The Golden State Killer (East Area Rapist • Original Night Stalker)

[JM]

(UPDATE)

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On April 24, 2018, Sacramento Police arrested 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo (born November 8, 1945). DeAngelo, a former police officer in Auburn and Exeter California was charged with six counts of first-degree murder. Authorities in Sacramento, Orange, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties are preparing charges against DeAngelo for all twelve of the murders in the Golden State Killer case. Before the arrest, law enforcement searched for the Golden State Killer's DNA on a genealogy website, and identified the killer's family. They identified DeAngelo as the main suspect and acquired a sample of his DNA, which matched the killer's.
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I feel compelled to start a brand new thread about this case. There have been a number of threads in the past and I'll post links to some of them at the bottom of my post. But, given the increased attention this case has garnered in the last two years, this needs to be at the top of the heap.

It's always important to reiterate that this lone individual is responsible 12 murders, 45 sexual assaults and more than 120 burglaries from Sacramento to Orange County between 1976 – 1986.

The case of the East Area Rapist (EAR, for short), Original Night Stalker (ONS, for short) and Golden State Killer (GSK, for short) has been featured through the years on numerous true crime programs. Some of those being: MSNBC Investigates, CBS Unsolved Mysteries, E! True Hollywood Story, ID Dark Minds. I first became aware of the case from the 2003 airing of A&E's Cold Case Files, hosted by Bill Kurtis. For a true crime buff, that's one of the most fascinating hours of television I've ever seen. The breadth and scope of the perpetrator's crimes is pure nightmare fuel.

In 2010, one of the original investigators (Larry Crompton) from Contra Costa published a book entitled "Sudden Terror". The book chronicles each rape and murder in chilling detail and makes for a priceless resource of original case files. Another book has also been published by another one of the original investigators (Richard Shelby) called "Hunting a Psychopath". I've yet to read that.

More recently, the case was shepherded by Michelle McNamara (late wife of comedian Patton Oswalt). Mrs. McNamara was a true crime writer with her own blog and an obsession for unsolved murders, particularly. In 2013 Michelle wrote a feature length piece for LA Magazine entitled "In The Footsteps of a Killer". She continued to write about and work the case until her untimely passing last year at the young age of 46. A link to Michelle's LA MAG feature is listed below.

Golden State Killer Archives – LA Magazine

In The Footsteps of a Killer: The Writer's Cut

Michelle McNamara's posthumously finished book about the case is being released on Tuesday, February 27th 2018:

I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer



On Monday, March 5th, 2018 at 9 PM EST, Investigation Discover (ID) will begin airing a two-part program about the case. Here's a trailer:

Trailer for The Golden State Killer: It's Not Over (ID)

And on Sunday, March 18th, 2018 at 9 PM EST, HLN will begin airing a five-part series about the case, several years on the making.. Here's a trailer:

Trailer for Unmasking a Killer (HLN)



As mentioned at the top of the thread, here are some links to past discussions about this case on the UM forum:

"Sudden Terror" - a new book about the Original Night Stalker

EAST AREA SERIAL RAPIST/KILLER

Original Night Stalker on THS Investigates

Unknown California rapist and serial killer

Original Night Stalker case

East Area Rapist/Original Night Stalker

...

One of the best online resources and meeting places to discuss this case can be found here:

http://earonsgsk.proboards.com

[LooksLikeCRicci]

Thanks for compiling all this information in one place! Definitely a case worthy of multiple threads, if you ask me....

[Hot Jock]

I still say that the “Golden State Killer” moniker is really, REALLY stupid. But hey, that’s just me. ✌️

[drew790]

Originally Posted by Hot Jock

I still say that the “Golden State Killer” moniker is really, REALLY stupid. But hey, that’s just me. ✌️

Agree

[BiffMunson]

Originally Posted by Hot Jock

I still say that the “Golden State Killer” moniker is really, REALLY stupid. But hey, that’s just me. ✌️

It takes some gall to anoint ones self to change the name of a serial rapist/killer. Ear/Ons has been in use by LE for at least 15 years. But sure, why not? Lets let some Hollywood type who has no LE or investigative experience access to sensitive case files of an active investigation so she can write a book.

[JM]

The Golden State Killer: It's Not Over [Sneak Peak]

[drew790]

Originally Posted by BiffMunson

It takes some gall to anoint ones self to change the name of a serial rapist/killer. Ear/Ons has been in use by LE for at least 15 years. But sure, why not? Lets let some Hollywood type who has no LE or investigative experience access to sensitive case files of an active investigation so she can write a book.

