The Golden State Killer: Joseph James DeAngelo Jr.

Joseph James DeAngelo Jr pleaded guilty to 13 counts of kidnapping and 13 counts of murder (including murder under special circumstances during burglary and rape) in 2020 at the age of 74. However, he is responsible for many more crimes he could not be prosecuted of due to the statute of limitations.

On November 8th 1945, Joseph DeAngelo Jr was born to his mother Kathleen Louise DeGroat and his father Joseph James DeAngelo Sr, a sergeant in the US Army at the time in Bath, New York. He had two sisters, Connie and Rebecca, along with a younger brother, John. A relative reported that when he was young, he witnessed his sister, Connie, being raped by two airmen in a warehouse in West Germany when his father was stationed there at the time. After his conviction, his sister revealed he was abused by his father growing up.

As he aged into his teen years, he attended Folsom High School (starting in 1961) where he received his GED certificate in 1964. He played for the school’s junior varsity baseball team. Apparently, according to prosecutors, this is where his dark actions began. He allegedly committed burglaries and tortured animals during this period of time.

After he left school, he enrolled in the US Navy in September 1964 where he served 22 months in the Vietnam War as a damage controlman. He came home and studied at Sierra College in California where he received an associate degree in police science, with honours. He moved on to Sacramento State University in 1971 and earned a bachelors degree in criminal justice.

Through the years 1973 to 1976, he served as a burglary unit police officer in Exeter, California.

Only 10 miles away, he became known as “The Visalia Ransacker” in the press due to numerous burglaries he had carried out. His first reported theft was on March 19 1974 where he stole $50 from a piggy bank. Joseph’s MOs during his burglaries consisted of breaking into people’s homes, rifling through their personal belongings, scattering women’s underwear around and “ransack” the place whilst stealing low value items and purposely ignoring high ticket items like banknotes in plain sight. Items taken would often include things which would cause annoyance like single earrings or personal items such as cufflinks, coins and rings. The thefts were always linked by the common evidence (or lack thereof) such as:

1) Evidence of multiple points entry attempted to be pried open, mainly windows

2) Leaving several escape routes open like windows, doors and garages

3) Moving removed window screens onto the beds or into bedrooms

4) “Warning items” such as dishes or bottles moved against doors or on handles

5) No fingerprints.

Multiple burglaries a day were not uncommon either with the record of 12 being recorded on November 30th 1974. During his time as “The Visalia Ransacker” was also when his first murder was reported. On September 11th 1975 Joseph DeAngelo Jr shot and killed Professor Claude Snelling in front of his young daughter in his home in an attempt to kidnap the 16-year-old. He then kicked the girl three times in the face before fleeing the property.

He moved from the police force in Exeter to Auburn, California in 1976 until 1979 and committed more heinous crimes during this period. In the Sacramento area he became known as “The East Area Rapist” in the media due to frequent attacks on females during the summer of 1976. His methods changed to stalking neighbourhoods in search for alone females living in single story homes in middle-class neighbourhoods usually close to a school, creek or trail so he had a means of escape. Most victims had reported that they heard or seen a prowler on the property before being attacked which led police into believing he would perform reconnaissance. He would start with peering into windows and prowling in their back gardens before stepping it up to breaking into their homes to unload any guns in the house, plant ligatures and unlock windows. To learn their routine, he would regularly call the house and see what times they would answer.

After this, the media reported that he would only attack single women who lived alone or with their children as it was easier for him to control. This is when he decided to start attacking couples instead. He changed his routine. He would break into their homes, often through a previously opened window or sliding door, wake the couples up with a flashlight and threaten them with a handgun. He would then proceed to get the woman to tie their partner up, normally with shoelaces he either brought with him or found in the house. He would continue to blind and gag both the victims with strips of a towel he would carry with him. After this, he’d stack up dishes like plates and bowls on the male victims back, threatening that if he heard them rattle, he would kill their partner. The female target was then moved into a different room, mainly the living room, where he would attack them multiple times and then flee. Sometimes he would stay waiting in the back garden for hours on end to make his victim think he had gone before returning to continue with the torment.

In February 1978, Joseph DeAngelo Jr murdered a couple who were walking their dog in the Sacramento area. After he shot Brian Maggiore, Katie Maggiore ran away but was chased down and shot in the head. Some investigators believed at the time that they were murdered by The East Area rapist due to the area. They were close to several other locations of the rape victims and a shoelace was found close to the deceased couple.

In July 1979, he was caught shoplifting a hammer and dog repellent. He was put under six months’ probation at his police officer position. He was subsequently fired in the October. During the process of being fired, he threatened to kill the police chief and allegedly stalked his home for a period of time.

Whilst on his crime sprees, Joseph James DeAngelo Jr would often taunt the police and victims he had picked out. His first communication with police was phone calls but he moved on to written communication too.

March 18th 1977: the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office received three phone calls from someone claiming to be The East Area Rapist, unfortunately none of them were audibly recorded. The first call was received at 4:15PM and the second was only 15 minutes later at 4:30PM. They were identical and consisted of the caller laughing before hanging up. The last call was at 5:00PM where they finally spoke and said: “I’m the East Side Rapist, I have my next victim already stalked and you guys can’t catch me.” That evening the East Area Rapist struck again.

December 2nd 1977: police received another phone call which was recorded this time. The caller said: “You’re never gonna catch me, East Area Rapist, you dumb fuckers; I’m gonna fuck again tonight, be careful!” Another attack was recorded that night.

December 10th 1977: the Sacramento Bee were visited by a man wearing a mask who gave them a poem claiming to be from The East Area Rapist Another two identical phone calls were received by police that evening shortly before 10PM. They were recorded and identified to be the same caller from December 2nd. He said:” I’m going to hit tonight. Watt Avenue.” Police increased patrols on Watt Avenue that night. Officers spotted a masked man cycling on the Watt Avenue bridge but he got away. He was spotted again at 4:30am where he discarded the stolen bicycle and got away on foot. No attacks were recorded that night.

January 2nd 1978: the first known rape victim got a phone call that she identified as the voice of her assailant. It was recorded. He threatened to kill her.

January 6th 1978: Someone claiming to be The East Area rapist called a counselling service and said: “I need help. I have a problem and I don’t want to do this anymore.” After a short conversation, they ended the call after stating “I believe you a tracking this phone call.”

Whilst investigating the 42nd attack (December 2nd 1978) police received a report of a suspicious vehicle. Whilst searching the area it had been parked, on December 9th they discovered three notebook pages that seem to have accidentally fallen out the perpetrators bag. One page seemed to be a homework essay on General George Armstrong Custer. Another was a diary entry on a teacher that made their students write lines which they found humiliating:

"Mad is the word, the word that reminds me of 6th grade. I hated that year … I wish I had known what was going to be going on during my 6th-grade year, the last and worst year of elementary school. Mad is the word that remains in my head about my dreadful year as a 6th grader. My Madness was one that was caused by disappointments that hurt me very much. Disappointments from my teacher, such as field trips that were planned, then candled. My 6th-grade teacher gave me a lot of disappointments which made me very mad and made me built a state of hatred in my heart, no one ever let me down that hard before and I never hated anyone as much as I did him. Disappointment wasn't the only reason that made me mad in my sixth-grade class, another was getting in trouble at school especially talking that’s what really bugged me was writing sentences, those awful sentence that my teacher made ... me write, hours and hours I’d sit and write 50-100-150 sentence day and night I write those dreadful Paragraphs which embarrassed me and more important it made me ashamed of myself which in turn, deep down inside made me realize that writing sentence wasn't fair it wasn't fair to make me suffer like that, it just wasn't fair to make me sit and wright until my bones aced, until my hand felt every horrid pain it ever had and as I wrote, I got madder and madder until I cried, I cried because I was ashamed I cried because I was discussed, I cried because I was mad, and I cried for myself, kid who kept on having to write those Dane sentences. My Angriness from Sixth grade will scar my memory for life and I will be ashamed for my sixth-grade year forever"

The last page seemed to be a drawn map of a suburban neighbourhood with the word “punishment” on the back side of it. Investigators were unable to determine where the area was but the person who drew this map clearly knew of the architectural layout and landscape design. It is now believed to be a fantasy map of the attackers ideal hunting grounds.

