The Rise and Fall of Rancho Cordova

In 1976, Rancho Cordova was a fairly new post-war suburb in East Sacramento. The area had seen its fair share of serial offenders by the time Richard Shelby read reports relating to an unknown offender dubbed the Early Bird Rapist and a copycat offender called the Early Morning Rapist. But just like everyone else, Shelby had no idea what was about to come. In June 1976, detective Shelby received a call. A young woman had been attacked in her home. Police training programs which turned officers into professionals in major crime investigations were still in their infancy. Sexual assault investigations were usually handed to whoever was on a desk at the station, and there was little in the way of formal guidelines