California

Ex-Cop Arrested in Decades-Old Golden State Killer Cold Case

The FBI said the killer is responsible for approximately 45 rapes, 12 homicides, and multiple residential burglaries between 1976 and 1986 in San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles area

A man who was dubbed “The Golden State Killer” and “East Bay Rapist” accused of killing at least 12 people and raping almost 50 women across the state of California has been arrested, officials announced Wednesday. Cheryl Hurd reports.

What to Know

  • The FBI said the "Golden State Killer" is responsible for approximately 45 rapes, 12 homicides, and multiple residential burglaries
  • In 2016, the FBI announced a $50,000 reward and a national campaign to identify the killer

A man who was dubbed "The Golden State Killer" after he allegedly killed and raped multiple people across the state of California has been arrested, officials announced Wednesday.

A 72-year-old ex-police officer named Joseph James DeAngelo, who appears to fit the description of the elusive California killer, was arrested overnight on two murder charges by police in Sacramento.

Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said at a news conferences Wednesday afternoon that the answer for the arrest came down to the DNA of the killer.

"It is fitting that today is National DNA Day. We found the needle in the haystack and it was right here in Sacramento," Schubert said.

Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert at a press conference Wednesday, April 25, 2018, discusses the ‘Golden State Killer’ case.

DeAngelo was charged for the February 1978 murders of a Sacramento couple Brian and Katie Maggiore. He's being held without bail in the Sacramento County Main Jail, according to records.

He also faces capital murder charges for slayings in 1980 in Ventura County, the county's district attorney Gregory D. Totten said Wednesday. 

Officials on Wednesday, April 25, announced the suspected “Golden State Killer” has been arrested. Watch raw video of the full press conference held in Sacramento, California.

Bruce Harrington, brother of Golden State Killer murder victims Keith and Patrice Harrington, who were beaten to death in their Dana Point home on Aug. 19, 1980 said: "I’d like to speak the multi-generational victims of this staggering crime spree. It is time for all victims to grieve and to take measure one last time. To bring closure to the anguish that we’re all suffered for the last 40-some odd years. It is time for the victims to begin to heal, so long overdue."

Harrington worked to pass Proposition 69, a 2004 voter initiative that requires the collection of DNA samples from convicted felons for California's DNA database.

The brother of Golden State Killer murder victims Keith and Patrice Harrington speaks at a press conference.

Michelle Cruz, the sister of one of the killer's last victims, said "I'm so excited and overwhelmed. I'm feeling very blessed today and now I will be able to breathe again."

Janelle Cruz was 18-years-old when she was murdered in 1986 in Irvine.

NBC Affiliate KCRA said FBI agents and other law enforcement officials were outside a home in where property records showed DeAngelo lived for at least two decades.

"When he came out of the resident, we had a team in place to put in to custody. He looked very surprised by that," said Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones.

Source: http://www.coldcase-earons.com/

DeAngelo was an officer at the Auburn Police Department, according to Jones. He was fired from the department in 1979 after he was arrested for stealing a can of dog repellant and a hammer from a drug store, according to Auburn Journal articles from the time.

"We knew we were looking for a needle in a haystack, but we also knew that needle was there," Schubert said. "We found the needle in the haystack and it was right here in Sacramento."

Armed with a gun, the masked attacker terrorized communities by breaking into homes while single women or couples were sleeping. He sometimes tied up the man and piled dishes on his back, then raped the woman while threatening to kill them both if the dishes tumbled.

Sacramento County Sheriff's Department
Joseph James Deangelo

He often took souvenirs, notably coins and jewelry, from his victims, who ranged in age from 13 to 41.

The suspect, also known as the East Bay Rapist, was described as a white male and thought to be currently between the ages of 60 and 75 years old, and approximately 5'10" tall, according to the FBI. He left DNA traces at crime scenes but officials weren't able to match them until now.

