Golden State Killer Research Paper

The state of California has had over fifteen recorded serial killers, being the second highest state compared to other states in America (“Serial Killers by.”). All of these serial killers have their own story. How they grew up, why they are the way they are, and, of course, their way of how they like to commit their crimes. The Golden State Killer, also known as the East Area Rapist, Vasilia Ransacker, and the Original Night Stalker, is one of these serial killers. He, like the other serial killers, has a story. DeAngelo Before the Golden State Killer On November 8th, 1945, Joseph DeAngelo was born in Bath, New York to Joseph DeAngelo and Catherine DeGroat (Joseph James DeAngelo.). He, along with his three other siblings that were named Connie,

He broke into the home of a couple and tied them up (“Golden State Killer”). DeAngelo quickly left the house after the neighbors called the police when they heard the couple’s cries for help (“Golden State Killer”). Between the years of 1979 and 1981, DeAngelo, now known as the “Original Night Stalker”, would go on to break into four more couple’s homes and one more single women’s home (“Golden State Killer”). After breaking in and tying the couples up, he would rape the women, forcing the men to watch the incident, and then kill them both after (“Golden State Killer”). The crimes went on pause for a while, five years in fact (“Golden State Killer”). The last crime that DeAngelo would commit would be raping and murdering a woman of only 18 years of age, Janelle Cruz (“Golden State Killer”). Even though DeAngelo committed the crimes of the Visalia Ransacker, East Area Rapist, and Original Night Stalker, the connections between the crimes weren’t made for a very long time. The search for the Golden State Killer - Visalia Ransacker, East Area Rapist, Original Night Stalker - would not come until nearly 20 years later

How were they going to prove this (BC8)? DeAngelo was the first public arrest that was obtained with a technique called genetic genealogy (Shapiro). Genetic Genealogy is when unknown DNA is taken from a crime scene and is run through a system to try and connect the unknown DNA with the DNA of family members who had already voluntarily submitted their DNA into the public genealogy database (Shapiro). DeAngelo’s DNA was taken from the crimes from the East Area Rapist, Vasilia Ransacker, and the Original Night Stalker, and once the investigators noticed that the DNA was the same for all three areas, they realized that these crimes were all connected to the same person. So, the investigators, all ready to find the Golden State Killer, ran the DNA from the crime scenes through the public genealogy database and narrowed the family tree down to a specific age, location, and other characteristics that the investigators already knew about the crimes (SC 17) (Shapiro). In April 2018, the DNA that was taken from the crime scene led the investigators of the crime to a house in Citrus Heights (“Timeline: How Joseph.”). This is right in the middle of where the East Area rapes took place, the perfect spot