California police believe that they have caught a murderer and rapist that has eluded their grasp for decades – the Golden State Killer.
Watch below:
A former California police officer has been identified as the so-called Golden State Killer believed to have committed 12 killings and at least 50 rapes across California from 1976 to 1986, authorities said Wednesday.
Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, was arrested after investigators matched discarded DNA from his home to evidence from some of the crimes, Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten told reporters.
The suspect seemed surprised when he was arrested without incident this week in connection with a crime spree that spanned 10 years and at least 10 counties throughout California, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said.
“We all knew that we were looking for a needle in a haystack but we all knew that the needle was there,” Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said at a news conference outside the crime lab where the big break in the case came.
“It is fitting that today is National DNA Day. We found the needle in the haystack and it was right here in Sacramento.”
The suspect, who faces capital murder charges, is being held without bail in Sacramento.
“All too often we forget to talk about the victims and today we at least brought the first step towards closure for those victims of these horrendous crimes,” Jones said.
DeAngelo is a former Auburn, California, police officer who was fired in 1979 for shoplifting a can of dog repellent and a hammer from a drugstore, according to Jones. He worked as a police officer in Exeter and Auburn between 1973 and 1979.
Here’s a documentary about the killings from 2017: