History Recap / ColdCaseS1E3OurBoyIsBack

A serial rapist announces his return via letters to the police, and their only hope of apprehending him is to solve the 1998 murder of his most recent victim, a 21-year old college student named Gail Chimayo.

* CrimeAfterCrime: The killer mentions that he hadn't entered Gail's apartment intending to kill her. He had intended to rape her but she fought back. Potentially in the struggle, she took off the blindfold and she saw his face which is why he killed her.

A serial rapist announces his return via letters to the police, and their only hope of apprehending him is to solve the murder of his most recent victim.

* LowerClassLout: Carl and his girlfriend. They don't read much. Carl grew up in a trailer and his mother was illiterate. He deeply resents being surrounded by such women his entire life, and his attacks are meant to be part of his fantasy that he is dating these intelligent women.

* DumbBlonde: Carl's girlfriend is a blonde who doesn't like to read, but also doesn't like people telling her she's not smart. Carl is with her purely for physical reasons and does not love her. He tried to make an effort to make her more like the accomplished women he would rather be with and bought her books, but she had no interest.

* LowerClassLout: Carl and his girlfriend. They don't read much. Carl grew up in a trailer and his mother was illiterate. He deeply resents being surrounded by such women his entire life, and his attacks were meant to be part of his fantasy that he was dating these intelligent women.
* MotiveEqualsConclusiveEvidence: They don't really show finding any damning evidence against the killer. However, he does break down and confesses straight after being confronted with a motive. It can be assumed that because the killer left a lot of DNA evidence at each scene, finding someone with a motive should only be one step away from arresting him and obtaining a DNA sample. Therefore, there was no point in the killer trying to deny it.
* MotiveRant: The killer at the end.

* SerialRapist: The killer killed only once, but raped multiple times.
* SlobsVersusSnobs: The final confrontation scene with the rapist/killer can be seen as having shades of this.

A serial rapist announces his return via letters to the police, and their only hope and apprehending him is to solve the murder of his most recent victim.

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Lilly and Vera receive a letter mentioning locations of rape victims and how they all owned ”a useless cat”. It also mentions that the writer is the rapist, and he plans to return. Vera is alarmed, as this particular rapist had him puzzled in the past, and left one of his victims dead, strangled. Lilly finds the next-door neighbor of the slain young woman, Larry. He remembers that night, saying he heard sounds of a struggle and called the police when the victim, Gail Chamayo, didn’t answer when he knocked. Lilly says Larry was very brave for calling 911. Lilly interrogates Gail’s boyfriend, Bruce, and finds out that he despises cats, and that Gail was being unreceptive to Bruce’s advances, including the night she was murdered. Soon, DNA evidence clears Bruce of suspicion, and Lilly is stumped. She begins trying to interview the victims. Each one tells her that the rapist had smooth skin, and that he talked to them about books, and how the window bars were too far apart.

Lilly then comes across a man, Carl, who left for the army around the time the rapes stopped, and returned when the letter was sent. She and Vera talk to him, and show him his resemblance to the composite picture of the rapist. Carl is indifferent. ”You gonna arrest a guy for lookin’ like a picture?” He doesn’t let them give him a DNA test, and crushes his cigarette in the ash tray next to him. He asks if they want anything else, and they glance at the cigarette. ”Nope”. Carl proceeds to pick up the cigarette with his fingerprints and DNA on it. Rush and Vera are disappointed, but that refusal to give up evidence makes them suspicious. They interview Carl’s girlfriend, who tells them that he would often muse how if a girl had a cat, she was single and alone, and would sometimes go out at night for ”walks”. He also often shaved his skin smooth, but the girlfriend can’t believe that her boyfriend could be a rapist.

