Ex-cop suspected in 13th California slaying

SAN FRANCISCO — The former police officer accused of being California’s notorious Golden State Killer is the prime suspect in the 1975 killing of a community college teacher, police said Thursday, raising the total number of his alleged victims to 13.

Detectives are trying to link Joseph DeAngelo to the slaying and about 100 burglaries that occurred in Visalia, in Central California, while DeAngelo served as a police officer in nearby Exeter, Visalia Police Chief Jason Salazar said.

The police chief said he believes DeAngelo is the so-called Visalia Ransacker, who terrorized the farming community south of Fresno from early 1974 until late 1975.

DeAngelo was arrested Tuesday at his suburban Sacramento home, and authorities alleged that he was responsible for 12 murders and dozens of rapes in California from 1976 to 1986. The suspect, they said, was tied to many of those crimes through DNA.

The Ransackers’ crimes have not yet been added to the tally announced in Sacramento because there is no DNA evidence connecting DeAngelo to the Visalia crimes, Salazar said.

DeAngelo is suspected of shooting to death journalism teacher Claude Snelling after Snelling caught him trying to kidnap his 16-year-old daughter.

DeAngelo matches the description of Snelling’s killer, and the serial burglar operated the same way DeAngelo is alleged to have operated in the other crimes, Salazar said.

On Thursday, investigators searched DeAngelo’s home, looking for items that were taken from crime scenes.