The Golden State Killer is a serial
killer, serial rapist, and burglar who committed at least 13 murders, more than
50 rapes, and over 100 burglaries in California from 1974 to 1986. He is believed to be responsible for at least
three crime sprees throughout California, each of which spawned a different
nickname in the press, before it became evident that they were committed by the
same person. In the Sacramento area he was known as the East Area Rapist,
and was linked by modus operandi to additional attacks in Contra Costa County
in Stockton and Modesto. He was later known for his southern California crimes
as the Original Night Stalker. He is suspected to have begun as a
burglar (the Visalia Ransacker) before moving to the Sacramento area, based on
a similar modus operandi and circumstantial evidence. He taunted and threatened his victims and
police in obscene phone calls and other communications.
During the decades-long
investigation, several suspects have been cleared through DNA evidence, alibi,
or other investigative methods. In 2001,
DNA testing indicated that the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker
were the same person. The case was a
factor in the establishment of California's DNA database, which collects DNA
from all accused and convicted felons in California and has been called second
only to Virginia's in effectiveness in solving cold cases. To heighten awareness that the uncaught
killer operated throughout California, crime writer Michelle McNamara coined
the name "Golden State Killer" in early 2013.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
and local law-enforcement agencies held a news conference on June 15, 2016, to
announce a renewed nationwide effort, offering a $50,000 reward for his
capture. On April 24, 2018, authorities charged
72-year-old United States Navy veteran and former police officer Joseph
James DeAngelo with eight counts of first-degree murder based upon DNA
evidence. This was also the first
announcement connecting the Visalia Ransacker crimes to the Golden State
Killer. Due to California's statute of
limitations on pre-2017 rape cases, DeAngelo cannot be charged with 1970s
rapes, but he was charged in August 2018 with 13 related kidnapping and
abduction attempts.
Crimes
DNA evidence links the Golden State
Killer to eight murders in Goleta, Ventura, Dana Point, and Irvine; two other
murders in Goleta, lacking DNA evidence, are linked by modus operandi. Investigators suspect the same killer was
involved in three other murders: two in Rancho Cordova and in Visalia. The offender also committed more than 50
known rapes in the California counties of Sacramento, Contra Costa, Stanislaus,
San Joaquin, Alameda, Santa Clara and Yolo, in addition to hundreds of
incidents of burglaries, thefts, vandalism, peeping, stalking, and prowling.
Visalia
Ransacker (April 1974–December 1975)
It was long suspected that the
training ground of the criminal who would become the Golden State Killer was
Visalia, California (although earlier Visalia crimes dating back as early as
May 1973 and other sprees like the ‘Cordova Cat Burglar’ or the 'Exeter
Ransacker', as well as burglaries that took place after the McGowen shooting,
are now suspected to be linked as well). Over a period of 20 months, the Ransacker is
believed to have been responsible for one murder and around 120 burglaries. Most of the Ransacker's activities involved
breaking into houses, rifling through (or vandalizing) the owner's possessions,
scattering women's underclothing, stealing coins and low-value or personal
items, while often ignoring banknotes and other valuable items in plain sight.
In late April 2018, the Visalia chief
of police stated that while there is no DNA linking DeAngelo to the Central
Valley cases, his department has other evidence that will play a role in the
investigation, and that he was "confident that the Visalia Ransacker has
been captured." Though the statutes of limitations for the burglaries have
each expired, DeAngelo was formally charged on August 13, 2018, with the first
degree murder of Claude Snelling in
1975.
East
Area Rapist (June 1976–July 1979)
The Golden State Killer is believed
to have moved to the Sacramento area, progressing from burglary to rape in
mid-1976. The crimes initially centered on the unincorporated areas of
Carmichael, Citrus Heights and Rancho Cordova, east of Sacramento. His initial modus operandi was to stalk
middle-class neighborhoods at night in search of women who were alone in
one-story homes, usually near a school, creek, trail or other open space that
would provide a quick escape. He was
seen a number of times, but always successfully fled; on one occasion, he shot
and seriously wounded a young pursuer.
Most victims had seen (or heard) a
prowler on their property before the attacks, and many had experienced
break-ins. Police believed that the offender would conduct extensive reconnaissance
in a targeted neighborhood — looking into windows and prowling in
yards — before selecting a home attack. It is believed that he sometimes
entered the homes of future victims to unlock windows, unload guns, and plant
ligatures for later use. He frequently telephoned future victims, sometimes for
months in advance, to learn their daily routines.
