Elliot Rodger’s apartment on Seville Road in Isla Vista yielded many clues regarding his activities and state of mind leading up to the murder spree he launched on May 23, 2014, according to an exhaustive report released Thursday by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
A sheriff’s special-enforcement team arrived at the multistory apartment building shortly after midnight on May 24 to conduct a “protective sweep” of the ground-floor unit where Rodger lived.
Authorities were concerned about the safety of Rodger’s two roommates, and also worried that he might have rigged the apartment with booby traps.
They were able to enter the apartment through an open bathroom window, and, once inside, found the body of George Chen, a friend of Rodger’s roommates, on the floor, surrounded by a large amount of blood.
A subsequent sweep of the apartment led to the equally battered bodies of the roommates — Cheng “James” Hong and Weihan “David” Wang — on the floor of their bedroom.
The report notes that Rodger’s room was in disarray, with a laptop computer on the bed.
“The screen was flipped open and turned on, displaying a YouTube page acknowledging that a video had just been uploaded,” the report stated. “A screen shot from the suspect’s ‘Retribution’ video was visible on this YouTube page, which was illuminated on the laptop’s screen.”
Investigators made another ominous find:
“The fitted sheet on the suspect’s bed had numerous slash and stab marks on the corner. Several areas of this blue-colored fitted sheet contained dried blood consistent with drops and smears. Several pillows on the bed also had numerous stab marks in the pillow cases.
“The presence of this damage suggests that the suspect may have been practicing his stabbing/slashing movements in order to rehearse and prepare himself for the attacks against his victims.”
Investigators also found a shirt and pair of pants on the bed that were covered in blood, and believe that’s what Rodger was wearing when he killed his roommates and their friend.
A later examination of the laptop revealed that Rodger had a fascination with violent war video games, and also had done numerous Internet searches regarding Adolf Hitler and Nazi history, various stabbing incidents, and torture devices.
One website revealed that notorious Nazi commander Heinrich Himmler had committed suicide on May 23, 1945 — 69 years to the day before Rodger embarked on his killing spree.
Detectives also found two journals that detailed Rodger’s obsession and frustration at being unable to relate to women, and the hatred that fueled.
At one point, believing the only way he could be successful with women was to become wealthy, he wrote of driving to Arizona to buy $100 in Powerball lottery tickets, which are not sold in California.
After he didn’t win, he wrote that “all my hopes, all my dreams, SHATTERED,” and added that “revenge is all I have to live for.”
Investigators also found knives, ammunition, gun-cleaning kits, a hand-drawn picture of someone being stabbed, and pharmacy paperwork for prescription drugs, including Lorazepam and Escitalopram.
One of the journals was found open, with the last entry dated May 23, 2014:
“I had to tear some pages out because I feared my intentions would be discovered.
“I taped them back together as fast as I could
“This is it. In one hour I will have my revenge on this cruel world. I HATE YOU ALLLL! DIE”
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
Isla Vista Investigative Summary Report by Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department