Help catch one of California's most violent killers

At L.A. Magazine, Michelle McNamara reports that one of the most violent serial rapists and killers in history may still be out there.

In the March issue of Los Angeles magazine, true crime writer Michelle McNamara tracks the unsettling and largely unknown backstory of the Golden State Killer and what has prompted authorities to reheat a cold case. He’s a criminal whose identity has stumped authorities for decades ... Now, thanks to a few key pieces of evidence published for the first time in Los Angeles magazine, authorities believe they might be a clue or two away from cracking the case—and they need your help.

Phone calls to his victims were a big part of the Golden State Killer's M.O., McNamara reports, and the embedded recording [NSFW and disturbing] above is one of the newly-released examples: "Sacramento detectives put a tap on one rape victim’s phone. In January 1978, the tap recorded a terrifying, obscene phone call. As the young woman waited silently on the phone, knowing the police tap was recording, the caller breathed heavily, then whispered menacingly. “Gonna kill you,” he repeated. “Bitch,” he hissed. “Whore.” Both the victim and the police believe the caller was the Golden State Killer."

• [xzzy]

  Layout of that site is maddening. 

  • [iheijoushin]

    I gave up just trying to find anything meaningful on the site. A bunch of “No longer accepting submissions” errors.

    I guess someone thinks long form journalism is broken and can be improved by being inaccessible.

    • [Marielle Wakim]

      The submission form is up now, it seems.

• [James Holmes]

  that audio is about 1,000,000 times more disturbing than I was expecting…

• [KevinRaposo]

  Am I the only one who thinks this sounds like a kid or teenager? 

  • [Rob Beschizza]

    Me too. Makes it extracreepy.

    • [blueelm]

      To me what makes it creepy is knowing he followed up on that promise with people. 

      Crank calls like that are just something you have to deal with some times (not fair, but part of the life experience).

      I’m more creeped out by the note about his sixth grade teacher actually. It amazes me how that is phrased. He is enraged (for years) by… disappointment. That’s scary.

  • [Cowicide]

    It happens. :(

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/30/colorado-teen-charged-as-_0_n_2045515.html

  • [oldbobbydraper]

     he was very young when he started these crimes in the mid-70s. authorities believe he was only 18-25 years old when he made this phone call.

• [William Dunn]

  This audio clip will probably be sampled on the next Venetian Snares album.

• [Marielle Wakim]

   up and running, I should say.

• [jonthelibrarian]

  That audio clip is going to haunt me for weeks.  Seriously, if I got a call like that I’d barricade myself in my home with like ten German Shepherds. And I’d never sleep.  And I’d go insane.  

  I also agree that the site’s layout leaves pretty much everything to be desired.     

• [Bradley Robinson]

  The only thing scarier than a clown is an artist rendering of a sociopath wearing a ski-mask.

  They are equally useless, I might add.

• [redesigned]

  i guess the horrible quality of the recording was due to the year that was recoded?  i hear clicks between each sound sample in the recording, is this an artifact of the recording method, or was the caller using a pieced together recording of samples of someone else saying those things?