Although he originally targeted
women alone in their homes or with children, the offender eventually preferred
attacking couples. His MO was to break
in through a window or sliding glass door and awaken the sleeping occupants
with a flashlight, threatening them with a handgun. Victims were then bound with ligatures (often
shoelaces) which he found or brought with him, blindfolded and gagged with
towels which he had ripped into strips. The female victim was usually forced to
tie up her male companion before she was bound. The bindings were often so tight that the
victims' hands were numb for hours after being untied. He separated the couple, often stacking dishes
on the man's back and threatening to kill everyone in the house if he heard
them rattle. He moved the woman to the living room and often raped her
repeatedly, sometimes for several hours.
The offender sometimes spent hours
in the home ransacking closets and drawers, eating food in the kitchen,
drinking beer, raping the female again or making additional threats. Victims
sometimes thought he had left the house before he "jump[ed] from the
darkness." The offender typically
stole items, often personal objects and items of little value but occasionally
cash and firearms. He then crept away, leaving victims uncertain if he had
left. The offender was believed to escape on foot through a series of yards and
then use a bicycle to go home or to a car, making extensive use of parks,
schoolyards, creek beds and other open spaces which kept him off the street.
The rapist operated in Sacramento
County from the first attacks in June 1976 until May 1977. After a three-month
gap, he struck in nearby San Joaquin County in September before returning to
Sacramento for all but one of the next ten attacks. The rapist attacked five
times during the summer of 1978 in Stanislaus and Yolo counties before
disappearing again for three months. Attacks then moved primarily to Contra
Costa County in October and lasted until July 1979.
#
|
Date
|
Time
|
Location
|
County
|
1
|
Friday, June 18, 1976
|
4:00 a.m.
|
Rancho Cordova
|
Sacramento
|
2
|
Saturday, July 17, 1976
|
2:00 a.m.
|
Del Dayo Dr., Carmichael
|
Sacramento
|
3
|
Sunday, August 29, 1976
|
3:20 a.m.
|
Rancho Cordova
|
Sacramento
|
4
|
Saturday, September 4, 1976
|
11:30 p.m.
|
Citrus Heights
|
Sacramento
|
5
|
Tuesday, October 5, 1976
|
6:45 a.m.
|
Citrus Heights
|
Sacramento
|
6
|
Saturday, October 9, 1976
|
4:30 a.m.
|
Rancho Cordova
|
Sacramento
|
7
|
Monday, October 18, 1976
|
2:30 a.m.
|
Del Dayo Dr., Carmichael
|
Sacramento
|
8
|
Monday, October 18, 1976
|
11:00 p.m.
|
Rancho Cordova
|
Sacramento
|
9
|
Wednesday, November 10, 1976
|
7:30 p.m.
|
Greenback Ln., Citrus Heights
|
Sacramento
|
10
|
Saturday, December 18, 1976
|
7:00 p.m.
|
Carmichael
|
Sacramento
|
11
|
Tuesday, January 18, 1977
|
11:00 p.m.
|
Glenbrook/College Greens, Sacramento
|
Sacramento
|
12
|
Monday, January 24, 1977
|
12:00 a.m.
|
Primrose Dr., Citrus Heights
|
Sacramento
|
13
|
Monday, February 7, 1977
|
6:45 a.m.
|
Crestview Drive and Madison Ave.,
Citrus Heights
|
Sacramento
|
14
|
Wednesday, February 16, 1977
|
10:30 p.m.
|
Ripon Court
|
Sacramento
|
15
|
Tuesday, March 8, 1977
|
4:00 a.m.
|
Robertson and Whitney Ave.,
Sacramento
|
Sacramento
|
16
|
Friday, March 18, 1977
|
10:45 p.m.
|
Rancho Cordova
|
Sacramento
|
17
|
Saturday, April 2, 1977
|
3:20 a.m.
|
Madison and Main Ave., Orangevale
|
Sacramento
|
18
|
Friday, April 15, 1977
|
2:30 a.m.
|
Madison and Manzanita Avenues, Crestview
|
Sacramento
|
19
|
Tuesday, May 3, 1977
|
3:00 a.m.
|
Glenbrook/College Greens,
Sacramento
|
Sacramento
|
20
|
Thursday, May 5, 1977
|
2:40 a.m.
|
Orangevale
|
Sacramento
|
21
|
Saturday, May 14, 1977
|
3:45 a.m.
|
Greenback Ln. and Birdcage St.,
Citrus Heights
|
Sacramento
|
22
|
Tuesday, May 17, 1977
|
1:30 a.m.
