1976
October 4th, 1976
Victim #5 was at home alone with her son. The phone rang, and she was greeted with silence on the other end, just as she had been for several weeks. By now she was fed up with the silent, hang-up phone calls, and began shouting at the person on the other end. "Who is this? Stop calling like this. The police know about it and they know who you are."
"I'm going to kill your husband," the voice on the other end whispered.
She hung up the phone, tried to reach her husband but wasn't able to, so she called the police. There wasn't much the police could do. They felt that it was a prank and tried to reassure her. She was attacked by the East Area Rapist the next day.
1977
March 18th, 1977
Victim #15 answered the phone and spoke with a man who identified himself as a roofer. He asked to speak with her father, and she told him that her parents were out of town for the weekend. Attack #15 happened that night. When the victim asked if she was expecting a call from a roofer, her father said told her that he wasn't.
March 18th, 1977, 4:15 PM
A call came in to the Sheriff's office.
"I'm the East Side Rapist," the male voice said, and then he laughed and hung up.
March 18th, 1977, 4:30 PM
Another call came in to the Sheriff's office.
"I'm the East Side Rapist," the same male voice said. Again, he laughed and hung up.
March 18th, 1977, 5:00 PM
Once more, the phone rang at the Sacramento County Sheriff's office.
"I'm the East Side Rapist and I have my next victim already stalked and you guys can't catch me." He laughed and hung up. Attack #15 happened just a few hours later.
May 1977
Two young women living on Brett Drive (an area very close to Victim #28's house) received a harassing phone call. The caller whispered "You are next" three times. The same two young women moved to Kies Way, an area still very close to the victim's house, and the night before Attack #28 (so on December 1st, 1977), they had a prowler in their yard. The prowler turned off their electricity.
Mid August 1977
Starting a few weeks before Attack #23 in Stockton, obscene phone calls began to occur in the area.
Late 1977
The Sacramento Sheriff's Department received a strange phone call, purportedly from the offender himself.
Caller: "You're never gonna catch me, you dumb fuckers. [unintelligible] East Area Rapist. I'm gonna fuck again tonight. Be careful."
December 2nd, 1977, 8:00 PM
A call was received at the police station. The voice on the other end said something to the effect of "I shall commit another rape" or "I'll commit another rape tonight." The voice sounded like a man in his twenties and it was very clear, with no accent and no background noise on the call. The words sounded like they were being read or recited. Attack #28 occurred a few hours later.
December 9th, 1977 5:40 PM
The female victim from Attack #21 received a phone call that she felt was from her attacker.
Caller: "Merry Christmas. It's me again."
December 10th, 1977 9:50 PM
The Sheriff's Department received a phone call.
"I am going to hit tonight. Watt Avenue."
December 10th, 1977 9:52 PM
A second call came in.
"I am going to hit tonight. Watt Avenue."
December 1977
Victim #8 received a phone call from someone who whispered threats.
December 1977
Victim #23 also received a phone call from someone whispering threats.
Late December 1977 to Early January 1978
The future victims of Attack #30 received multiple phone calls during this time period. The caller always asked for someone who didn't live at their address. The calls stopped around the second week of January.
1978
January 2nd, 1978
Victim #1 had been receiving odd phone calls since around Christmas. The police gave her a tape recorder in hopes that she'd be able to catch the elusive caller's voice. On the evening of January 2nd, the phone rang several times. One of them was a wrong number asking "Is Ray there?" Some investigators think that the caller was probably the rapist.
Later on in the evening, the phone rang at Victim #1's house once more. A voice that she recognized as the East Area Rapist was on the other end.
Caller: "Gonna kill you... Gonna killll you... Gonna killlll you Bitch... Bitch... Bitch... Fuckin' whore..."
There was an extended period of deep, harsh breathing before the threats began.
January 20th, 1978 5:20 AM
The mother of Victim #27 was awakened by a phone call. "Hello?" she asked after picking up the phone.
Caller: "I have not struck in awhile. You will be my next victim. I'm going to fuck you in the butt. See you soon."
January 20th, 1978 5:30 AM
The female victim in Attack #18 had just gotten out of bed for work.
The phone rang. At the other end of the line was a man:
Caller: "I have not struck in awhile. You will be my next victim. I'm going to fuck you in the butt. See you soon."
Late January 1978
The two victims in Attack #29 received phone calls (four in total) from a man with a "funny-sounding" voice. The caller always asked if the victims' mother was there.
