Around April of 1974, the town of Visalia, CA was plagued
by a series of "bizarre burglaries." Bizarre because
whoever was responsible for the burglaries would rarely take
anything of real value. This perpetrator became known as the
"Ransacker."
|
|
|
|
Over 80 burglaries later, the Ransackers true intentions
were finally revealed when on Sept. 11, 1975, he tried
to kidnap Beth Snelling from her home at night. Her
father, Claude Snelling, awakened by the struggle, was
shot and killed while trying to intervene. Evidence
from the crime scene tied his murder to the Ransacker.
|
The Ransackings continued unabated after the murder
of Claude Snelling. Visalia PD detectives were staking
out an area previously hit by the Ransacker. The Ransacker
made the mistake of returning to the area. During a
confrontation with Detective William McGowen, the Ransacker
fired a shot at McGowen, hitting his flashlight. The
Ransacker escaped on foot and soon disappeared.
|
|
|
|
In 1977, McGowen went to the Sacramento County
Sheriff's Department to compare notes between the Visalia
Ransacker and the East Area Rapist. By July of 1978, this
turned into a full-blown controversy as the the Sacramento
Union reported a tie between the cases. The Sacramento
County Sheriff's Department denied such a link and lambasted
the Visalia PD for going public with such a link. 31 years
later, the chances are high that the cases are, in fact,
linked.
|
|
|
