Ridgecrest Massacre

The Ridgecrest Massacre is the name commonly given to the series of murders that occurred in the town of Ridgecrest, California, in ''The Stalker 1. As of The Stalker 6, ''it has been around twelve years since the Massacre took place. The Massacre resulted in four other, copycat murder sprees over the years.

Victims
There were nine people killed by The Stalker (or rather Stalkers) in the Ridgecrest Massacre, all of them in their late teens. This includes: The names of all the victims were revealed in a newspaper in the opening scenes of The Stalker 3, in memory of the victims for the upcoming 10th anniversary of the Massacre.
 * Jason Owens (the first victim)
 * Kristin Strode
 * Alex Turner
 * Nancy Lagenkamp
 * Ellen Weaver
 * Jack Reynolds
 * Dan Evans
 * Jennifer Yates (final victim)

It should be noted that Tom was also murdered during the Massacre, but his name is not included on the memorial list, presumably because he was one of the killers. the second killer, Richard Barcley's name is not included either (although it is revealed in The Stalker 3 that he actually survived).

Attempted Victims
The only two intended victims who survived were Katie Barclay, who would've become the third victim but managed to escape and Adam Yates, who was knocked over the head and stabbed, but lived. He also prevented Katie from being killed a second time, by shooting and apparently killing Richard as he was about to stab Katie.

Perpetrators
The killers behind the massacre were revealed to be be Richard Barclay, a seemingly ordinary family man and father of Katie Barclay, and Tom, a local teenager who was friends with Katie and dating Jen Yates. Their reasons behind the Massacre are not entirely clear, but this much is known; Richard despised his daughter Katie, due to the fact he was not her biological father and he viewed her as ruining his 'perfect' family, whilst Tom was obsessed with Katie, believing himself to be 'in love' with her. At some point prior to the Massacre, Richard and Tom got together and began planning the murders. Richard appeared to have been the true mastermind, manipulating and perhaps even coercing Tom, and not revealing his true intentions for Katie. Tom's primary targets were Jen and Adam Yates, as he believed they were preventing him from having a relationship with Katie (Jen being Tom's girlfriend, whilst Adam was Katie's boyfriend).

Why they chose to murder more people is unclear, though it could be argued that it would seem less suspicious if Jen and Adam (and in extension, Katie) were killed by a serial murderer, as it would not imply there was a more personal motivation for the killings. It is also clear that Richard and Tom are both psycho or sociopaths, with no remorse for their crimes and no empathy for others; therefore, they may have enjoyed committing the murders. Richard in particular seems to take sadistic pleasure in tormenting and hurting people.

Richard ultimately planned to betray Tom; he was presumably going to murder Tom and pin the Massacre entirely on him, claiming he had killed him in self defense. Tom would've been blamed for the murders of Katie and the others, and no one would any the wiser. Richard did end up fatally shooting Tom, but he made two mistakes - firstly, revealing how Jen was killed in intimate detail, arousing the suspicions of Katie and Adam, and secondly, not making sure Adam was actually dead after being stabbed by Tom. Adam, as it turned out, had not sustained fatal injuries and was able to shoot Richard, apparently killing him. Thus, Richard's plan failed and Katie survived. Richard was believed to be dead for ten years, until it is revealed in The Stalker 3 that he actually survived, having been hidden and nursed back to health by Officer Harris, before returning to commit more murders and get revenge on Katie.

Attribution of Killings
Due to the fact that both Tom and Richard wore identical costumes when committing the murders, it is unclear which killings can be attributed to which killer. However, this much can be assumed:
 * Richard was likely the one who attempted to murder Katie, due to the fact that Tom never had any intention of harming her.
 * Therefore, it can be assumed that Tom killed Alex, as Richard would not have had time to stalk and kill Katie, then go across town to Alex's house, break in and flood her basement.
 * It is likely that Richard killed Jen, given his intimate knowledge of her exact cause of death. It is confirmed in The Stalker 3 that Richard was Jen's killer.

In popular culture
A popular slasher film named The Hunter was released about eleven years after the Massacre, based on the events that took place. Katie Barclay presumably wrote about the Ridgecrest Massacre in her autobiography. There have also apparently been numerous urban legends revolving around the Massacre and the subsequent murders, such as one myth that Katie was killed by yet another Stalker after the events of The Stalker 3, although in actual fact, she was institutionalized after suffering a nervous breakdown.