Rush and Vera interrogate Carl again, talking about how the girlfriend noted his walks the nights of the rapes, and catch him by telling him how he operates. He visits libraries, museums, finds good-looking girls, stalks them to their homes. He shaves his skin back at his house, visits their homes at night, and if there’s a cat in the window, he will know a girl is all alone. Then all he has to do is squeeze through the window bars, and attack her. Carl breaks and admits that he grew up trailer trash, and that all he wanted to do was date those intellectual girls... and that he was known for getting into small places. Carl is arrested, and the victims have closure. Neighbor Larry sets up a small memorial outside Gail’s apartment.

Lilly then comes across a man, Carl, who left for the army around the time the rapes stopped, and returned when the letter was sent. She and Vera talk to him, and show him his resemblance to the composite picture of the rapist. Carl is indifferent. ”You gonna arrest a guy for lookin’ like a picture?” He doesn’t let them give him a DNA test, and crushes his cigarette in the ash tray next to him. He asks if they want anything else, and they glance at the cigarette. ”Nope”. Carl proceeds to pick up the cigarette with his fingerprints on it. Rush and Vera are disappointed, but that refusal to give up evidence makes them suspicious. They interview Carl’s girlfriend, who tells them that he would often muse how if a girl had a cat, she was single and alone, and would sometimes go out at night for ”walks”. He also often shaved his skin smooth, but the girlfriend can’t believe that her boyfriend could be a rapist.

Rush and Vera interrogate Carl again, talking about how the girlfriend noted his walks the nights of the rapes, and catch him by telling him how he operates. He visits libraries, museums, finds good-looking girls, stalks them to their home. He shaves his skin back at his house, visits their home at night, and if there’s a cat in the window, he will know she’s all alone. Then all he has to do is squeeze through the window bars, and attack them. Carl breaks and admits that he grew up trailer trash, and that all he wanted to do was date those intellectual girls... and that he was known for getting into small places. Carl is arrested, and the victims have closure. Neighbor Larry sets up a small memorial outside Gail’s apartment.

* DumbBlonde: Carl's girlfriend is a blonde who doesn't like to read, but also doesn't like people telling her she's not smart. Carl is with her purely for physical reasons and does not love her. He tried to make an effort to make her more like the accomplished women he would rather be with and bought books, but she had no interest.
* HasAType: The detectives notice that all of the rapist's victims were intelligent and accomplished young women--art students, music students, etc., who he'd stalk after they left places like the museum or library and suspect that he was either jealous of them or acting out a fantasy of dating them.
* IncriminatingIndifference: Why Vera became suspicious of Bruce--his rude attitude and refusal to help, while not illegal, is completely the opposite of what would expect from a grieving boyfriend.

* MotiveEqualsConclusiveEvidence: They don't really show finding any damning evidence against the killer. However, he does break down and confesses straight after being confronted with a motive. It can be assumed that because the killer left a lot of DNA evidence at each scene, finding someone with a motive should only be one step away from arresting him, obtaining a DNA sample. Therefore, there was no point in the killer trying to deny it.

* SerialRapist: The killer killed only once, but rapes multiple times.
* SlobsVersusSnobs: the final confrontation scene with the rapist/killer can be seen as having shades of this.

* LockedRoomMystery: Gail's death. The neighbour reports that no one else had entered or left her locked room (other than her boyfriend) the night of her death. The windows were barred.
* LowerClassLout: Carl and his girlfriend. They don't read much. Carl grew up in a trailer and his mother was illiterate.

* CallingCard: played with. Before committing a crime, the killer leaves a letter with the police.

* PerpWalk: at the end
* SerialRapist: The killer killed only once, but rapes multiple times

* SerialRapist: The killer killed
only once, but rapes multiple times

* MotiveEqualsConclusiveEvidence: they don't really show finding any damning evidence against the killer. However, he does break down and confesses straight after being confronted with a motive. It can be assumed that because the killer left a lot of DNA evidence at each scene, finding someone with a motive should only be one step away from arresting him, obtaining a DNA sample. Therefore, there was no point in the killer trying to deny it.

* SerialRapist: the killer killed once, but rapes multiple times

* SlobsVersusSnobs: the final confrontation scene with the rapist/killer can be seen as having shades of this.