Golden State Killer sleuth nabs TV show
Paul Holes, who used DNA to arrest suspect, delves into cold cases on Oxygen
Paul Holes, the former East Bay sleuth who gained worldwide fame for helping to track down the suspected Golden State Killer, has joined TV’s true-crime craze.
The new series “The DNA of Murder with Paul Holes,” which premiered Saturday on Oxygen, is an unscripted series that has its magnetic star crisscrossing the country and working with local investigators and experts as he pokes his nose into unsolved homicides.
“In many ways, I’m doing the same things that I did when I was active,” Holes said. “We’re looking into cases involving lovers’ triangles and serial murders and everything in between.”
Holes spent more than two decades as a cold case investigator/chief of forensics for the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office before retiring in March 2018. But he continued to stay close to the Golden
Gate Killer case — one that had haunted him for twoplus decades — until Joseph James DeAngelo was arrested. DeAngelo is suspected of killing at least 13 people and committing more than 50 rapes throughout California.
Holes’ role in that investigation made him an instant celebrity — a “true-crime icon,” as he’s described in Oxygen’s publicity material. Soon after DeAngelo’s arrest, Holes became the subject of swooning social media attention as the hashtag #HotForHoles became a thing.
Weeks later, at a CrimeCon event in Nashville, Tennessee, he was swarmed by (mostly female) fans seeking autographs and photos of the “hottie detective.”
“I was shocked by all the attention. It just blew up,” Holes recalled. “In the two weeks after the arrest, I was getting 100 phone calls a day from media all over the world.”
Holes, who is married and now lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, had considered spending his postretirement days working as a media consultant. But TV came calling, and in September he signed an overall development deal with Oxygen Media.
At the time, network programming chief Rod Aissa said, “Paul embodies what Oxygen is all about. His story is of the highest stakes, a career journey with brilliant investigation work that resulted in justice for dozens of victims and their families.”
Holes’ 10-episode series began with a fascinating 90-minute chapter spotlighting a 1980 murder case in Williamsburg, Iowa, where two hotel guests were found bludgeoned to death in their room at a Holiday Inn.
Upcoming cases take Holes to Kansas City, where a young woman was found stabbed to death along a stretch of railroad tracks, and to Georgia, where the
slaying of a socialite involves a mysterious letter that allegedly was sent by the killer.
“Often, I find myself going into a case with a certain mindset, but then things take these incredible twists and turns,” Holes said.
In each episode, he interviews family members and friends of the victims.
“That’s the toughest part,” he said. “It’s very difficult. It’s heart-wrenching. You so desperately want to find some resolution for them.”
Working within the tight time constraints of a production schedule, Holes admits that not every episode can end with a definitive
closure. “Our hope,” he said, “is to at least advance the case.”
Holes’ transition to television appears to have been a smooth one. During each installment there are moments when Holes speaks directly to the camera while explaining his investigative process and technological advancements. He comes across as articulate, astute and naturally at ease.
“The good thing is that it’s recorded rather than live,” he said. “So if I sound like an idiot, I know that won’t make it (in the show) and that we can do it over.”
“The DNA of Murder” joins a flood of true-crime shows on television and streaming sites. But don’t ask Holes to rank his favorites. While he admires A&E’s “First 48” (“It’s organic and real”), he said, he doesn’t really watch “any television” — which is ironic considering it was a TV show that sparked his interest in probing homicides.
“As a boy, I watched ‘Quincy,’ a lot,” he said, referring to the 1970s drama starring Jack Klugman as a medical examiner who used his knowledge of forensic science to investigate murders. “I didn’t realize that no such person existed. I was just fascinated.”