|
Sand Bar Circle, Del Dayo Dr.,
Carmichael
|
Sacramento
|
23
|
Saturday, May 28, 1977
|
1:00 a.m.
|
Fourth Parkway, South Area,
Sacramento
|
Sacramento
|
24
|
Tuesday, September 6, 1977
|
1:30 a.m.
|
Lincoln Village West
|
San Joaquin
|
25
|
Saturday, October 1, 1977
|
1:30 a.m.
|
La Riviera and Tuolumne Dr.,
Rancho Cordova
|
Sacramento
|
26
|
Friday, October 21, 1977
|
3:00 a.m.
|
Elkhorn Blvd./Diablo Dr., Foothill
Farms
|
Sacramento
|
27
|
Saturday, October 29, 1977
|
1:45 a.m.
|
Woodson Ave., Sacramento
|
Sacramento
|
28
|
Thursday, November 10, 1977
|
3:00 a.m.
|
La Riviera Dr. near Watt Ave.,
Sacramento
|
Sacramento
|
29
|
Friday, December 2, 1977
|
11:30 p.m.
|
Brett and Revelstoke Dr. Foothill
Farms
|
Sacramento
|
30
|
Saturday, January 28, 1978
|
10:15 p.m.
|
Winding Way, east of Walnut Ave.,
Sacramento
|
Sacramento
|
31
|
Saturday, March 18, 1978
|
1:05 p.m.
|
Parkwoods, Stockton
|
San Joaquin
|
32
|
Friday, April 14, 1978
|
10:00 p.m.
|
Seamas and Riverside Aves., South
Sacramento
|
Sacramento
|
33
|
Monday, June 5, 1978
|
2:30 a.m.
|
Northeastern Modesto
|
Stanislaus
|
34
|
Wednesday, June 7, 1978
|
3:55 a.m.
|
UC Davis, Davis
|
Yolo
|
35
|
Friday, June 23, 1978
|
1:30 a.m.
|
Northeastern Modesto
|
Stanislaus
|
36
|
Saturday, June 24, 1978
|
3:15 a.m.
|
Rivendell, Davis
|
Yolo
|
37
|
Thursday, July 6, 1978
|
2:50 a.m.
|
Westwood Division, Davis
|
Yolo
|
38
|
Saturday, October 7, 1978
|
2:30 a.m.
|
Concord
|
Contra Costa
|
39
|
Friday, October 13, 1978
|
4:30 a.m.
|
Concord
|
Contra Costa
|
40
|
Saturday, October 28, 1978
|
4:30 a.m.
|
San Ramon
|
Contra Costa
|
41
|
Saturday, November 4, 1978
|
3:30 a.m.
|
San Jose
|
Santa Clara
|
42
|
Saturday, December 2, 1978
|
4:30 a.m.
|
San Jose
|
Santa Clara
|
43
|
Saturday, December 9, 1978
|
2:00 a.m.
|
Danville
|
Contra Costa
|
44
|
Monday, December 18, 1978
|
6:30 p.m.
|
San Ramon
|
Contra Costa
|
45
|
Tuesday, March 20, 1979
|
5:00 a.m.
|
Rancho Cordova
|
Sacramento
|
46
|
Wednesday, April 4, 1979
|
1:00 a.m.
|
Fremont
|
Alameda
|
47
|
Saturday, June 2, 1979
|
11:30 p.m.
|
Walnut Creek
|
Contra Costa
|
48
|
Monday, June 11, 1979
|
4:00 a.m.
|
Danville
|
Contra Costa
|
49
|
Monday, June 25, 1979
|
4:00 a.m.
|
Walnut Creek
|
Contra Costa
|
50
|
Thursday, July 5, 1979
|
3:45 a.m.
|
Danville
|
Contra Costa
|
Murders
A young Sacramento couple, Brian, a
military policeman at Mather Air Force Base, and Katie Maggiore, were walking
their dog in the Rancho Cordova area on the night of February 2, 1978, near
where five East Area Rapist attacks had occurred. The Maggiores fled after a confrontation in
the street, but were chased down and shot dead. Some investigators suspected that they had
been murdered by the East Area Rapist because of their proximity to the other
attacks' location, and a shoelace was found nearby. The FBI announced on June 15, 2016, that it
was confident that the East Area Rapist murdered the Maggiores.
