Photo
The authorities confirmed on Wednesday that they had made an arrest in the unsolved case of a serial killer and rapist who terrorized communities in California in the 1970s and 1980s.
Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, was arrested on a warrant from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and booked early Wednesday on two counts of murder, according to Sacramento County jail records. A person familiar with the matter confirmed that Mr. DeAngelo had been arrested in connection with the case.
The Golden State Killer, also known as the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker, is thought to have killed 12 people, raped 45 people and burglarized more than 120 homes in multiple communities between 1976 and 1986. His victims included women home alone, women at home with their children, and husbands and wives from Sacramento to Orange County, the authorities said.
Shelly Orio, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento County District Attorney’s office, said only that there had been a “major development” when asked to confirm local news media reports that there had been an arrest in the case.
Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Get the Morning Briefing by Email What you need to know to start your day, delivered to your inbox Monday through Friday. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.
The Sacramento district attorney, Anne Marie Schubert, and Sheriff Scott Jones will announce the development in the case at 12 p.m. local time in Sacramento, Ms. Schubert’s office said.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
In June 2016, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced in a news conference that it would offer a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the “prolific serial rapist and murderer.”
Killer, said to have committed at least 12 homicides and 45 rapes, terrorized state during 1970s and 80s but has long eluded capture
A suspect has reportedly been arrested in the case of an elusive serial killer and rapist, dubbed the Golden State Killer, who authorities say committed at least 12 homicides and 45 rapes across the state in the 1970s and 1980s.
Authorities in California plan to make a “major announcement” on Wednesday afternoon in Sacramento, said the district attorney’s spokeswoman, Shelly Osorio. She offered no other information.
In 2016, FBI and California officials renewed their search for the suspect dubbed the East Area Rapist and announced a $50,000 reward for his arrest and conviction. He is linked to more than 175 crimes in all between 1976 and 1986.
As he committed crimes across the state, authorities called him by different names. He was dubbed the East Area Rapist after his start in northern California, the Original Night Stalker after a series of southern California slayings, and the Diamond Knot Killer for using the elaborate tie used to bind two of his victims.
Most recently called the Golden State Killer, the suspect has been linked through DNA and other evidence to scores of crimes.
The Associated Press typically does not name victims of sexual abuse.
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara review – in search of a serial killer Read more
Armed with a gun, the masked rapist would break into homes while single women or couples were sleeping. He would tie up the man and pile dishes on his back, then rape the woman while threatening to kill them both if the dishes tumbled.
He often took souvenirs, notably coins and jewelry, from his victims, who ranged in age from 13 to 41.
A woman who was sexually assaulted in California in 1976 by a man believed to be the East Area Rapist and who now lives in South Carolina told the Island Packet newspaper on Wednesday that she has been contacted by detectives about an arrest.
“I’m overwhelmed with joy. I’ve been crying, sobbing,” the woman said.
(CNN) A person believed to be the so-called Golden State Killer -- accused of 12 killings and 45 rapes across California from 1976 to 1986 -- is under arrest, FBI spokeswoman Angela Bell said Wednesday.
Bell would not identify the suspect but authorities in Sacramento are expected to release more information at a news conference scheduled for noon PT (3 p.m. ET).
The suspect was also known as the "East Area Rapist" and "the Original Night Stalker."
The first recorded rape was on June 18, 1976. The victim, Jane, was dozing in bed with her 3-year-old son after her husband left for work. Then, she was abruptly awoken.
A masked man stood in the bedroom doorway, holding a large butcher knife and shining a flashlight at her face.
He bound Jane and her son with shoelaces and blindfolded and gagged them with torn sheets. After moving her son off the bed, he unbound Jane's ankles.
"And then I knew what he was there for," said Jane, who didn't want to share her last name.
Jane's rape sparked the hunt for the man who authorities say went on to commit rapes and killings in California over the next decade.
It's been more than 40 years since his first recorded attacks, which began in and around Sacramento in Northern California. No one was ever caught or even identified in the case. Police only had minor details about his looks, along with a sketch from an almost-victim.
