After four decades, an arrest has been made in the case of the Golden State Killer – a serial killer and rapist who terrorised California in the 1970s and 1980s. US authorities have announced that they have arrested 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo, an ex police officer.
DeAngelo has been arrested on two counts of murder.
The Golden State Killer, also known as the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker, is believed to have killed at least 12 people, raped 45 people as well as robbed more than 100 homes across California between 1976 and 1986. These crimes, against people as young as 13, were noted for the calculated brutality and extreme level of planning, says Pedestrian.
Sacramento authorities say DNA evidence helped lead them to DeAngelo.
At a news conference, the Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said: “The magnitude of this case demanded that it be solved. We found the needle in the haystack, and it was right here in Sacramento.”
Interestingly, before the arrest Australia was also on investigators’ radar. The Australian reported there was a theory that the killer had come to Victoria, based on similarities with the infamous Mr Cruel case. This link has been ruled out by Victoria Police.
Back in 2016, the FBI posted a $50,000 reward for help in finding what they called “the violent and elusive individual”.
In a 2016 statement, Special Agent Marcus Knutson who was heading up the FBI investigation, said: “We had people sleeping with shotguns, we had people purchasing dogs. People were concerned, and they had a right to be. This guy was terrorising the community. He did horrible things.”
Details of the crimes committed during this period are horrific. Armed with a gun, a masked attacker terrorised communities by breaking into homes while single women or couples were sleeping. Sometimes he would tie up the man and pile dishes on his back before raping the woman while threatening to kill them both if the dishes tumbled. There were also other bizarre stories like how the attacker would eat from his victims’ fridges and then take personal belonging’s, like class rings.
