ASKING GOLDEN E KILLER
– detectives had been hunting the rapist for decades, building an intimate profile of the assailant who they knew would now be an old man.
Deangelo was finally captured using familial DNA from a genomics website, matching it against the attacker’s DNA profile. Police were able to confirm his identity by retrieving Deangelo’s DNA from items in his garbage.
After his arrest, detectives found items in Deangelo’s home they believed were once owned by his victims. Among the stolen ‘trophies’ were a ring, cuff links and necklaces.
Ski masks believed to be worn by Deangelo during most of the attacks were also recovered.
True crime writer Michelle Mcnamara also spent years investigating the Golden State Killer. Michelle, a mother of one and the wife of comedian Patton Oswalt, was determined the nameless killer would be brought to justice. Sadly, she died unexpectedly in 2016 before she ever learned his name.
Her book I’ll Be Gone in the Dark – published before Deangelo’s arrest in 2018 – has been turned into an HBO series.
Despite her premature death, Michelle predicted two years before his capture how the killer would be unmasked.
“One day soon, you’ll hear a car pull up to your curb, an engine cut out. You’ll hear footsteps coming up your front walk,” Michelle wrote.
“The doorbell rings. No side gates are left open. You’re long past leaping over a fence. Take one of your hyper, gulping breaths. Clench your teeth. Inch timidly toward the insistent bell. This is how it ends for you. ‘You’ll be silent forever, and I’ll be gone in the dark,’ you threatened a victim once. Open the door. Show us your face. Walk into the light.”
On June 29, 2020, Joseph Deangelo, now 74, pleaded guilty to 13 murders to avoid the death penalty. Due to the statute of limitations passing on many of the 50 rapes he committed, Deangelo will not be prosecuted for those crimes. However he has agreed to confirm his responsibility and is expected to be sentenced to life in prison.
“YOU’LL BE SILENT FOREVER AND I’LL BE GONE IN THE DARK”