Calif. ‘serial slay’ gramps in court
Manhunt took 40 years
The accused “Golden State Killer” appeared in a Sacramento courtroom Friday where, shackled to a wheelchair, he was charged with two counts of murder.
Joseph James DeAngelo — a former police officer who was arrested this week after a 40-year manhunt — was charged with the 1978 murders of a newlywed couple shot to death in a Sacramento suburb while walking their dog.
DeAngelo, 72, wore an orange jumpsuit and made no facial expressions except to occasionally close his eyes as the judge listed the charges against him, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The alleged killer is on suicide watch in the county jail’s psychiatric ward and has been talking to himself, according to CBS News.
DeAngelo is a suspect in 10 other murders committed in central, northern and southern California between 1976 and 1986, as well as more than 50 rapes.
He was arrested this week after investigators, who had been searching for him for four decades, tracked him down using a genealogy database and DNA left at the crime scenes.
Meanwhile, a genealogical Web site that police used to track down the suspect said it had no idea its service was involved in the hunt for one of California’s most elusive serial killers.
GEDmatch said in a statement Friday on its Web site that it was never contacted by law enforcement or anyone else about the case or the DNA profile that was used.
The Florida-based company pools DNA profiles that people upload and share publicly.