The Hearst College Rapist Case involved a series of rapes on the Hearst College campus. In each case, a female student was surreptitiously given the drug GHB and later raped in her own dorm room, awakening the next day with no memory of the event to discover that all of her hair had been shaved off.
Background
Veronica's first exposure to the case came while she was still a student at Neptune High. While attending a Hearst orientation weekend for prospective freshmen, her one-time boyfriend Troy Vandegraff (who is also attending the event) became a prime suspect. A student (Stacy) he met at a party awoke the next morning to to find she'd been raped and had her head shaved since leaving the party with Troy.
Troy did not have a solid alibi but persuaded Veronica to prove he's innocent. Despite still holding a significant grudge against him, Veronica agreed to look into it and eventually cleared him. She also discovered that the rapist had claimed at least one other victim (Dawn) prior to Stacy. ("The Rapes of Graff")
Summary
Parker awakens to find she's been raped.
Several months later, Veronica arrived at Hearst as a freshman to discover that the rapist is still active upon attending a Lilith House "Take Back the Night" rally spearheaded by several of the rapist's apparent victims. Later, Mac and Veronica had to tiptoe around Mac's new boy-crazy roommate, Parker Lee, who was in their room with a guy. The next day, Parker woke up to find her head had been shaved--whoever the guy was, it was not consensual as Mac and Veronica had assumed. ("Welcome Wagon", "Wichita Linebacker")
A few days later, the campus lampoon paper was accused of instigating another rape when a girl named Claire, highlighted in a 'humor' piece they had recently published, alleged that she had been victimized. Veronica, feeling very guilty about not intervening when Parker was being raped, jumped into the case. She got a big lead when she found an ATM photo showing Claire with an Asian boy; Claire said she didn't recognize him when asked. After learning that the Asian boy was, in fact, Claire's boyfriend, Veronica realized that Claire was lying about her rape to further the Lilith House's agenda to get rid of the Greek system on campus. ("President Evil", "Hi, Infidelity", "Lord of The Pi's")
While investigating another matter, Veronica found out that her Criminology TA, Tim Foyle, was also investigating the rapes. He informed her that no hair or DNA from the rapist had been found at any of the crime scenes. Meanwhile, Parker encountered Mercer Hayes at the campus radio station and had a bad turn when Mercer's cologne sparked a memory of the otherwise fuzzy night of her rape. Veronica broke into his room and found a set of clippers. She took her findings to Sheriff Lamb, who added that the Sheriff's department had found two vials of GHB in Mercer's stolen cash box after it was recovered. Mercer was arrested but Logan insisted to Veronica that he can't be the rapist because the two of them had been in Mexico (doing what he refuses to say) at the time of one of the rapes. ("Hi, Infidelity")
Veronica, drugged, struggles to escape the serial rapist.
While Mercer was locked up, Veronica had her own rape scare. Someone drugged her in the food court, then attacked her in a parking lot, shaving off a chunk of her hair. Logan intervened before anything worse could happen. Mercer's alibi solidified further when Veronica realized that at least two of the rapes occurred while he was on shift for his live call-in radio show. Logan eventually admitted that the Mexico incident involved an accidental fire at a motel. Apparently having been unable to commit three of the rapes or the attack on Veronica, Mercer was cleared as a suspect. ("Of Vice and Men")
After the Greeks avoided getting thrown off campus, Dick's fraternity threw a huge party to celebrate. Veronica, Mac, Piz, and Wallace attended to help ensure no more girls were given GHB at the event. Wallace and Piz discover a cup that tests positive for GHB And they tell Veronica. The cup has the name Kim Kaiser on it and she lives off campus at the Harborview Apartments by the Marina. Logan volunteers to go to the apartment because his car is closest. After the band finished its set, Veronica makes the announcement that she is looking for Kim Kaiser and that if anyone knows where to find her to please come see her in front of the stage. A student that is a friend of Kim’s comes forward and tells Veronica that Kim lent her ID to her little sister Carrie so she could get into the partY. As she rushes Off to head to Bennis Hall, the dorm Carris lives in, she hears Mercer's live call-in show was broadcast over the sound system and Veronica realized that it was a recording of the show that had also been playing the night Parker was raped. Mercer arrives in the room and starts talking about his impatience As he sits beside a person in the bed. He hears a noise in the closet and when he opens it he sees Carrie on the floor. When he turns around Veronica is rushing towards him with taser in hand. She was captured and attacked by Mercer, but managed to escapes by scratching his face and stabbing him with a unicorn horn. She runs to Wallace and Piz’s room for help but they aren’t there. She sits down and the RA Moe Flater's and takes her to his room For sanctuary. He pretends to call the police and then Moe left to find help but Veronica soon discovered he'd drugged her After she sees a picture of Moe and Mercer on his board. Veronica opens the window but hides in the closet and tries to reach her father. She finds a hammer but also the shaved hair of the other victims. Moe returned with Mercer and at first they assume she got away but Veronica‘s phone rings and they discover her in the closet. She strikes one with the hammer and Mercer asks Moe to shove GHB into her mouth but he has no more. While they are arg, Veronica blows her rape whistle that she got from Parker Lee. Mercer leaves to retrieve the GHB from his room and as he returns Parker is blocking his way. Parker causes a commotion and begins screaming rape and others come out. Mercer and Moe run off and Parker finds Veronica on the floor of Moe’s room. Keith goes to the Sheriff’s station and picks Veronica up and she notifies him that she called him from Moe’s phone. Keith tracks and captures Mercer and Moe in a motel room.
Mercer Hayes & Moe Flater try to find Veronica.
Moe, who volunteered for the Safe Ride Home program and had dorm room master keys, identified and dosed girls with GHB for Mercer, who then entered their rooms to rape them. Moe also attacked Veronica while Mercer was in jail. Mercer apparently felt entitled to sex with his victims, whom he felt would simply give it up to him anyway if he tried but at what he considered to be more of a cost in time and effort than he should be required to expend.
At least some of the rapes (including perhaps two that occurred during Mercer's radio show) appear to have Lilith House hoaxes. ("Spit & Eggs")
Victims
Known Victims
- Dawn (raped)
- Stacy (raped)
- Parker Lee (raped)
- Veronica (two attacks; not raped)
- Drugged and part of her hair shaved; saved by Logan before anything else happens
- Drugged and battered; saved by Parker
Alleged Victims
- Claire Nordhouse (faked rape)
- Possible unnamed Lilith House member (faked rape)
- Possible unnamed Lilith House member (faked rape)
Perpetrators
- Mercer Hayes (raped girls and shaved their heads)
- Moe Flater (identified and drugged victims; provided keys to Mercer)