Original
Night Stalker (October 1979–May 1986)
Shortly after a rape committed on
July 5,the East Area Rapist moved to southern California and first struck in Santa
Barbara County in October. The attacks lasted until 1981 (with a lone 1986
attack), and took a darker turn as the rapist began to kill his victims. Only
the couple in the first attack survived, alerting neighbors and forcing the
intruder to flee; the other victims were murdered by gunshot or bludgeoning.
Since the East Area Rapist was not linked to these crimes for decades, he was
known as the Night Stalker in the area before being renamed the Original Night
Stalker after serial killer Richard Ramirez received the former nickname.
Crimes
|
||||
#
|
Date
|
Victim(s)
|
Location
|
County
|
1
|
Monday, October 1, 1979
|
None (attempted murder; botched
attack)
|
Queen Ann Lane, Goleta
|
Santa Barbara
|
2
|
Sunday, December 30, 1979
|
Robert Offerman, Debra Manning
|
Goleta
|
Santa Barbara
|
3
|
Thursday, March 13, 1980
|
Charlene & Lyman Smith
|
Ventura
|
Ventura
|
4
|
Tuesday, August 19, 1980
|
Keith & Patrice Harrington
|
Dana Point
|
Orange
|
5
|
Friday, February 6, 1981
|
Manuela Witthuhn
|
Irvine
|
Orange
|
6
|
Monday, July 27, 1981
|
Cheri Domingo, Gregory Sanchez
|
Goleta
|
Santa Barbara
|
7
|
Sunday, May 4, 1986
|
Janelle Cruz
|
Irvine
|
Orange
|
1979
On October 1, an intruder broke in
and tied up a Goleta couple. Alarmed by
hearing him say "I'll kill 'em" to himself, the man and woman tried
to escape when he left the room and the woman screamed. Realizing that the
alarm had been raised, the intruder fled on a bicycle. A neighbor (an FBI agent) responded to the
noise and pursued the perpetrator, who abandoned the bicycle and a knife and
fled on foot through local backyards. The attack was later linked to the
Offerman–Manning murders by shoe prints and twine used to bind the victims.
On December 30, 44-year-old Robert
Offerman and 35-year-old Debra Alexandra Manning were found shot dead at
Offerman's condominium on Avenida Pequena in Goleta. Offerman's bindings were untied, indicating
that he had lunged at the attacker. Neighbors had heard gunshots. Paw prints of a large dog were found at the
scene, leading to speculation that the killer may have brought one with him. The killer also broke into the vacant
adjoining residence and stole a bicycle, later found abandoned on a street
north of the scene, from a third residence in the complex.
1980
On March 13, 33-year-old Charlene
Smith and 43-year-old Lyman Smith (who was about to be appointed as a judge)
were found murdered in their Ventura home; Charlene Smith had been raped. A log from a woodpile on the side of the house
was used to bludgeon the victims to death. Their wrists and ankles had been bound with drapery
cord. An unusual Chinese knot, a diamond
knot, was used on Charlene's wrists; the same knot was noted in the Sacramento
East Area Rapist attacks, at least one confirmed case of which was publicly
known. The murderer was, therefore,
briefly given the name "Diamond Knot Killer".
On August 19, 24-year-old Keith Eli
Harrington and 27-year-old Patrice Briscoe Harrington were found bludgeoned to
death in their home on Cockleshell Drive in Dana Point's Niguel Shores gated
community. Patrice Harrington had also
been raped. Although there was evidence
that the Harringtons' wrists and ankles were bound, no ligatures or murder
weapon were found at the scene. The
Harringtons had been married for three months at the time of their deaths. Patrice was a nurse in Irvine, and Keith was a
medical student at UC Irvine. Keith's
brother Bruce later spent nearly $2 million supporting California
Proposition 69 authorizing DNA collection from all California felons and
certain other criminals.
1981
On February 6, 28-year-old Manuela
Witthuhn was raped and murdered in her Irvine home. Although Witthuhn's body had signs of being
tied before she was bludgeoned, no ligatures or murder weapon were found. The
victim was married; her husband was hospitalized, and she was alone at the time
of the attack. Detectives noted that Witthuhn's
television was found in the backyard, possibly the killer's attempt to make the
crime appear to be a botched robbery.
