The Golden State Killer
The Golden State Killer committed at least 13 murders and 50 rapes across California between 1973 and 1986, operating under several names before being linked as a single offender in 2001. He was known as the East Area Rapist (for crimes in the Sacramento area), the Original Night Stalker (for murders in Southern California), and finally the Golden State Killer when investigators connected the cases.
The case remained unsolved for over 40 years despite being one of the most intensively investigated cold cases in American history. The breakthrough came in 2018 through genetic genealogy: investigators uploaded DNA from crime scenes to GEDmatch, a public genealogy database, and used family matching to identify Joseph James DeAngelo, a former police officer living in suburban Sacramento.
DeAngelo was arrested in April 2018 at the age of 72. He pleaded guilty to 13 counts of first-degree murder in 2020 and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The case is a landmark in forensic science for demonstrating the power of genetic genealogy in cold case investigations.
Podcasts covering this case
Paul Holes' investigation — one of the detectives who caught DeAngelo
Golden State Killer investigator Paul Holes applies real forensic methodology to cold cases.
Read our reviewFrequently asked questions
Who was the Golden State Killer?
The Golden State Killer was Joseph James DeAngelo, a former California police officer. He committed at least 13 murders and 50 rapes across California between 1973 and 1986. He was identified in 2018 through genetic genealogy and sentenced to life in prison in 2020.
How was the Golden State Killer caught?
Joseph DeAngelo was identified through genetic genealogy in 2018. Investigators uploaded crime scene DNA to the genealogy database GEDmatch, identified distant relatives, and worked backward through family trees to DeAngelo. Surveillance confirmed his identity. He was arrested in April 2018.