One victim, Jane Carson-Sandler, who was raped in 1976, said on Wednesday that she was overwhelmed with emotion.
Ms. Carson-Sandler, 72, said she had always believed that her rapist was alive and that he would be caught. The hatred and anger she felt eventually faded, but she continued to pray for two things each night: that he would be identified, and that she wouldn’t dream about the rape.
She never did dream about it, she said, and on Wednesday morning she turned on her phone to learn that a suspect had been arrested.
“I just feel so blessed that God has finally answered all of our prayers, that this monster would eventually be put behind bars,” she said.
Mr. DeAngelo, who has adult children, was twice employed as a police officer in California: In Exeter from 1973 to 1976, and in Auburn from 1976 to 1979, according to Mr. Jones.
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An exhaustive investigation into the identity of the serial killer was documented in a book called “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark,” written by Michelle McNamara, who died in April 2016. The book was completed after her death by a journalist and researcher recruited by her husband, the comedian Patton Oswalt, and published in February.
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[Read about Mr. Oswalt’s quest to finish Ms. McNamara’s book after her death.]
Mr. Oswalt spoke about the reported capture on Wednesday in a video posted on Instagram. “I think you got him, Michelle,” he said.
In one episode in 1978, Brian and Katie Maggiore, a couple living in Rancho Cordova, were walking their dog in their neighborhood around 9 p.m. After a “violent encounter” with the suspect, they tried to flee, ending up in a private yard, where they were fatally shot, the sheriff’s department said in February, appealing to the public for leads.
The suspect struck repeatedly in Rancho Cordova, a Sacramento suburb of ranch houses, redwood trees, trim lawns and rose bushes.
Diane Peterson, a retired teacher, said Wednesday that theories about who was behind the rapes and home intrusions had remained a topic of conversation in the neighborhood in the four decades since the attacks began.
“It never totally died down,” Ms. Peterson said. “People would have their own suspicions as to who it might be.”
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The killer changed the habits of what had once been a more carefree neighborhood, Ms. Peterson said. Families became diligent about locking their doors and windows. “It was a scary time,” she said.
Jean McNeill, a retired employee for the state board of equalization who lives one block from where one of the murders took place, said she was “elated” Wednesday morning when she heard that the killer might have been captured.
She remembered the terror that the killer instilled in the neighborhood.
“I can remember thinking, ‘It’s getting dark and no one is home with me — I’ve got to be really careful,” she said. “That’s what made it so frightening. We didn’t know when he was going to strike next.”
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After the Maggiore murders, the attacker was not believed to have struck in the Sacramento area again. But in 2001, investigators using DNA evidence linked the crime to others committed in the Bay Area, and to murders in Southern California, the sheriff’s department said.
In June 2016, the F.B.I. 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.”
The F.B.I. said then that if the suspect were still alive, he would be 60 to 75 years old. Investigators described him as a white male, close to six feet tall, with blond or light brown hair and an athletic build. They said he might have an interest or training in military or law enforcement techniques and the use of firearms.
Authorities name suspect as Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, who is believed to have committed at least 12 homicides and 45 rapes
The suspected California serial killer and rapist arrested on Wednesday in Sacramento is Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, a former police officer, authorities announced on Wednesday.
In a news conference, the Sacramento county district attorney, Anne Marie Schubert, said DNA in two 1978 killings in Sacramento led to the arrest of and murder charges against DeAngelo. Prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Joseph James DeAngelo. Photograph: Sacramento county sheriff's office
Schubert said the “answer was always going to be in the DNA” and the connection came in the killings of Brian and Katie Maggiore.
Authorities say the serial killer, most recently dubbed the Golden State Killer but also called the East Area Rapist, committed at least 12 homicides, 45 rapes and dozens of burglaries across the state in the 1970s and 1980s.
In 2016, FBI and California officials renewed their search for the suspect 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.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Authorities announce the arrest in Sacramento. Photograph: Fred Greaves/Reuters
Most recently called the Golden State Killer, the suspect has been linked through DNA and other evidence to scores of crimes.
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.
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara review – in search of a serial killer Read more
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.
The Associated Press typically does not name victims of sexual abuse.
“I’m overwhelmed with joy. I’ve been crying, sobbing,” the woman said.
(CNN) 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.
"Very possibly he was committing these crimes while he was employed as a peace officer," Jones said.
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 suspects were 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 the 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 copyright Getty Images Image caption The charges were announced at a news conference in Sacramento
California police have arrested a former police officer for a notorious spree of murders, rapes and burglaries in the 1970s and 80s.
Sacramento police say they arrested suspect Joseph James DeAngelo, 72.
The suspect has been living in the Sacramento area and was identified after new efforts to solve the case, investigators say.
Police blame the so-called Golden State Killer for 12 murders, 51 rapes and more than 120 burglaries.
Mr DeAngelo is being held on suspicion of four counts of murder - the 1978 deaths of Brian and Katie Maggiore in Sacramento and the 1980 killings of Charlene and Lyman Smith in Ventura County.
Prosecutors say additional charges are likely to follow.
What did police say?
Police had been monitoring the suspect and used "discarded DNA" to match him to the crimes, according to Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Golden State Killer: 'A staggering crime spree'
Announcing the arrest, Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said: "The answer has always been in Sacramento."
"The magnitude of this case demanded that it be solved," she added.
Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten said that prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty.
Two years ago the FBI offered a $50,000 (£36,000) reward to anyone who could help crack the case.
Crime spree that terrorised communities
By James Cook, BBC News Los Angeles correspondent
After four decades of frustration for detectives, it turned out the suspect had been living under their noses all along.
"We found the needle in the haystack and it was right here in Sacramento," said district attorney Anne Marie Schubert.
Joseph James DeAngelo had apparently been living an ordinary life on a quiet suburban street, a former police officer with grown-up children who was "very surprised" when he was arrested and taken into custody.
Details of his alleged crimes are deeply disturbing and collective psychological scars endure.
Many police officers and prosecutors involved in the case vividly recall the terror of the crime spree in their communities.
"Everyone was afraid," said FBI special agent Marcus Knutson, who was born and raised in Sacramento, as he announced a fresh appeal for information on the case two years ago.
"We had people sleeping with shotguns, we had people purchasing dogs. People were concerned, and they had a right to be. This guy was terrorising the community. He did horrible things."
What do we know about the accused?
According to the Sacramento Bee newspaper, he had been living with his daughter and granddaughter in the city's Citrus Heights neighbourhood.
He was fired from the Auburn Police Department in 1979 after he was charged with shoplifting, according to the Auburn Journal.
Police say it was "very likely" that he was committing these crimes while employed as a police officer.
He had also worked as an officer in Exeter, California from 1973 to 1976, during a time when several crimes were committed there, police say.
What reaction has there been?
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."
What were the crimes?
The Golden State Killer, also known as the East Area Rapist, Original Night Stalker, and the Diamond Knot Killer is believed to have carried out rapes and murders between 1976 and 1986, killing girls and women aged between 12 and 41.
Prosecutors say the "reign of terror" began in Sacramento and spread to San Francisco and then on to central and southern California. Links between the cases were established by DNA evidence, police say.
Image caption A police reward poster shows photofit pictures of the suspect
The attacker broke into homes at night and then tied up and raped his female victims.
Before fleeing he stole items such as cash, jewellery and identification.
The last case to be linked to the Golden State Killer was the rape and murder of an 18-year-old woman in Irvine, Orange County, in May 1986.
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said the suspect had been called many names but added: "Today, it's our pleasure to call him 'defendant'."
