GUILTY TX - Billy Joe Harris for rapes of elderly women in 6 counties, 2011

[Ruflossn]

One victim reported that the ticking was a loud as a time bomb and that it woke her up. Is the ticking to frighten the victim or is it for his pleasure? I'd think he wouldn't want to alert a victim to his presence.

IMO, he had no idea the sound of the clock would wake up his intended victim. What I want to know is WHY did he have a clock w/ him while he was attempting to break into a house? :banghead:

 

[Missizzy]

I've continued to do research on the possible fraternity angle and I wanted to offer up a reminder that I am in NO way trying to bring any negative attention to this Christian fraternity. It seems like a great group of guys. I hate it when I google certain words and my own posts come up. I'm very concerned one of the frat brothers is going to find this and think that we suspect them of some involvement. I'm sure they're all very concerned about their grandmas and great-grandmas.

The single detail which led me to the fraternity was the one comment about race and rape by a person using the screen name Tick Tock. I've found nothing else at all. Just wanted to make that clear.

 

[Texas Mist]

O/T but I wonder what they'd do with me? I have no fingerprints.....NONE. Never have. And, yes, I do have fingers and all the other parts. Every single time we've adopted, I've had to get special clearance and waiver from the FBI. I even had this gruff retired agent hold hands with me for about an hour at the SF office. He was not going to give up and swore he could get prints off a fish. When he finally had to admit defeat, he said I was the first person he'd ever encountered that had none at all. Makes me feel very...uh...unique. Everyone in LE always has to make jokes about it and tell me that I missed my calling. They'll never know, I guess. O/T, I'm sorry.

I knew you were right, TM. They've had that rule for quite a while IIRC. I wonder if our guy isn't licensed out of state, though? When our older kids went to college out of state, they kept their Oregon DL's. This would shoot down the theory of him working in any sort of government or service industry, though, as I'd think he'd be required to be licensed in Texas.

New TX residents have 30 days to apply for their TX DL, register a vehicle, etc.

So yep - would be hard to have a job that required driving w/o having a TX DL (I'd think anyway).

I only brought up the thumb print + TX DL because he may not have a record....BUT given the burglaries & breakins, I wonder if he has a record for that.

NEhoo, it's odd he goes thru all this trouble yet doesn't care about leaving DNA behind...I'm afraid if/when he does start caring, he may escalate beyond the rapes & beatings.

I think your profile is as good as any LE may throw out there, too.

 

[Missizzy]

Ruflossn--I've pondered that for days. The only thing I can come up with is that:

1) He committed another rape that night and had the trophy clock still with him. As far as I know there haven't been two rapes reported in a single night so the first rape would have had to have been unreported. We know that there's gotta be a bunch of unreported rapes, unfortunately.

2) He had just come from breaking, entering, and robbing a house he was planning to go back to. There have been reports that he's broken into houses before going back to rape. I would think, though, that the loss of a special clock would set a family on alert and they'd take precautions for their relative. Possibly, even though it was of sentimental value, it wasn't displayed where it was seen everyday. Maybe it was in a back bedroom which the victim rarely went in. In the winter in Texas, many older people heat only a single room or two. Maybe he took the clock and she just didn't realize that it was gone until after the rape a while later and LE did a full inventory of the house.

There's been a lot of discussion of vision deficits due to age and darkness. How about hearing aids? If he scopes out houses, he would know if a woman wears hearing aids and would know that he wouldn't have to be nearly as quiet. My daughter is deaf and wears two hearing aids. She keeps them in a little case on her nightstand with the extra batteries. Some sort of hearing aid case on a nightstand or in the bathroom would give him that detail.

In that Elder Abuse document I read, there was a case study which talked about the rapist taking the sheets. I wonder if this rapist wraps the clocks and/or mounted deer heads in the bedding when he leaves? I'm shaking my head over here in disbelief.

