i'm michelle mcnamara of truecrimediary.com. >> michelle mcnamara was a true crime blogger. >> she was writer and producer. she was a citizen detective. and a true crime writer. >> very much being a mom during the day, very much writing about true crime at night. she was working on all different types of unsolved cases. then she found a case that really dug its claws into her. >> what turned him on was terror. the east area rapist original night stalker is california's most prolific serial offender. he murdered more people than the zodiac killer, but has little name recognition. partly that's because he moved between communities and his crimes spanned ten years. >> everything about it is a mystery and it has such a boogeyman aspect to it. >> michelle used to talk about this case and the thing that boggled her mind is that people didn't know about it. this was one of the most horrific serial killers in history. and nobody talked about him. >> it's summer, 1976. it was the bicentennial. it's all about "happy days," "laverne and shirley." >> in those days, the middle class in america was