On July 27, 35-year-old Cheri
Domingo and 27-year-old Gregory Sanchez were the Original Night Stalker's 10th
and 11th murder victims. Both were
attacked in Domingo's residence on Toltec Way in Goleta (several blocks south
of Robert Offerman's condominium), where she was living temporarily; it was
owned by a deceased relative and up for sale. The offender entered the house
through a small bathroom window. Sanchez had not been tied, and was shot and
wounded in the cheek before he was bludgeoned to death with a garden tool. Some
believe that Sanchez may have realized he was dealing with the man responsible
for the Offerman–Manning murders, and tried to tackle the killer rather than be
tied up. Again, no neighbors responded to the gunshot. Sanchez's head was covered with clothes pulled
from the closet. Domingo was raped and
bludgeoned; bruises on her wrists and ankles indicated that she had been tied,
although the restraints were missing. A
piece of shipping twine was found near the bed, and fibers from an unknown
source were scattered over her body. Authorities
believed that the attacker may have worked as a painter or in a similar job at
the Calle Real Shopping Centre.
1986
On May 4, 18-year-old Janelle Lisa
Cruz was found after she was raped and bludgeoned to death in her Irvine home. Her family was on vacation in Mexico at the
time of the attack. A pipe wrench,
reported missing by Cruz's stepfather, was thought to be the murder weapon.
The southern California murders were
not initially thought to be connected by investigators in their respective
jurisdictions. A Sacramento detective strongly believed that the East Area
Rapist was responsible for the Goleta attacks, but the Santa Barbara County
Sheriff's Department attributed them to a local career criminal who was later
murdered. Investigating the crimes not committed in Goleta caused local police
to follow false leads related to men who were close to the female victims. One
person, later cleared, was charged with two murders. The cases were linked
almost entirely by DNA testing, many years later.
Suspect
profile
Known
physical characteristics
These physical characteristics are
considered factual based on crime-scene evidence and nearly-universal agreement
by victims and law enforcement:
- White male
- About 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) tall
- Slender, athletic build
- Size 9 to 9 1⁄2 shoe
- Type A blood
- Non-secretor: Sperm does not contain blood-group antigens.
- Physically agile and capable of sprinting, bicycling, and scaling fences
Probable
characteristics
These physical characteristics are
considered probable; a small percentage of victims described the perpetrator
differently:
- 18–25 years old when the rapes began in 1976; authorities believe him to be between 60 and 75 years old in 2018.
- Blond or brown hair
- Blue or light-colored eyes
According to the Sacramento County
Sheriff's Department, microscopic paint chips were found at three crime scenes
(two homicides and a rape). This
suggests that the Golden State Killer may have worked in construction, possibly
using a paint spray gun. Construction
work had been ongoing near the 1979 Goleta murder scene, and a cold-case
investigator contacted the developer in 2013 to identify subcontractors working
at the site and obtain employment records.
Psychological
profile
After criminologists matched serological
evidence found at the southern California murder scenes, a speculative
psychological profile of the Golden State Killer was compiled based on a
probabilistic analysis. According to Leslie D'Ambrosia, primary author of the
profile, the Golden State Killer probably had the following characteristics:
- An emotional age equivalent to a 26- to 30-year-old at the time the murders began in 1979
- Engaged in paraphilic behavior and brutal sex in his personal life
- Engaged in sex with prostitutes
- Had some knowledge of police investigative methods and evidence-gathering techniques
- Sexually functional, capable of ejaculation with consenting and non-consenting partners
- Dressed well and would not stand out in upscale neighborhoods
- Lived or worked near Ventura, California, in 1980
- Good physical condition
- Skilled, experienced cat burglar, and may have begun as such
- Had a criminal record as a teenager which was expunged
- Had some means of income, but did not work in the early-morning hours
- Hated women for actual (or perceived) wrongs
- If married, probably had a submissive spouse who tolerated his sexually-deviant behavior
- Intelligent and articulate
- Probably began as a voyeur in his late teens or early twenties
- Neat and well-organized in his personal life, and drove a well-maintained car
- Peeped in the windows of many people who were not attacked
- Possibly unmarried, and did not enter into long-term relationships
- Self-assured and confident
- Would continue committing violent crimes until incapacitated by prison, death, or other intervention
- Would have been described by those who knew him as arrogant, domineering, manipulative, and a chronic liar
The profile speculated that killer
might have been incarcerated after Janelle Cruz's murder or killed in the
commission of a similar crime; it suggested a review of late-1980s hot prowl
burglaries in which a lone male offender had been killed. It indicated a slight
chance that the Golden State Killer committed suicide, and that he was unlikely
to be confined in a mental institution.
According to the profile, teleprinter
bulletins were broadcast to law-enforcement agencies throughout the United
States after the original homicides. The bulletins requested information on
similar home invasions involving sexual assault, murder, bludgeoning, multiple
victims, and bondage. As of 2015, no similar crimes had been reported. The
profile posited that the Golden State Killer could have continued committing
his crimes in another country whose records were not linked.