 

[Texas Mist]

Upthread someone asked if he brought a flashlight (apologies I don't remember who, still under influence of cold meds)

I found an instance where he did - the lady in Luling reported it:

The Nov. 24 assault was the attacker's first appearance in Luling, a town of 5,000 an hour's drive east of San Antonio. As described by the victim's neighbors, it showed the same degree of planning that marked previous attacks. The assailant chose an apartment beside a broken city streetlight and within yards of a church parking lot with access to a highway. The victim's next-door neighbor said her phone lines were cut the night of the attack.

The victim, neighbors said, awoke with the attacker's hands over her nose and mouth around 4 a.m. She told neighbors that a night light in her bedroom was switched off. The attacker, holding a small flashlight, ransacked her apartment. After removing his clothes, he repeatedly told the victim he “wanted to make love to her,” neighbors said. She estimated he was in her home about 40 minutes.


http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/Authorities_say_Twilight_rapist_had_other_victims.html

This guy is twisted.

 

[Missizzy]

It was me who asked about the flashlight and the moon phases. Hmmm. I saw that article and I remember there being various comments from family of the victim at this site. They are obviously all traumatized. "Make love" might have been what he said or it might have been the only thing the victim could bring herself to say. That makes me so sad. This is what takes elder abuse down to the same level as child rape. The rapist is not only violating a person but pushing them into an arena where they have no bearings. It's totally onerous.

Texas Mist--Have you seen any Texas editions of print news which show a better time line of dates, details, and locations? I can't figure out why LE is keeping so much info under wraps. Isn't info power for the next possible victims? What's the typical span between rapes? So much of the details are hazy and hidden within articles which are then misquoted in other articles. Why?

 

[Missizzy]

If the rapist only knew about men like Mr. Bubba Schafer:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/crime/story/75626.html

 

[Ruflossn]

Ruflossn--I've pondered that for days. The only thing I can come up with is that:

1) He committed another rape that night and had the trophy clock still with him. As far as I know there haven't been two rapes reported in a single night so the first rape would have had to have been unreported. We know that there's gotta be a bunch of unreported rapes, unfortunately.

2) He had just come from breaking, entering, and robbing a house he was planning to go back to. There have been reports that he's broken into houses before going back to rape. I would think, though, that the loss of a special clock would set a family on alert and they'd take precautions for their relative. Possibly, even though it was of sentimental value, it wasn't displayed where it was seen everyday.

In that Elder Abuse document I read, there was a case study which talked about the rapist taking the sheets. I wonder if this rapist wraps the clocks and/or mounted deer heads in the bedding when he leaves? I'm shaking my head over here in disbelief.

Your scenarios are the exact scenarios I have imagined. I imagine when taking the clocks, he brings a bag of his own for carrying it or grabs a bag from the house he burglarizing. Great thought about the sheets being used to cover the deer heads.

 

[Ruflossn]

New TX residents have 30 days to apply for their TX DL, register a vehicle, etc.

So yep - would be hard to have a job that required driving w/o having a TX DL (I'd think anyway).

I only brought up the thumb print + TX DL because he may not have a record....BUT given the burglaries & breakins, I wonder if he has a record for that.

NEhoo, it's odd he goes thru all this trouble yet doesn't care about leaving DNA behind...I'm afraid if/when he does start caring, he may escalate beyond the rapes & beatings.

I think your profile is as good as any LE may throw out there, too.

Rapist's rarely start out committing crimes of such extreme violence. Most often, they start out committing less violent / disturbing crimes. (Peeping Tom's, Flashers etc..........) As they become more comfortable, their fantasies become more and more extreme. This is when the assaults become more and more violent. If I understand the time line of assaults, this creep has escalated the frequency of the rapes and burglaries. I pray he is caught before he escalates his fantasies into assault w/ murder.

 

[Missizzy]

Yes, the bedding could be used to cover the deer heads but wouldn't they still look like mounted deer heads covered by a blanket? I have a hard time believing that this guy has been so darned lucky to not get stopped by a curious neighbor.