The FBI said the killer is responsible for approximately 45 rapes, 12 homicides, and multiple residential burglaries between 1976 and 1986 in San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles area.

Authorities decided to publicize the case again in 2016 in advance of the 40th anniversary of his first known assault in Sacramento County.

FBI
Between 1976 and 1986, the violent and elusive individual known as the East Area Rapist and later as the Original Night Stalker and the Golden State Killer, committed 12 homicides, 45 rapes, and more than 120 residential in multiple California communities, the FBI said. He often wore ski masks like the ones shown here in evidence at the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.
FBI
The FBI has released these three sketches in their search for the Golden State Killer/East Area Rapist they say committed at least 12 homicides, 45 rapes and dozens of burglaries across California in the 1970s and 1980s.
FBI
FBI Special Agent Marcus Knutson and Sacramento County Sheriff's Department Deputy Paige Kneeland search for evidence in the East Area Rapist case in the sheriff's department evidence room. A renewed effort to apprehend the subject has been announced, along with a $50,000 reward on Wednesday, June 15, 2016.
FBI
Burglaries and rapes began occurring in middle-class neighborhoods in the eastern district of Sacramento County - hence the name East Area Rapist - in the summer of 1976. The levee behind this fence led to area of thick brush and the American River, which the subject often used to make his escape, the FBI said.
FBI
This Sacramento neighborhood was the scene of multiple burglaries, sexual assaults and a double homicide committed by the East Area Rapist, the FBI said.
FBI
Brian Maggiore and his wife, Katie, were on an evening walk with their dog in their Rancho Cordova neighborhood on Feb. 2, 1978, when they were chased down and murdered by the East Area Rapist, the FBI said.
FBI
On Feb. 2, 1978, Brian Maggiore and his wife, Katie, were on an evening walk with their dog in their Rancho Cordova neighborhood when they were chased down and murdered by the East Area Rapist, the FBI said. Volumes of reports about the murder investigation are contained in the evidence room at the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.
FBI
Evidence found at the site of Brian and Katie Maggiore's murder. The shoelace was tied in a double-loop, which could be used like handcuffs or restraints, like those used by the East Area Rapist, the FBI said. "This kind of threw a whole different light on this rape series," said Ray Biondi, a Sacramento County Sheriff's Department detective who investigated the murder. "We have the rape series, do we also have now a violent criminal who is killing people?
FBI
Ray Biondi, a retired Sacramento County Sheriff's Department detective who investigated the murder of Brian Maggiore and his wife, Katie, which was linked to the Bay Area Rapist. "It's mind boggling that he committed so many crimes without a slip up," the veteran detective said. Biondi still believes that the rapist can be brought to justice.
Among the evidence collected in the cold case are fingerprints lifted from the crime scene, shoe treads and DNA, the FBI said. Although there were no tests for DNA matching at the time of the crimes, investigators can now use that technology to rule out suspects and to verify the killer's identity.
FBI
The East Area Rapist took items from his crime scenes - coins and jewelry in particular, the FBI said. Shown is a sketch and details of a ring he took from one of his many victims.
FBI
Evidence at the scene of one of the East Area Rapist's attack.
FBI
Sacramento County Sheriff's Department Deputy Paige Kneeland sorts through reams of evidence in the East Area Rapist case.

Neighbor Kevin Tapia, 36, said when he was a teenager, DeAngelo falsely accused him of throwing things over their shared fence, prompting a heated exchange between DeAngelo and Tapia's father. He said DeAngelo could often be heard cursing in frustration in his backyard.

"No one thinks they live next door to a serial killer," Tapia said. "But at the same time I'm just like, he was a weird guy. He kept to himself. When you start to think about it you're like, I could see him doing something like that but I would never suspect it."

 The suspected serial killer worked at a distribution center for Save Mart grocery stores for the last 27 years, according to the Sacremento Bee, a local newspaper. 

Copyright The Associated Press
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