At one stage earlier, Hunter tells McCall that he arrested Iris Smith about ten years ago (ca. 1978 - 1979) to extradite her to Texas. Later, he mentions to Captain Devane that he was working on those slashings of women about eight years ago (around 1981), then arrested Iris, and takes her to Texas. After this he checks on what Billy Joe Powell had been up to, and that he came from Montana to Los Angeles, and had been arrested a few times up to 1978, when the slashings began. Thus it cannot be both ABOUT eight or ABOUT ten years ago, it has to be one or the other, and since they affirm that those crimes commenced in 1978, then it must have been about ten years ago.