Last night, I was watching the A&E TV show "Cold Case Files," and the segment they were featuring was the case of the East Area Rapist who committed a series of rapes in one area of California, and then (as DNA tests would eventually confirm) went on to become a serial killer in another California vicinity. The unknown assailant, who struck as a serial killer from 1979 to the mid-1980s (killing at least 10 people), is described by many as the "original Night Stalker." UM first aired the segment of the serial killer on July 22, 2002.

I regret that I didn't give any of you advance notice about this, but I didn't know that Cold Case Files was doing a segment on the case until I happened to be switching channels last night. However, I'm sure that it will be shown again soon, and if or when it is, I will let you all know.

This is a fascinating case. Police believe the East Area Rapist may have moved to another part of the country and continued on his crime spree. Hopefully the airing of this Cold Case episode will generate some new leads.

I wonder why more focus in not put into this case

Well, the point of it being on Cold Case Files is that they are putting more focus on it. It's very rare that CCF features unsolved cases. And it's not like the police ignored the rapes and murders. It's just that the DNA evidence linking the cases was not available until relatively recently.

It's very rare that CCF features unsolved cases.

Not "very rare". In fact, CCF has shown numerous still-unsolved cases (you just have to watch more of their episodes to find them). It's just that the majority of their segments are solved cases. However, the many CCF segments include some "half-solved" cases.

Not "very rare". In fact, CCF has shown numerous still-unsolved cases (you just have to watch more of their episodes to find them). It's just that the majority of their segments are solved cases. However, the many CCF segments include some "half-solved" cases.

Okay. Rare is a relative term. You're right that the often show cases where there are multiple suspects and they are looking for more evidence. But I'd say it's no more than one out of every 5 episodes. Believe me, I've watched every freakin CCF there is. Let's just say I'm sort of obsessed with Bill Kurtis :)

Okay. Rare is a relative term. You're right that the often show cases where there are multiple suspects and they are looking for more evidence. But I'd say it's no more than one out of every 5 episodes. Believe me, I've watched every freakin CCF there is. Let's just say I'm sort of obsessed with Bill Kurtis :)

In that case, I would say that they occasionally air cases that are still unsolved or partially solved. I can name one example of an alleged "partially solved" case that was profiled on CCF: the 1990 murder of Eva Schoen.

You may recall that UM aired a segment about that case in 1992. A man was eventually arrested, and convicted of the murder. Although the man in question confessed to killing Eva (and evidence links him to the murder), Eva's widower, U-Haul heir Sam Schoen, isn't convinced that the case should be considered closed.

While Sam has no doubt that the right man is in prison, he is not convinced that the killer acted alone. In the CCF episode "Terror In Telluride" (the title given since the murder occured in Telluride, Colorado), he based the theory of an accomplice on the findings of needle marks on Eva's body, and his contention that Eva was a strong person. To him, this means that at least two people overpowered her. His belief is that one person gave her injections while at least one other person physcially restrained her. To date, however, there is still no hard evidence to support this claim.

A good forum on this case: http://boards.aetv.com/forum.jspa?forumID=2499

Also, the best info on the crimes and specifics of this case: http://ear-ons.com/

Not too current but here is an article about the East Area Rapist:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/04/04/MN210283.DTL