Not long after the last East Area Rape attack on July 5th 1979, DeAngelo Jr moved to Southern California and decided to start killing his victims. His first attack after this move was on October 1st 1979 in the Santa Barbra County. It did not go the way he planned and luckily the couple survived. DeAngelo broke into the couple’s home and tied them both up. When the couple heard him mutter “I’ll Kill Them” to himself, they got scared and tried to escape when he left the room, the woman screamed and alerted the neighbours. They lived next to an FBI agent who chased the attacker attempting to flee on a stolen bicycle. He eventually abandoned the bike and the knife and escaped on foot.

On December 30th that same year, Robert Offerman was found dead in his Condo along with Debra Alexander Manning. They had both been shot, Robert’s bindings were undone which led officers to believe that he had managed to get free and lunged at the attacker. Paw prints of a large dog was found at the scene which meant that the killer had brought one with him. He had also broken into the empty adjoining property and stole a bicycle to get away. It was later found north of the crime scene.

A few months later, only half an hour away from the first two attacks, Joseph moved on to another couple on March 13th 1980. 33-year-old Charlene Smith was found bludgeoned to death with her husband 43-year-old Lyman Smith in their Ventura home. DeAngelo used a log from a woodpile that was located at the side of the house. Charlene had been sexually assaulted before her death and both victims had been tied up and bound with drapery cord. The knots used on Charlene was the same one that was used on some of the victims for the East Area Rapist. This was when, for a brief period of time, the media called him “The Diamond Knot Killer.”

In a different city called Dara Point, over two hours away from the last murders in Ventura, Joseph DeAngelo found his next victims. On August 19th 1980, a similar scene was found with both 24-year-old Keith Harrington and 27-year-old Patrice Harrington bludgeoned to death in their home. Mrs Harrington had met the same fate as Charlene. Although there was evidence of both victims being tied up, there was no ligatures found at the scene along with an absence of a murder weapon.

The next year, in 1981 on February 6th Manuela Witthum was DeAngelo’s next target. She was assaulted and killed in her home in Irvine. Again, there was evidence that she had been tied up before being beaten with a blunt object however no murder weapon or material to bind her with were found at the scene of the crime. Mrs Witthum was married but her husband was hospitalised at the time she was attacked which meant she was home alone.

Later in the year, on July 27th, another couple also became victims of “the diamond knot killer” in a relative’s home in Goleta, 35-year-old Cheri Domingo and 27-year-old Gregory Sanchez. The scene police found was slightly different to previous killings though. The theory is that Mr. Sanchez realised the intruder was the same person who had been murdering people in the area so instead of complying with the restraints, he tried to tackle the attacker. Gregory was shot in the cheek before being beaten to death with a garden tool. No neighbours responded to the gunshot. Mrs Domingo unfortunately met the same demise as the other female victims. This time a piece of shopping twine was found at the scene along with scattered fibre of an unknown source found on her body. The restraints were taken again.

Joseph James DeAngelo Jr then went dormant for the next five years. However, at this time, another serial killer who was given the name “The Night Stalker”, Richard Ramirez, was active in the same area. This meant police confused some of Ramirez’s victims with DeAngelo’s until 1985 when they identified Richard. When media got hold of the information, they gave DeAngelo another nickname, “The Original Night Stalker.” Almost connotating that Ramirez was following in DeAngelo’s footsteps.

