that the composite was altered because of this and possibly other wrongful identifications. On the other hand, I wonder if he could have committed more of these crimes and a better composite was made.

I can't recall, but did he ever steal anything? If so, it was probably an afterthought or secondary to the rapes.

Does anyone have the segment handy so we can get an idea of the dates and exact nature of the offenses? I believe the UM report re-enacted two rapes - one at a doctor's office and another at a strip mall, but it was mentioned that a task force was handling the matter and I recall a map pinpointing other attacks. I would like to try to profile this guy.

Maybe I'm over thinking this, but I always wondered if just perhaps the UM coverage of the case caused the Boston Rapist to hang it up or move on to another part of the country. It just seems odd to me that the crimes stopped so abruptly after they were publicized on a national level.

I wouldn't be surprised. It'd be totally plausible that he'd move to a new area and continue to commit crimes. Even now it's difficult to find connections to crimes across city/state lines.

a lot of the serial profiles are interesting. I know the EAR/original nightstocker is well documented and california has tried hard to find him.

On some of the UM segments when they profile a serial killer/rapist I sometimes wonder if the murders are committed by the same person or not.

a lot of the serial profiles are interesting. I know the EAR/original nightstocker is well documented and california has tried hard to find him.

On some of the UM segments when they profile a serial killer/rapist I sometimes wonder if the murders are committed by the same person or not.

Yes, he is well documented in California. But the interesting thing is I don't believe the FBI has ever gotten involved, largely because EAR has no known crimes outside of California. Which I personally feel is wrong, this guy is possibly one of the worst criminals in the history of the country, yet because he has only struck in California he has managed to fly under the national radar to a large enough degree. I suspect thats one of the reasons he hasn't been caught.

I have always wondered if the heat got to be to much in 1986 and he moved to another section of the country, or possibly even to Mexico or Canada. Because as I said some of his victims received phone calls from him in the early 1990's. There was speculation that he may have gotten married and had a family and thats why he was unable to strike as much, largely because in one of his phone calls which was recorded for the police, a woman and kids could be heard in the background. But that doesn't neccessarily prove anything, he could have been calling from a public place or at a friend's house. Still an interesting possibility though.

Someone on the board not to long ago said they were going to petition Americas Most Wanted to do a segment on EAR. I don't know whatever happened with that, but I think it would be a good idea to do. California definitely needs help to catch this guy if he is still out there somewhere.

Does anyone have the segment handy so we can get an idea of the dates and exact nature of the offenses? I believe the UM report re-enacted two rapes - one at a doctor's office and another at a strip mall, but it was mentioned that a task force was handling the matter and I recall a map pinpointing other attacks. I would like to try to profile this guy.
I know I'm replying to a 2-year old post and I haven't posted on here in years, but I *just* found the original uncut version of this segment online last night, and I would like to revisit it. The video was dubbed in Spanish, but thanks to closed captioning and Google Translate I was able to get a good handle of what was being said in the parts that were cut by Lifetime.

I was pretty devastated, when I first watched this segment on Lifetime in 1997, that there was no update; the fact that it's still unsolved and the statute ran out over a decade ago still hurts. This guy was an out of control perverted creep and deserved to be arrested for his crimes. I have never really forgotten this case and still find it difficult to watch.

I was told years ago that the original segment had different composites - it was really great to finally see all of them (another poster on this board had posted screenshots of 2 of the 3 composites at one point). The Lifetime composite (as I will refer to it from now on) was disappointing in a sense. When I first watched the segment in '97 I thought the same as you - the composite and the actor did not resemble each other at all, and usually UM was pretty good at that kind of thing. When this segment was on the Site That Shall Not Be Named (before getting yanked), many comments were made on how the composite looked like an adult version of Bobby Hill (from the cartoon King of the Hill). I couldn't really disagree.

I've tracked down quite a bit of information on this case, and in 2004 I posted some articles about it which I found again. Here is the timeline of what I know.

12/16/1989 - Boston, MA - sexual assault at a small downtown Boston store near Quincy Market. Approximately 4 pm. Not specifically referenced in the UM segment, which made it appear that the second attack was actually the first.
12/24/1989 - Braintree, MA - sexual assault at a store in The Burlington Coat Mall on Granite Street. Approximately 4 pm. This was the first crime reenacted in the UM segment. No mention was made in any articles I found of it being a medical clinic, although one mentioned that the rapist said in this crime that "a friend was waiting for him outside". This could be a reference to the fake 'cousin' who needed to see a doctor.
12/27/1989 - Framingham, MA - double rape at the Hit or Miss clothing store on Route 9. The second crime reenacted and where both victims were interviewed in the UM segment. One article mentioned that it occurred at 10:15 am, which coincides with the UM segment stating that the rapist left at approximately 10:30 am.
12/30/1989 - Dedham, MA - robbery at the Wearguard Store in the Dedham Plaza. No rape or sexual assault.
1/4/1990 - Saugus, MA - robbery at the Cribs and Cradle Store on Route 1 south in Saugus. No rape or sexual assault.
1/12/1990 - Norwood, MA - rape at the Cellular One store on Route 1 in the Galleria on the Green. Occurred at approximately 1 pm according to one article.
1/26 or 1/27/1990 (the one article I found after this crime gives conflicting days of the week) - Braintree, MA - robbery at the CVS Pharmacy in South Shore Plaza. No rape or sexual assault.