March 16th, 1978
The phone rang, and a twenty-eight year-old mother of two children living near Attack #30 answered it. On the other end was a man whispering "I need someone to talk to while I masturbate. Would you be interested?" This occurred two days before the attack.
April 1st or 2nd, 1978
Victim #31's house received a phone call. Her sister answered, and a male voice said "I've fucked your sister."
April 12th, 1978
The phone rang at Victim #31's house. The male voice on the other end said "let me sell you out."
April through Early/Mid May, 1978
During this time period, the future victims of Attack #32 received a lot of hang-up phone calls. Toward the middle of May, those phone calls became obscene. The final call was received in mid May, and the caller said "I want to cum on your lap." This was about three weeks before the attack occurred.
September through early October 1978
All throughout this time period, streets like Minert Road, Oak Grove Road, Belann Court, and even streets as far away as Hollis Court experienced obscene phone calls. These areas were around Attack #37 and Attack #38.
1979
January 15th, 1979
Victim #42 received a call that she identified as the EAR. This call occurred over a month after her attack.
Caller: "Do you want fuck?"
Mid May 1979
Crank phone calls started up at a house near the golf course in Walnut Creek. Three women lived at this house, and the calls continued from mid May until the day Attack #45 happened. The day before the attack, those same three women had a prowler in their backyard. Two pictures were stolen from the house, and one of the photos stolen which featured one of the women in a bikini.
November 1st, 1979
A young woman who lived off of Calle Real (a street near the EAR's Goleta activity) received a phone call in the middle of the night. The man on the other end made non-specific threats and then hung up.
November 7th, 1979
The same young woman who had received the threatening phone call on November 1st received another crank call in the middle of the night. The man on the other end threatened to kill her. It was the same voice that had called previously.
November 20th, 1979 Afternoon
An obscene phone call occurred on Nueces Drive, a street to the northeast of the More Mesa beach area in Goleta.
November 22nd, 1979 11:45 AM
Another obscene phone call occurred, this time on a street right off of Calle Real in Goleta. This house was only a few yards away from the house that received the obscene phone calls on November 1st and 7th.
November 21st through November 24th, 1979
A woman living just south of Berkeley Road received over a dozen hang-up and obscene phone calls a day for four days straight.
1980
Early January, 1980
On a day in early January 1980, a resident living nearby received a dozen obscene phone calls in the early morning hours. This was fairly soon after the Offerman/Manning murders.
1981
February 4th or 5th, 1981
A mysterious phone call was received at the Witthuhn house. The caller was described as an older-sounding African-American male. It may or may not be related to the Witthuhn murder, which occurred a day or two later, though some feel that it might be because her answering machine tape was stolen.
1982
October 21st, 1982
Victim #24 received a call from a voice that she identified as the EAR's.
Caller: "Hi, it's me again. Remember me? I'm going to come over and fuck you again. You're going to suck my cock again."
1990s
Sometime between 1990 and 1992
Victim #7 received a phone call, and she recognized the voice on the other end as the voice of the rapist. The caller whispered harshly into the phone, saying "You know who this is" or "Do you know who this is?" The victim was on the line with him for about a minute. There was the sound of children and maybe a woman in the background, which could've potentially come from a television or some other source.
2001
April 6th, 2001
Victim #14 received a phone call from a man who whispered "Remember when we played?" She positively identified the man as the voice of the East Area Rapist. This phone call came just two days after the breaking news that the East Area Rapist crimes had been tied by DNA to the murders in Southern California.
2004
Spring 2004
Even though the caller didn't speak, it's worth mentioning the series of hang-up phone calls that the sister of murder victim Janelle Cruz received in the Spring of 2004. At the time, a massive push to get Proposition 69 wrapped up was being undertaken by Bruce Harrington, the brother of murder victim Keith Harrington. Bruce's primary goal was to use the law of the land to force the California prison system to do a massive DNA sweep to look for his brother's killer. Proposition 69 was successful, but unfortunately, the Golden State Killer was not found.
Michelle Cruz, the sister of murder victim Janelle Cruz, participated in a press conference around this time. Afterward, she received five or six hang-up phone calls a day for a period of two weeks or so. When she answered the phone, the caller wouldn't speak, but the caller wouldn't hang up, either. Whether this was the offender of not is unknown, but that was the style of his hang-up phone calls, and the fact that he made calls like that wasn't widely known at the time.