The Visalia Ransacker: Basics
The "Visalia Ransacker" is the name given to an unknown offender who operated in the farm town of Visalia, California in the mid 1970s. He operated in a fairly small area in the southern half of town, committing over 100 burglaries and a handful of violent offenses, including homicide.
Modus Operandi
The Ransacker had a unique way of operating, and the signature behaviors he performed at crime scenes usually left little doubt that the same burglar was committing all of the crimes attributed to him. The typical VR crime went through the following steps:
While the residents were out of town or out of the home for the evening, the Ransacker would enter an open window, unlocked window, or he would pry open an entrance. He sometimes entered by slipping a lock on a door, or by forcing open a sliding glass door, but he typically entered through windows.
Once inside the residence, he would open one or more additional exit points (usually windows), often pulling the window screens into the home from the inside. He would usually leave the screens on or near the bed. The purpose of doing this was most likely to allow himself multiple options for a quick escape should the homeowners return unexpectedly, and also so that he could hear outside better. He sometimes wedged a chair under the doorknob to the front door or engaged the chain lock in an effort to slow down the residents if they came home. He also put cans, cups, or trinkets against the doors so that he would have a better chance of hearing the residents return.
He would begin ransacking the home, opening every draw in the house and usually rummaging through the contents. He would particularly focus on the bedrooms.
He collected up all of the women’s undergarments that he could find, and he would toss them onto the floor, onto the bed, or onto some other surface in the house. He would usually arrange them in particular ways, and in a deliberate fashion (for instance, stacking all of the panties on pillows, lining up all of the bras, making a pattern with the lingerie and nightgowns, etc).
The VR would sometimes find hand lotion or bring his own (usually Jergen’s brand), and based on the positioning of the photos of women or girls, some of their panties that he been balled up nearby, the presence of a pornographic magazine that the Ransacker found and left in the open, and smears of lotion at places in the home, the police noted that he appeared to be masturbating at some of the scenes.
He would often cause a bit of damage or destruction beyond what was necessary to break into the home. He pushed over bookshelves, poured wine onto carpet, sprayed shaving cream onto furniture, dumped medication down the sink, and sometimes destroyed or cut up bras or panties.
The Ransacker would steal keepsakes and collectibles from him victims. Piggybanks, class rings, wedding rings, engraved bracelets, a personalized locket, coin collections, stamp collections, and Blue Chip stamps. One of his “calling cards” is that he would take a single earring from a pair - a fact that would often be discovered later by the victim. Sometimes the items he took would be found discarded nearby. He also stole firearms, ammunition, a knife, a hammer, and a billy club - thus showing his propensity for violence. He also stole practical items that seemed to be for his own personal use, such as packaged t-shirts, glue, canned food, dishes, binoculars, and a stereo.
Escalation
As the series wore on, it became clear that the motivation for these crimes was sexual in nature. While the crime series was well-known for the ransackings, it was learned that the VR was a prolific peeper and prowler as well. Shoe prints found at multiple scenes all matched each other, and these shoe prints could be found under windows and in yards all over town, showing that the Ransacker had established certain "peeping routes" for himself.
His crimes escalated, and he began stalking certain families and women. In the early morning hours of September 11th, 1975, he even attempted to kidnap a teenage girl he had been peeping at since at least February. He entered the home of the Snelling family while they were asleep and in the process of dragging the girl away, her father, Claude Snelling, woke up and confronted him. The Ransacker shot him to death in cold blood.
Rather than leave the small area where he was offending, the Ransacker brazenly continued to offend and even continue his escalation pattern. Calls regarding peeping and prowling related to the Ransacker began to increase, and the VR began stalking potential targets more aggressively. He began calling potential victims with harassing messages, he continued peeping and ransacking at a frantic pace, and he even attempted to enter two homes in the middle of the night where women were present, one of them a young woman living by herself.
Confrontation
In December 1975, a vigilant homeowner (who had been burglarized and peeped at by the Ransacker in the months prior) noticed fresh shoe prints under her daughter’s bedroom and bathroom windows. She called the police.
The next night, two officers staked out the residence. Predictably, the Ransacker showed up to peep at the girl. An officer (named William McGowen) confronted him, seeing his face clearly in the process. Chaos ensued, which ended in the Ransacker feigning surrender and shooting at McGowen. Luckily, the bullet hit the officer’s flashlight, and luckily, he walked away relatively uninjured. The Ransacker, however, got away, evading a bloodhound and a dragnet set up by seventy officers in the process. He dropped loot that he had taken at a ransacking earlier in the evening and he left matching shoe prints, so the police were at least certain that the VR was the shooter.
Where did he go?
That night in December was the last confirmed event involving the Visalia Ransacker, though a handful of incidents that occurred in 1976 stand out as likely to be related. Of those, two of them stand out the most:
On January 18th, 1976, a man was caught peeping in at two girls. The man matched other descriptions of the Ransacker and even appeared to be wearing the same distinctive jacket he was wearing on the night he shot at McGowen.
On October 24th, 1976, a home was burglarized. This house was the same home that had been the scene of the Ransacker’s shootout with McGowen. The VR had stalked the girl who lived at this residence for over six months during 1975.
Beyond those two incidents, no one knows what became of the Visalia Ransacker. Law Enforcement personnel that we’ve spoken to are unanimous in their assertion that an offender like the VR, at that particular phase in his evolution, rarely stops of his own volition. If he wasn’t caught elsewhere on another charge and imprisoned or killed, it’s very likely that he began committing sex offenses.
One of the active areas of study involve his possible connection to Sacramento’s East Area Rapist, an offender who began unique home-invasion rapes in June 1976 (with a likely crime committed on October 21st, 1975). Sacramento is roughly 200 miles away from Visalia, and the offenders share a few things in common. This connection is currently being explored by the police, the authors of this website, and other researchers.
Description
Despite racking up so many offenses, the Visalia Ransacker was rarely seen. All that can be said for certain was that he was a white adult male, average height, between 150 and 190 lbs, he had a light complexion, a cleft in his chin, and he was described as having strong arms and a strong grip.
If still alive, the Ransacker could be anywhere from 60 to 80 years old today. If you have any tips that could help solve the case, please contact the authorities.
What’s Next
This website is a hub for everything concerning the Visalia Ransacker that can be publicly released. It’s broken up into a few different sections:
The Snelling Murder
A page describing the events surrounding the murder of Claude Snelling, including a summary of the evidence linking the crime to the Visalia Ransacker.
The McGowen Shooting
Details concerning the Ransacker’s final confrontation, as well as details on how he escaped.
Other Incidents
This section compiles the data on every confirmed, unconfirmed, and tangential Visalia Ransacker crime.
Evidence and Analysis
Composite sketches of the offender, information about stolen items, and physical descriptions of the offender are presented.
Timeline and Locations
An easy-to-use list of the ransackings and incidents related to the VR case.
Contact Info
Contact information for the relevant law enforcement jurisdictions and for the authors of the website.
Thank you for visiting, and for your interested in the Visalia Ransacker case. It’s our hope that this website can aid the public in spreading awareness and information about the case, and that it can play a part in bringing resolution to these crimes.