After the capture of Richard Ramirez, DeAngelo decided to kill again. On May 4th 1986, 18-year-old Janelle Cruz was found raped and murdered in her family home in Irvine. Her family were on holiday in Mexico at the time of the attack so she was alone. Her father reported a pipe wrench to be missing which was indicated to be the murder weapon. To begin with, investigators did not think the teenagers murder was connected to the earlier murders. A Sacramento detective strongly believed it was the work of the East Area Rapist but the Santa Barbra County’s office indicated that it was the doing of a local career criminal who was eventually murdered.

After DeAngelo’s youngest victim, Janelle Cruz, he ceased crime again even though police never stopped trying to identify who was responsible. In the 90’s, he became a truck mechanic until his retirement in 2017. In 2001, after nearly two decades of investigation, DNA testing finally confirmed that the “East Area Rapist” and the “Original Night Stalker” was the same person. This was when in police documents they started to use the acronym EARONS (East Area Rapist Original Night Stalker). Although this was a massive step in the investigation, they were no closer to identifying the culprit. In 2013, crime writer, Michelle McNamara wrote a book into the unsolved crimes of DeAngelo. She gave him the name “The Golden State Killer” which then became the commonly used nickname for these crimes.

On June 15th 2016, the FBI held a press conference releasing composite sketches of the “Golden State Killer” along with the promise of $50,000 for any information that led to his capture.

This jumpstarted the use of Genetic Genealogy. A team of investigators gave the known DNA sample of the perpetrator found at crime scenes to the website GEDMatch. The website identified a pool of 10 to 20 people who had the same distant relatives dating back to the 1800s. Once these connections had been established, they built 25 different family trees which led to two main suspects. One was ruled out by a relative’s DNA test which left Joseph James DeAngelo Jr.

On April 18th 2018, police secretly collected a DNA sample from the door handle of his car and from a used tissue taken from his curb-side bin. The results came back as an exact match. Police wasted no time at all and arrested him on April 24th. He was living with his daughter and granddaughter at the time who were shocked to find out what he had done in his earlier life. Most of crimes were committed when he was married and just starting to raise a family. His eldest daughter described him as “the perfect father.”

In an interview after his arrest, he made a confession. He would refer to an inner personality named “Jerry” who made him commit all the violent crimes up until 1986. Police revealed that when he was left alone in the interrogation room after the interview, he was clearly heard talking to himself saying: “I didn’t have the strength to push him out, he made me. He went with me. It was like in my head, I mean, he’s a part of me. I didn’t want to do those things. I pushed Jerry out and had a happy life. I did all those things; I destroyed all their lives. So now, I’ve got to pay the price.”

His brother-in-law revealed that DeAngelo would bring up the East Area Rapist in conversation around the time he was committing them. Neighbours disclosed that he would have violent outbursts with one claiming he called his house phone and threatened to “deliver a load of death” because their dog wouldn’t stop barking.

After he was arrested and processed, they connected the “Visalia Ransacker” thefts to him as well. Unfortunately, due to the statute of the limitations in the United States, police were unable to charge him with the 120 burglaries and the 50 rapes he was known to have committed. He was subsequently charged with 13 counts of murder and 13 counts of kidnapping. When prosecutors announced they would be seeking the death penalty, DeAngelo offered deal to plea guilty if execution was rescinded. This was initially disregarded by prosecutors but later agreed upon. On June 29th 2020, Joseph James DeAngelo Jr pleaded guilty to 13 counts of first-degree murder and special circumstances which included murder committed during burglaries and rapes, as well as 13 counts of kidnapping. In court, after listening to victim impact statements for several days, he offered a brief apology: “I’ve listened to all of your statements. Each one of them. And I am truly sorry to everyone I have hurt. Thank you, your honour.”

As of February 2021, Joseph DeAngelo Jr has been housed at The Protective House Unit at the California State Prison. This is a unit of the prison where high notoriety cases that have been high-profile in the public and media get held as there are dangers to the prisoner and other inmates if they were to be put in with the general population.