California may have a new serial killer — the first such nationally publicized case since the Golden State Killer was caught three years ago and became a household name, inspiring a book and a hit HBO series.
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Police in Stockton have linked five murder cases involving men who were shot while walking alone this year. In a press conference Friday, Police Chief Stanley McFadden said robbery, gang violence, and hate crimes are not motives. Stockton is 85 miles east of San Francisco.
“We have a series of homicides that we believe are interconnected,” McFadden said. “By definition, you could probably very well call this serial killings.”
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The killings began in July and all occurred near a college. The men were aged 21 to 54 and walking in dimly lit areas near buildings or trees at night or early morning. Detectives have zeroed in on one male suspect who was photographed on a security camera from the back as he walked next to a building. The person was tall, slender, dressed all in black, and wore a knit cap.
“Either this person or persons are very lucky with choosing where they’re going, or they’re doing their homework to go to locations where they feel there’s no cameras,” McFadden said.
A reward of $85,000 for information leading to the arrest of the killer has been offered by the city and Stockton Crime Stoppers.
California has been notorious for its large number of serial killers, primarily operating in the 1970s and 1980s in Los Angeles. Names such as the Freeway Killer, Hillside Strangler, Night Stalker, and Manson Family struck terror among residents.
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“By the 1970s, Los Angeles was full of serial killers,” one detective from the Los Angeles Police Department told the Washington Examiner. “The Sunset Strip Stabber, the Southside Slayer, the Freeway Killer. Robbery Homicide was insanely busy.”