This isn't going to sound very PC, but come on....a young dark-skinned guy coming out of an elder white lady's house at 5 am carrying something big covered in a blanket. Are you going to tell me that a man like Mr. Schafer (linked to above) wouldn't be standing between you and your steering wheel?

And Texas Mist linked us to an attack in an apartment complex and there was at least one in a retirement village. I'm bedbound and I know EVERYTHING that goes on in my neighborhood. Thank goodness, I have delightful neighbors who appreciate me keeping an eye on their houses. People who are housebound or who have physical limitations typically are hyper-vigilant. Just the way it is.

Are we possibly hanging up too much on "dark-skinned"? I've wondered about that. But, the one victim did say that he removed his clothes. Even if she has some vision deficits, I'm going to take her word on the color of the man's skin. She saw more than she wanted. Note, though, that a commenter argues that the report is incorrect. We don't know what part is incorrect, though.

Why does LE want us in the dark? I posted a few pages back about an unsolved string of rapes in Houston and they had an excellent sketch and details. Are these women possibly as frail and tiny and frail as the one LEO alluded to? We can't forget that one poor victim actually had a stroke following her rape. It's a miracle that more haven't.

 

[Missizzy]

Question--Do most rapists, organized rapists, that is, remove their clothes? That strikes me as extremely odd. I know that our children's rapist never removed his clothes. He pulled them down. Is it typical for a man to strip down when he invades a woman's home and thinks he has some time (time: clocks?)? I would think that would leave him extremely vulnerable. He's been shot at at least once. I wonder if he was clothed or naked?

 

[Missizzy]

An interesting profile site:

http://harfordmedlegal.typepad.com/forensics_talk/profiling_rapists.html

This has nothing to do with elder rape but read the description of the "Power Reassurance Rapist". In comparing the four types described on this site, he's our guy.

 

[txsvicki]

It's so creepy that the guy is said to have said "I want to....." repeatedly, almost like chanting I suppose. If he took a clock from one house to another then he must case out more than one home at a time. Local LE here thinks he is skulking about at night, but unless he parked at the nearby apartment complex there's not any place over there for him to have parked if he drove unless he walked quite a ways. There is a large playa park across the main road, but I don't think he'd park there because it's circled by homes.

 

[Missizzy]

Txsvicki--There's some confusion about whether that's what he actually said. If you read the comment section (27 or so of them) under the article, there's a few comments by family that dispute the story. It's just not clear what they are disagreeing with. In reading the profile I linked to above, though, the fact that a rapist would say, "I want to make love to you" would fit perfectly. Oh, yuck!!

Has there been any word on the street about the theft of any personal items? Somehow, I just can't imagine our guy walking out of an apt. complex with large trophies. Any word as to how the victim is doing? My heart just breaks for her.

 

[Ruflossn]

Question--Do most rapists, organized rapists, that is, remove their clothes? That strikes me as extremely odd. I know that our children's rapist never removed his clothes. He pulled them down. Is it typical for a man to strip down when he invades a woman's home and thinks he has some time (time: clocks?)? I would think that would leave him extremely vulnerable. He's been shot at at least once. I wonder if he was clothed or naked?

When my friend profiled this case, he used the term "organized". It is not used in reference to an "organized rapist" but, more as an "organized offender". You can Google the terms "organized offender" and "disorganized offender" to learn more about the terms. Both terms can be used in the descriptions of rapists &/or murderers. I would recommend you read both descriptions. I am not surprised this creep would remove all his clothing. This is probably one of the ways he is leaving DNA. Body hair &/or epithelial cells. By removing his clothing, he is once again, proving his pompous attitude. He is a disgusting coward.

 

[Missizzy]

Just curious, Ruflossn, did you see him in the description of the "Power Reassurance Rapist"? I will do some more research on the "organized offender".

