KSBY Santa barbara: Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office gets new lead on 1981 homicide case

By Lindsay MacLeod

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office is asking the public for help getting information on a 32 year old homicide investigation called the Original Night Stalker case.

Back in 1981, 35-year-old Cheri Domingo and 27-year-old Gregory Sanchez were murdered while they were house-sitting at a home in the 400 block of Toltee Way in Goleta. 18 months earlier, 44-year-old Dr. Robert Offerman and 35-year-old Alexandria Manning were also murdered in a condo in Goleta. Officials believe both homicides were linked to the same person.

In May of 2011, investigators found DNA evidence at the Domingo and Sanchez homicide scene. Officials say that DNA has been linked to several rapes in northern California, including the ones committed by the East Area Rapist in Sacramento County in the late 1970's. The DNA is also linked to the Original Night Stalker who murdered people in Ventura and Orange County in the 1980's.

Officials say they have the DNA evidence, but they still haven't identified a suspect.

Investigators were able to determine that there were traces of paint in two of the rape cases and at one of the homicide scenes.

Officials believe the suspect may have been travelling around the state to work at construction sites, possibly as a painter.

Investigators found that a strip mall section at 5801 Calle Real and a Longs Drug store at 5875 Calle Real in Goleta had a building permit issued to a developer from Sacramento at the beginning of 1979. Officials say the building was being finished during the same time frame as the Offerman and Manning murders. Typically, painting would happen towards the final stages of the project.

If you know anyone who worked on the construction site or has information about the people who worked on the project, call the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Criminal Investigations Bureau at (805) 681-4150 or leave an anonymous tip at (805) 681-4171.

Officials say it is important not to confuse the Original Night Stalker with serial killer Richard Ramirez, who was referred to as the Night Stalker during a deadly crime spree in 1984 and 1985.