Communications
Written
"Excitement's
Crave" (December 11, 1977)
In December 1977, someone claiming
to be the East Area Rapist sent a poem, "Excitement's Crave", to The Sacramento Bee, the Sacramento
mayor's office, and television station KVIE December 11 is the date that a
masked man (probably the Golden State Killer) eluded pursuit by law-enforcement
personnel after alerting authorities by telephone that he would strike on Watt
Avenue that night.
Excitement's Crave
All those mortal's surviving birth / Upon facing maturity,
Take inventory of their worth / To prevailing society.
Choosing values becomes a task; / Oneself must seek satisfaction.
The selected route will unmask / Character when plans take action.
Accepting some work to perform / At fixed pay, but promise for more,
Is a recognized social norm, / As is decorum, seeking lore.
Achieving while others lifting / Should be cause for deserving fame.
Leisure tempts excitement seeking, / What's right and expected seems tame.
"Jessie James" has been seen by all, / And "Son of Sam" has an author.
Others now feel temptations call. / Sacramento should make an offer.
To make a movie of my life / That will pay for my planned exile.
Just now I' d like to add the wife / Of a Mafia lord to my file.
Your East Area Rapist
And deserving pest.
See you in the press or on T.V.
Take inventory of their worth / To prevailing society.
Choosing values becomes a task; / Oneself must seek satisfaction.
The selected route will unmask / Character when plans take action.
Accepting some work to perform / At fixed pay, but promise for more,
Is a recognized social norm, / As is decorum, seeking lore.
Achieving while others lifting / Should be cause for deserving fame.
Leisure tempts excitement seeking, / What's right and expected seems tame.
"Jessie James" has been seen by all, / And "Son of Sam" has an author.
Others now feel temptations call. / Sacramento should make an offer.
To make a movie of my life / That will pay for my planned exile.
Just now I' d like to add the wife / Of a Mafia lord to my file.
Your East Area Rapist
And deserving pest.
See you in the press or on T.V.
Homework
pages and punishment map (December 9, 1978)
During the investigation of the 42nd
attack in Danville, investigators discovered three sheets of notebook paper
near where a suspicious vehicle had reportedly been parked, although no
association with the East Area Rapist has been proven. The first sheet contains what appears to be an
essay on General George Armstrong Custer.
The second sheet contains a
journal-style entry describing a teacher who made students write lines, which
the author found humiliating:
Mad is the word, the word that reminds me of 6th grade. I
hated that year ... I wish I had know what was going to be going on during
my 6th grade year, the last and worst year of elementary school. Mad is the
word that remains in my head about my dreadful year as a 6th grader. My Madness
was one that was caused by disapointments that hurt me very much.
Dissapointments from my teacher, such as feild trips that were planed, then
canncled. My 6th grade teacher gave me a lot of dissapointments which made me
very mad and made me built a state of haterd in my heart, no one ever let me
down that hard before and I never hated anyone as much as I did him.
Disapointment wasn't the only reason that made me mad in my sixth grade class,
another was getting in trouble at school espeically talking thats what really
bugged me was writing sentances, those awful sentance that my teacher
made ... me write, hours and hours Id sit and write 50-100-150 sentance
day and night I write those dreadful Paragraphs which embarrased me and more
inportant it made me ashamed of myself which in turn, deep down in side made me
realize that writing sentance wasn't fair it wasn't fair to make me suffer like
that, it just wasn't fair to make me sit and wright until my bones aked, until
my hand felt every horrid pain it ever had and as I wrote, I got mader and
mader until I cried, I cried because I was ashamed I cried because I was
discusted, I cried because I was mad, and I cried for myself, kid who kept on
having to write those dane sentances. My Angryness from Sixth grade will scar
my memory for life and I will be ashamed for my sixth grade year forever
On the last sheet was a hand-drawn
map of what appears to be a suburban neighborhood, with the word
"punishment" scrawled across the reverse side. Investigators were unable to identify the area
depicted in the map, although the artist clearly had knowledge of architectural
layout and landscape design. According
to Detective Larry Pool, the map is a fantasy location representing the Golden
State Killer's desired striking ground.
Phone
calls
"I'm
the East Side Rapist" (March 18, 1977)
On March 18, 1977, the Sacramento
County Sheriff's Office received three calls from a man claiming to be the East
Area Rapist; none were recorded. The
first two calls, received at 4:15 and 4:30 p.m., were identical and ended
with the caller laughing and hanging up. The final call came in at
5:00 p.m., with the caller saying: "I'm the East Side Rapist and I
have my next victim already stalked and you guys can't catch me."
