For over forty years, the perpetrator of the East Area Rapist / Golden State Killer crime series was unknown and unidentified. The most viable clue he left was his DNA and, at a press conference held on April 25th, 2018, it was confirmed that it was “innovative DNA technology” that finally led to an arrest in this decades-old case.
In the months leading up to the arrest, EAR/GSK investigator Paul Holes and a team of task force members obtained an untouched sample of the offender’s DNA from Ventura County — the jurisdiction where the Golden State Killer murdered Lyman and Charlene Smith in March 1980.
A police lab converted the sample into a format that could be used by online, open-access DNA databases that can reach for distant familial relations when comparing DNA markers. Investigator Paul Holes used repository called GEDmatch to conduct his analysis, and the results included about a dozen DNA profiles that were distantly related to the offender’s DNA sample.
Utilizing tools on Ancestry.com that facilitate the formation of complex family trees, Holes, a civilian genealogist, and others were able to create two dozen family trees — this amounted to over 10,000 different suspects due to the distance of the relationship between the sample matches (which were determined to be third cousins — people who shared a great-great-great grandfather with the Golden State Killer).
This was still a sizable suspect pool, but it was much smaller than the entire male population in their of California and beyond aged fifty through seventy-five.
After researching individual members on these family trees, only a few viable suspects bubbled to the surface.
On March 29th, Paul Holes parked his vehicle outside the home of one of the suspects. He considered knocking on the door and requesting a sample from him (as he’d done with countless others in the past), but due to information that had turned up about numerous firearms being registered to the suspect, Holes drove on. It ended up being a smart move — the police would be returning to this home a few weeks later with an arrest warrant.
In early April, the most promising suspect was eliminated through the DNA test of a close relative. From there, the officers looked at the next one.
The week of April 16th, 2018, Law Enforcement obtained DNA from an item discarded by Joseph James DeAngelo, a seventy-two-year-old man living in Citrus Heights. Mid-week, lab tests confirmed that DeAngelo shared several markers in common with the East Area Rapist / Golden State Killer.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department immediately began surveillance on Joseph DeAngelo. We were able to surveil him, we got a feel for some of his activities or lack thereof, got some information regarding his routines, we got some information relative to what he might do if confronted or apprehended,” Sheriff Scott Jones told reporters at a press conference held the day after the arrest. “based on the information we were able to glean from that surveillance, so we developed a plan to wait for him to come out of his residence rather than approach him in the residence or when he’s out and about in a vehicle.”
On Tuesday, April 24th, 2018, at about 5:30 PM local time, Joseph James DeAngelo was arrested at his home on Canyon Oak Drive by armored police working for the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department.
“when he came out of his residence we had a team in place that was able to take him into custody,” Sheriff Jones explained. “He was very surprised by that. It looked as though he might have been searching his mind to execute a particular plan he may have had in mind, obviously speculation on my part but he was not given the opportunity. It happened almost instantaneously, and he was taken into custody without incident at all.
He was held on a warrant from Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. After a seven-hour interrogation session, which one officer termed as “productive,” Joseph James DeAngelo was booked. It was 2:29 AM on April 25th, 2018.
Listed as 5’11” and 205 lbs, Joseph DeAngelo was charged by Ventura County for the murder of Lyman and Charlene Smith. Two counts of first degree murder with three special circumstances: murder during commission of rape, murder during commission of burglary, and multiple murders. He was also charged with two counts of murder, with special circumstances, in Sacramento County for the murder of Brian and Katie Maggiore in February 1978.
A press conference was held at noon on Wednesday. Several district attorneys appeared, along with Sheriff Scott Jones, FBI Special Agent Sean Reagan, and Bruce Harrington — brother of murder victim Keith Harrington. Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert remarked that it was fitting that the press conference was held on April 25th — it happened to be National DNA Day.
The wheels of justice, which had turned so slowly for so long in this case, began to move rapidly.