We know Phillip Garrido is a kidnapper, rapist, nutcase, and all-around evil scumbag, but is he also a serial killer? Police seem to be taking the possibility quite seriously. Reports indicate that El Dorado County police are investigating possible links between Phillip Garrido and the disappearance of up to 10 prostitutes in the area in the late 1990’s. Investigators are said to be digging holes in Garrido’s rat’s nest of a back yard, as well as on a neighboring property, in search of evidence.
The San Jose Mercury News, which has so far done the best and most detailed reporting on Jaycee Lee Dugard’s abduction, is reporting that the house of Garrido neighbor Damon Robinson has now been declared a crime scene. It was Robinson’s former girlfriend who three years ago called the cops to complain that Phillip Garrido was hiding three young girls in his backyard. Police did manage to respond to the call, but evidently didn’t bother to investigate Garrido’s very suspicious-looking backyard, leading to an extra three years of captivity for Jaycee Lee Dugard and her daughters.
Police believe Phillip Garrido may be implicated in the murders of several women, some of whom may have been prostitutes, because bodies had been discovered near a former workplace of Garrido. One of the girls who disappeared was a relative of one of Garrido’s neighbors. As of yet, no news links have reported anything other than very circumstantial evidence linking Jaycee Lee Dugard’s kidnapper to the missing women.
I’m really hoping that Phillip Garrido has nothing to do with the murder of those young women. As the case stands, we have something like a happy ending, at least as happy as many years of therapy can make it for Garrido’s three victims. Garrido is a monster and a nut-bag as things stand now. If he is indeed linked to the murder of several prostitutes and other women, he’s in the running for one of the criminals of the century. Personally, I hope he doesn’t make the pantheon.
Names of Jaycee Lee Dugard’s Daughters
In other news related to the case, the Times of London is reporting that the names of Jaycee Lee Dugard’s daughters are Starlite and Angel. Starlite, the older of the two, is 15, while Angel is 11 years old. I can never quite bring myself to call these poor girls Phillip Garrido’s daughters, even though they presumably are. That monster has forfeited any right to paternity though his long years of evil and torment.
I find it interesting that the UK newspapers, even “respectable” ones like the Times, seem much more interested in the Dugard case than their U.S. counterparts. Aside from the local SJ Mercury news, very little original reporting seems to be coming from the American papers. U.S. television, however, has been all over the story.
Bail Denied to Garridos
In other news, Phillip and Nancy Garrido were both arraigned in El Drado County Superior court on 29 charges of rape and kidnapping. They were brought into the court in chains and sat stoicly while the charges against them were read. They are both represented by court-appointed public defenders. The judge ordered them held without bail.