"Never
gonna catch me" (December 2, 1977)
A man claiming to be the rapist
called the Sacramento Police, saying: "You're never gonna catch me, East
Area Rapist, you dumb fuckers, I'm gonna fuck again tonight. Careful!" The
call was recorded and later released. Similarly to the previous call, the East Area
Rapist attacked his next victim the same night.
"Merry
Christmas" (December 9, 1977)
A previous victim received a phone
call during the 1977 Christmas season which she attributed to her attacker. The
caller said, "Merry Christmas, it's me again!"
"Watt
Avenue" (December 10, 1977)
Shortly before 10:00 p.m. on
December 10, 1977, Sacramento authorities received two identical calls, saying:
"I am going to hit tonight. Watt Avenue." Both were recorded, and the
caller was identified as the same person who placed the December 2 call.
Law-enforcement patrols were increased that night, and at 2:30 a.m. a masked
man eluded officers after being seen bicycling on the Watt Avenue bridge. When
spotted again at 4:30 a.m., he discarded the bicycle and fled on foot. The
bicycle had been stolen.
"Gonna
kill you" (January 2, 1978)
The first known rape victim received
a wrong-number call asking for "Ray" on January 2, 1978. The call was
recorded, and police suspect that it may be the same caller who made a threatening
call to her later that evening. That call was also recorded and identified by
the victim as the voice of her assailant. The caller said, "Gonna kill
you ... gonna kill you ... gonna kill you ... bitch ...
bitch ... bitch ... bitch ... fuckin' whore."
Counseling
service (January 6, 1978)
A man claiming to be the East Area
Rapist called the Contact Counseling Service and said: "I have a problem.
I need help because I don't want to do this anymore." After a short
conversation the caller said, "I believe you are tracing this call"
and hung up.
Later
calls (1982–1991)
In 1982, a previous victim received
a call at her place of work — a restaurant — during which the rapist
threatened to rape her again. According to Contra Costa County investigator
Paul Holes, the rapist must have chanced to patronize the restaurant and
recognized his victim there.
In 1991, a previous victim received
a phone call from the perpetrator and spoke with him for one minute. She could
hear a woman and children in the background, leading to speculation that he had
a family.
Final
call (2001)
On April 6, 2001, one day after an
article in the Sacramento Bee linked the Original Night Stalker and the
East Area Rapist, a victim of the rapist received a call from him; he asked,
"Remember when we played?"
Investigation
This billboard advertisement
appeared nationwide in June 2016.
Before officially connecting the
Original Night Stalker to the East Area Rapist in 2001, some law-enforcement
officials (particularly from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department) sought
to link the Goleta cases as well. The
links were primarily due to similarities in MO. One of the already-linked
Original Night Stalker double murders occurred in Ventura, 40 miles
(64 km) southeast of Goleta, and the remaining murders were committed in
Orange County, an additional 90 miles (140 km) southeast. In 2001, several
rapes in Contra Costa County believed to have been committed by the East Area
Rapist were linked by DNA to the Smith, Harrington, Whithuhn, and Cruz murders.
A decade later, DNA evidence indicated that the Domingo–Sanchez murders were
committed by the Golden State Killer.
On June 15, 2016, the FBI released
further information related to the crimes, including new composite sketches and
crime details; a $50,000 reward was also announced. The initiative included a national database to
support law enforcement investigating the crimes and handle tips and
information.
Suspects
During the investigation, several
people were considered and eliminated as suspects:
- Brett Glasby, from Goleta, was considered a suspect by Santa Barbara County investigators. He was murdered in Mexico in 1982, before the murder of Janelle Cruz; this eliminated him as a suspect.
- Paul "Cornfed" Schneider, a high-ranking member of the Aryan Brotherhood, was living in Orange County when the Harringtons, Manuela Witthuhn, and Janelle Cruz were killed. A DNA test cleared him in the 1990s.
- Joe Alsip, a friend and business partner of the victim Lyman Smith's; Alsip's pastor said that Alsip had confessed to him during a family-counseling session. Alsip was arraigned for the Smith murders in 1982, but the charges were later dropped, and his innocence was confirmed by DNA testing in 1997.
In November 2002, journalist Colleen
Cason wrote a newspaper series about the murders for the Ventura County Star.