 

[Texas Mist]

As I'm going thru lots of articles trying to find exact dates & times to fill in the timeline, I ran across this for us to mull over:

<snip>

In every case, investigators said the man broke into each home weeks prior to the attack, and often cut the phone line. Authorities said the man disabled the phone line again on the night of the attacks, which were all between the hours of 2 a.m. and 5 a.m..

When pressed for more information during the meeting, investigators revealed the man entered through a window each time, and in some cases removed a pane or in one case, removed the entire window. Authorities said they believe the man wears surgical gloves during the attacks.

Leon County Investigators said none of the victims have been able to provide a conclusive description of the man – only that he speaks English without an accent.

http://www.bccourier.com/Archives/News_detail.php?recordID=100121N8

He's cutting phone lines before the attacks....is this to play a mind game w/ the potential vic, or does something interrupt him & he aborts the plan....is it a trial run?

I think the 'without an accent' says a lot, too....it sounds like a person of color who's spent a lot of time with native Caucasian Texans -- otherwise these little ladies would be able to peg his accent....or is he changing his speech during the attack because of some sick fantasy?

OK - back to digging some more.

 

[txsvicki]

Txsvicki--There's some confusion about whether that's what he actually said. If you read the comment section (27 or so of them) under the article, there's a few comments by family that dispute the story. It's just not clear what they are disagreeing with. In reading the profile I linked to above, though, the fact that a rapist would say, "I want to make love to you" would fit perfectly. Oh, yuck!!

Has there been any word on the street about the theft of any personal items? Somehow, I just can't imagine our guy walking out of an apt. complex with large trophies. Any word as to how the victim is doing? My heart just breaks for her.

The paper said the lady was treated and released and the only thing I've read about him stealing here is the purse and trying to use her card. I'm not sure if "trying" means that he was unsuccessful or if he actually got any money. If he didn't take more items maybe it's because it wasn't a more rural area.

 

[Filly]

Hospice care worker. They come and go at all hours and often bring items into and out of houses (not deer heads but maybe he wrapped it in a blanket or put it in a box). My Daddy passed last year in Liberty Hill and he had male and female hospice workers in and out of his house throughout the day and night. There was a change of shift around 6 am, I believe, in the last two weeks. They often transported oxygen tanks or IV poles, etc. That's one of the few people who I think could move without much notice in a neighborhood where he might not "fit in" otherwise. Still, if the husband had just passed, people would be concerned. It would probably only work once in an area (doing some follow-up or removing some medical equipment) but that's all he's needed.

Unfortunately I'm going to go with this, Iz. Hospice. We had to straight out tell all those people going in and out my grandparents home we lived there as well. My husband the Philly cop stayed nights. Big fib. I have no husband and my dad the cop is dead. It's just something we were taught that you don't allow anyone who is a stranger coming in your home know you are alone.

Any elderly neighbors I go in if I am home from work with them when hospice comes or phlebotomists. Whoever. Too many people in and out scoping out your home.

This deer head stuff and the clock though. Scary stuff. Really scary. It could even be someone who worked at a nursing home these women's husbands had been in maybe? My gram had to go in rehab after her hip was broken and lo and behold she got burglarized while still in the rehab. Too many people with all your information preying on the elderly.

You all are doing a bang up job on this. I am very proud of you all. God Bless our elderly. Oh and those phone calls. Cruel. Frightening and evil.

 

[Filly]

"To Kill A Mockingbird". This is the only thing that even remotely symbolically fits the clock thing. Scout asks Atticus what rape is. Jim or Jem whatever his name is knows what it is and somehow the clock comes into play.

The symbolism is Jim is going from boy to man.

I know it's a stretch and a long one. Probably a waste of time, but I looked it up. I doubt this evil person even has a clue as to the symbolism. He's just a freak plain and simple. Figured I'd throw it out there though.

Stay safe dear ladies in Texas. See, I just said dear. They have to have people searching flea markets for this stuff.