After decades on the run, 72-year-old ex-cop Joseph James DeAngelo was arrested and charged with being the infamous “Golden State Killer,” The Sacramento Bee reported.
Authorities announced the arrest Wednesday, and FBI agents were seen surrounding DeAngelo’s home Wednesday morning. The Golden State Killer, also known as the “East Area Rapist,” is suspected of killing at least 12 people, raping at least 45, and burglarizing hundreds of homes in the ’70s and ’80s, The Bee reported. The Sacramento County jail recorded the incarceration of DeAngelo late Tuesday night. Authorities identified him as a former police officer.
#BREAKING: Law enforcement official identifies suspected California serial killer as former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo.
— News 19 WLTX (@WLTX) April 25, 2018
The Golden State Killer’s crimes, allegedly committed by DeAngelo, were horrific. Armed, the rapist and murderer would break into the homes of single women or young couples. In the case of couples, he would tie up the man and stack dishes on his back and begin raping the woman, threatening to kill them both if the dishes fell, USA Today reported.
DeAngelo had reportedly lived in the home for two decades, and his last alleged crime took place in 1986. The FBI website surrounding the investigation displays several pieces of evidence regarding the case. One is an audio recording of a phone call in which a man, presumably the killer, calls another woman. She answers “Hello,” and the man replies with heavy breathing and repeats the phrase “I’m going to kill you” three times.
“Everyone was afraid,” FBI Special Agent Marcus Knutson said in 2016 when the investigation was revived. “We had people sleeping with shotguns, we had people purchasing dogs. People were concerned, and they had a right to be. This guy was terrorizing the community. He did horrible things.”
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