According to Cason, Detective Larry Pool
of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department visited California's death row at San
Quentin in an attempt to locate the Golden State Killer; Pool suspected that
the killer had been captured and sentenced to death for another violent crime.
However, no genetic samples collected from death row inmates matched the DNA of
the Golden State Killer's.
Joseph James DeAngelo
On April 24, 2018, Sacramento County
Sheriff's officers arrested Joseph James DeAngelo, a former police officer in Auburn
and Exeter, California. He was charged
with eight counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances. On May 10, the Santa Barbara County District
Attorney's office charged DeAngelo with four additional counts of first-degree
murder.
Identification of DeAngelo had begun
four months earlier when officials, led by detective Paul Holes, uploaded the
killer's DNA profile from a Ventura County rape kit to the personal genomics website
GEDmatch. The website identified 10 to
20 distant relatives of the Golden State Killer's (sharing the same
great-great-great grandparents), from whom a team of five investigators working
with genealogist Barbara Rae-Venter constructed a large family tree. They
identified two suspects in the case (one of whom was ruled out by a relative's
DNA test), leaving DeAngelo the main suspect. On April 18, a DNA sample was surreptitiously
collected from the door handle of DeAngelo's car, and later another sample was
collected from a tissue found in DeAngelo's curbside garbage can. Both were matched to samples associated with
Golden State Killer crimes. After
DeAngelo's arrest, some commentators raised concerns about the ethics of the
secondary use of personally identifiable information.
DeAngelo cannot be charged with
rapes or burglaries because the statute of limitations expired for those
offenses, but he has been charged with 13 counts of murder and 13 counts of
kidnapping. He faces either life without parole or death, if convicted. DeAngelo was arraigned in Sacramento on August
23, 2018. In November 2018, prosecutors from six involved counties collectively
estimated that the case could cost taxpayers $20 million and last 10 years. At an April 10, 2019, court proceeding,
prosecutors announced that they would seek the death penalty, and the judge
ruled that cameras may be allowed inside the courtroom during the trial.
Biography
DeAngelo was born on November 8,
1945, in Bath, New York, to Joseph James DeAngelo, Sr. and Kathleen Bosano. He has two sisters and a brother. At 9 or 10
years old, he is said to have witnessed his 7-year-old sister being raped by
two men in a warehouse.
Between 1959 and 1960 he attended
Mills Junior High School in Rancho Cordova. Beginning in 1961, he attended
Folsom High School, from which he received a GED certificate in 1964. He played
on the school's junior varsity baseball team.
DeAngelo joined the U.S. Navy in
September 1964, and served for 22 months during the Vietnam War as a damage
controlman on the cruiser USS Canberra and USS Piedmont.
Beginning August 1968, DeAngelo
attended Sierra College in Rocklin; in June 1970, he graduated with an
associate degree in police science, with honors.
In May 1970, DeAngelo became engaged
to Bonnie Jean Colwell, a classmate at Sierra College, but she reportedly broke
off the relationship. Investigators believe this might be connected to the
offender's saying, "I hate you, Bonnie!", during one of the EAR
attacks.
In 1971, he attended Sacramento
State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. He later took post-graduate courses and
further police training at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, then
completed a 32-week police internship at the Roseville Police Department.
From May 1973 to August 1976, he was
a burglary unit police officer in Exeter (a town of about 5,000 people near
Visalia), having relocated from Citrus Heights. By 1976, DeAngelo had been promoted to
sergeant and was in charge of the Exeter Police Department's "Joint Attack
on Burglary" program. He then
served in Auburn from August 1976 to July 1979, when he was arrested for shoplifting
a hammer and dog repellent; he was sentenced to six months’ probation and fired
that October.
In November 1973, he married Sharon
Marie Huddle in Placer. In 1980, they purchased the house in Citrus Heights
where he was eventually arrested. Huddle
became an attorney in 1982, and they had three daughters, two of whom were born
in Sacramento and one in Los Angeles before separating in 1991.
His employment history in the 1980s
is unknown. From 1990 until his retirement in 2017, he worked as a truck
mechanic at a Save Mart Supermarkets distribution center. He was arrested in 1996 over an incident at a
gas station; the charge was dismissed.
His brother-in-law said that
DeAngelo casually brought up the East Area Rapist in conversation around the
time of the original crimes. Neighbors reported that DeAngelo frequently
engaged in loud, profane outbursts. One
neighbor reported that his family received a phone message from DeAngelo
threatening to "deliver a load of death" because of their barking
dog. He was living with a daughter and
granddaughter at the time of his arrest.
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