The map shown in the UM segment alluded to robberies in Brockton and Fall River, but I can find no information on either. I assume they took place after the second Braintree robbery.

Watching the original segment, I realized that Lifetime cut out some possibly pertinent information at the end of the segment before they cut back to Stack, which combined with the changing of the composites shown, I find pretty irresponsible. As they were rolling through the composites, after mentioning how he sometimes wore glasses and a mustache but no jewelry, they made mention that he hides his stomach (the articles did mention a beer-belly), wore Obsession for Men cologne, spoke intelligently and softly, appeared very clean and did not seem to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

All this makes me believe that the rapist was a cop or ex-cop. Not only due to the physical characteristics and how clean-cut he was (that composite made by the Framingham victims just screams to me "COP!") but how methodical he was in carrying out the crimes. He knew exactly what to do and how to do it. He had multiple people at his disposal and knew how to keep one at bay while still controlling the other.

[QUOTE
12/24/1989 - Braintree, MA - sexual assault at a store in The Burlington Coat Mall on Granite Street. Approximately 4 pm. This was the first crime reenacted in the UM segment. No mention was made in any articles I found of it being a medical clinic, although one mentioned that the rapist said in this crime that "a friend was waiting for him outside". This could be a reference to the fake 'cousin' who needed to see a doctor. QUOTE]

Wow I don't remember this case even though I lived nearby. I went away for DESERT STORM so maybe it became news while I was away.

Even more so I worked at that Braintree strip mall, first at the Purity Supreme supermarket when in high school and then later with a cleaning company that cleaned up what can only be the medical clinic mentioned several nights a week. The clinic was more of a physical therapy type place with a bunch of medical offices and nautilus type machines. I forget the name of the place. I only remember when I worked there because I brought a radio and listened to sports talk shows while working and all they were talking about was Lee Smith coming to the Red Sox. Smith came in 1988 so this was probably the late winter early spring of 1988 that I worked there. It was a parttime job that did not last that long. So this was about a year and a half before the rape. The place did not seem like one where a rape could occur. It was always closed when I was there. But maybe it was open other nights of the week with minimal staffing. The mall had the Burlington Store, the Supreme, the place I cleaned, several smaller stores and a Ground Round restaurant which was located where a movie theater had been when I was a kid (saw Patton there).
Looked on Google. Where the supermarket was is now a tool store. Where the clinic was is now a planet fitness. Ground Round is gone but there is another restaurant on the other side of the strip mall now. Burlington was and still is there.

Small galaxy. I'm going to do a little more digging to see if the clinic referred to was the place I worked. I cannot believe a rape could have occurred there.

watched the segment on YouTube. For some reason I do not remember ever seeing it before although I thought I'd seen them all.

I am pretty sure the Braintree clinic featured was the place I worked as a cleaner in 1988. The place had a reception desk on the left with a bunch of medical offices on the left. On the right (not shown on the show) was a small gym with nautilus style machines as the place was a holistic style physical therapy clinic with a snappy name I cannot remember like Pro-Health. It closed a long time ago and the site is now a Planet Fitness.
The strip mall had a large parking lot as there was a supermarket (where I also had worked) next door to the left. To the right were some offices and a Ground Round restaurant.

Why the attacker picked that place I do not know. The supermarket had to be open and have many shoppers in it at the time.

It is wierd that I watched that show for years and the one time I had a direct connection to it, I didn't realize it.


About all the crimes being near interstates or expressways for easy getaway, I think that is somewhat misrepresentative. Most places in eastern Mass are theoretically only minutes away from an expressway. For example the Braintree site is probably about two miles from Rte 128/I-93. However, that two miles includes a major intersection called Five Corners which is always jammed and you'd have to pass the South Shore Plaza mall complex to get to the highway, a location that had to be crowded on Christmas Eve. The second location was on Rte 9 in Natick. Rte 9 is a four lane road with about 100 lights on it. No fast getaway from there either. The crowdedness of eastern Mass is probably what gave the attacker cover, so he did not need a quick getaway. Most of the sites were in retail areas along heavily travelled roads.

Everytime I go to Youtube to watch UM segments they've been pulled down. :(