Genes link in killer hunt

INVESTIGATORS hunting for the “Golden State Killer” turned to searching genetic websites in 2017 but misidentified a man as a potential suspect.

A year later, after using a similar technique, they are confident they have caught the serial rapist and killer, who eluded capture for four decades.

In March 2017, an Oregon City police officer, working at the request of investigators in California, convinced a judge to order a 73-year-old man in a nursing home to provide a DNA sample.

Court documents obtained by The Associated Press said detectives used a genetic profile based on DNA from crime scenes linked to the serial killer and compared it to information on a free online genealogical site.

Investigators cited a rare genetic marker, which the Oregon man shared with the killer, to get the judge to issue the order.

The Oregon City man is James Joseph DeAngelo, 72, who authorities suspect is the so-called Golden State Killer in extremely poor health in a rehabilitation facility and was unable to answer questions on Friday.

His daughter said his family was not aware that authorities took a DNA sample from him while he was lying in bed at the rehabilitation centre until she was contacted by the FBI in April 2017.

She was asked to help expand the family’s genetic tree in the search for suspects. The woman, an amateur genealogist, cooperated but ultimately investigators determined none of her relatives were viable suspects, she said.

On Friday, Joseph James DeAngelo appeared in court to face murder charges.

DeAngelo, a former police officer, has been charged with eight counts of murder and additional charges are expected, authorities said.