Judge: “Pillowcase Rapist” Can Be Released to Palmdale Area

A judge's tentative ruling Friday will be followed by a 45-day period during which local municipalities can file complaints

A judge Friday determined that the man known as the Pillowcase Rapist can reside in a northern Los Angeles County community when he is released from the Coalinga State Hospital.

Christopher Hubbart terrorized much of the state in the 1970s and 1980s. He was convicted of raping 38 women during that time in the Los Angeles and Bay Areas, including on the Monroe Middle School campus in San Jose.

On Friday, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Gilbert Brown decided the specifics on where he can live. The preliminary ruling allows Hubbart to reside in Lake Los Angeles, east of Palmdale in northern LA County.

Residents in that community were outraged Friday, with some saying they'll fight the judge's decision while others were adamament they won't be living in Lake Los Angeles much longer.

"This is like a bad dream right now because I'm going to have to move out of this neighborhood now," said Bart Stone, who lives in the community with his 21-year-old daughter.

After Friday's preliminary ruling, the Los Angeles County District Attorney plans to file a formal complaint with the judge. The office has 45 days to file the complaint, and Hubbart will not be released until after the 45-day window provided for local municipalities to register complaints.

The public has until Nov. 29 to submit written complaints to HubbartLASafetyTaskForce@da.lacounty.gov.

"Our priority is to safeguard our residents and make certain Hubbart is obeying all the conditions of his release," said LA County District Attorney Jackie Lacey.

Between 1972 and 1999, Hubbart was arrested and released several times. Now, officials have deemed him safe and made him eligible for release.

He's being let go on a conditional release, which could come as early as December, and will have to wear a GPS monitoring device. If he had committed the crimes in 1994, the state's Three Strikes Law would have kept him behind bars for life.

Hubbart was known as the Pillowcase Rapist because he often used a pillowcase to quiet the screams of his victims. He admitted to raping approximately 40 women between 1971 and 1982.

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About two dozen of those rapes were in LA County. In 1979, Hubbart was released to the Bay Area, where he raped 15 more women.

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