JUST WATCHED What we know about the Golden State Killer Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH What we know about the Golden State Killer 01:48
In recent years, there was renewed interest in the case. This year, a book and a series from HLN were released, hoping to shed more light on the case.
When the Sacramento-area rapes were first being reported, it was always by women who were alone or with their children. But by 1977, a year after Jane's attack, the list of victims had expanded to couples in their homes.
It's believed the attacker chased down and killed Katie and Brian Maggiore in February 1978.
Police believe the East Area Rapist killed Brian and Katie Maggiore after the couple -- who were walking their dog at the time -- spotted him before he broke into a home in Rancho Cordova, California, just outside Sacramento, in February 1978. Those were his first known homicides.
"We thought he would never stop, but then two months after the Maggiore homicides, the East Area Rapist left our jurisdiction. It was like he disappeared in thin air," said Carol Daly, a retired detective from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.
That's when a serial attacker began terrorizing Santa Barbara County, California -- more than 300 miles south of Sacramento. Police didn't realize it at the time, but the attacker's crimes fit the same pattern as Sacramento's East Area Rapist. He attacked women and couples across Southern California from December 1979 to May 1986, and became known there as the Original Night Stalker.
Depictions of the East Area Rapist, also known as the Original Night Stalker and Golden State Killer. Today he would be between 60 and 75 years old.
"These cases are some of the most horrific I've had to investigate," said Erika Hutchcraft, an investigator for Orange County District Attorney's Office. "They're not a one-time, you know, crime of passion, but these are almost passionless crimes. Very cold, very violent."
Even with such distance between Sacramento and Southern California, detectives in the north who heard about the Original Night Stalker believed he was the same perpetrator as the East Area Rapist.
"Over the years, we heard of homicides down in Southern California, and we thought it was the East Area Rapist," said Larry Crompton, retired detective for Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department. "But he would not leave fingerprints, so we could not prove, other than his M.O., that he was the same person. We did not know anything about DNA."
Once DNA tests were available to investigators, they were able to confirm the same man committed three of the attacks that had previously been blamed on the so-called East Area Rapist, according to Paul Holes, who investigated the case for the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office.
"That's when I reached out to Orange County" in Southern California, he says, "just to see, you know, if the East Area Rapist DNA was a match with the Original Night Stalker."
In 2001, DNA evidence determined the East Area Rapist was the same offender as the Original Night Stalker.
Investigators have matched the East Area Rapist's DNA, which they believe will help them link or eliminate suspects.
In 2016 -- 40 years after his first attack -- the FBI offered a $50,000 reward for any information that could lead to his arrest and conviction.
"The sheriff's department never gave up on this investigation," Detective Paul Belli of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department said at the time. "This person ruined a great number of lives, and he should be held accountable."
The FBI describes him as a white male, close to 6 feet tall, with blond or light brown hair.
"We have his DNA," said Holes. "If we find the right guy, we will know we got the Golden State Killer. This is a solvable case."
Note: Unless stated otherwise, the interviews from this story came from the HLN series "Unmasking A Killer."
Image caption A police reward poster shows photofit pictures of the suspect
Police in California have reportedly arrested a suspect over the notorious Golden State Killer case which saw 12 murders, 45 rapes and 120 burglaries in the state in the 1970s and 80s.
US media say an official announcement is expected shortly.
The suspect has been living in the Sacramento area and was identified after new efforts to solve the case, the Sacramento Bee reports.
He was reportedly arrested on two murder counts.
Jane Carson-Sandler, who was the rapist's fifth victim in October 1976, told the Island Packet newspaper that detectives had emailed her on Wednesday to inform her of the arrest.
"I just found out this morning," she said. "I'm overwhelmed with joy. I've been crying, sobbing."
The case was investigated by author Michelle McNamara for her book I'll Be Gone in the Dark. McNamara died before the book could be published.
Her co-author, Billy Jensen, tweeted on Tuesday night to say there would be a "rather large announcement tomorrow".
Another contributor to the book, Paul Haynes, said: "Stunned. Excited. No other words right now."
The Golden State Killer, also known as the East Area Rapist and Original Night Stalker, is believed to have carried out rapes and murders between 1976 and 1986, killing girls and women aged between 12 and 41.