Well, to be fair, someone also had the "gall" to dub him the Original Night Stalker, and to a lesser extent the East Area Rapist. Often these monikers are devised by the press not law enforcement. I don't agree with the need for the rebranding, especially after the original names being so well established for decades, but it is what it is. Personally I'm still going to refer to him by the original names as that's what I've always known him as but if people want to call him GSK then fine, as long as we're at least still talking about him.

Similarly, I have no issue with her having access to the case files. They've not been doing a whole lot of good collecting dust, so again from my perspective anything that's drumming up interest in finding this guy is fine. It's also not a whole lot different to the activities of members of this board or other web sleuths, there's just an added profit level which in turn allows for greater publicity which a case like this needs.


What is creepy though, is that he's probably reading the book with the rest of us.

[flytrapp]

As discussed in other threads, I also find it a bit annoying that EAR was rebranded as the Golden State Killer by McNamara. I know this a "press" type of move on her part but I don't really understand why it was necessary...except for potential personal gain. I feel bad saying that because she has since passed away, but that's just how I feel.

I agree, it's creepy that EAR might actually be reading the book along with the rest of us. But you know what else is creepy? (here I become a bit nasty) McNamara died in April of 2016 and her husband remarried just a little over a year later.

Anyway, let's just hope this EAR person gets caught. I'm sick of his crap already. It's just long over due for a capture.

[JM]

I can understand why some people don't like the name Michelle McNamara 'gave' to EAR/ONS. When I first read "In The Footsteps of a Killer" – I didn't like it either, frankly. But, then after reading the essay I got over that minor quibble in like 15 minutes. That was like five years ago. I think it might be time to let that go...if that's still something that is bugging you.

Debbie Domingo, daughter of EAR/ONS/GSK victim Cheri Domingo, had nothing but nice things to say about Michelle when reading an excerpt from the book on her YT channel here a month ago:

[Thiussat]

They'll never catch this guy since he appears to be done with his crimes. He's likely dead or just too old to keep going. If he was in prison, we'd have his DNA to match up to the killer's, so it seems unlikely he was ever imprisoned for any serious crimes. Unless he gets arrogant and begins taunting police later in life (like BTK did), he won't be caught.

To my knowledge there are no real suspects. Just a sketch that looks like 50% of white males alive in 1976. He could literally be anyone. He was very careful, wore ski-masks and gloves, and left almost no evidence behind (except for DNA, which no one could have known about back then).

This case isn't fun to talk about for these reasons. No one knows anything. There's nothing to speculate about, no suspects to debate and no real evidence.

[JM]

Originally Posted by Thiussat

This case isn't fun to talk about for these reasons. No one knows anything. There's nothing to speculate about, no suspects to debate and no real evidence.

I would never try and talk someone out of their opinions on the case but I have to take issue with this. While I will concede that talking about this case is never "fun" it is endlessly fascinating, to me at least. There's a wealth of case files to sift through and it's very gripping, once it gets its hooks into you. There are a number of suspects that have been raised through the years, naturally all have been cleared. But, among the true obsessives, there absolutely are persons of interest that are still living that very much check all the boxes. This leads to endless debates on these sites (and others):

http://earonsgsk.proboards.com
https://www.reddit.com/r/EARONS/

And as for no real evidence? I mean there are 45-50 rapes and 10-12 murders, depending on who you are asking. There's probably more case files, police reports, etc than most notorious, unsolved crime sprees.

- There's a full DNA profile. Even the Zodiac case doesn't have that.
- There's a full voice recording of him. Maybe three.
- We know he was a non-secretor.
- We have several composites that authorities are very confident about.
- We know he had a small penis.
- He knew how to tie a Diamond Knot. Tying ornate knots is a pretty unique characteristic.

That's just off the top of my head at 3 AM.

This perpetrator was the real life boogeyman. This guy was prolific. And yet, with all of this...it's still 'the little case that could'. Maybe I'm just optimistic but I think science is eventually going solve this case. He may be dead, but we'll know who this son of a bitch was.

[James T]

Just watched the 48 Hours episode on the case that aired here last night. Sad that it seems she put so much stress on herself to solve this case that it seems to have contributed heavily to her early passing.

[Huskerz85]

Originally Posted by Thiussat

They'll never catch this guy since he appears to be done with his crimes. He's likely dead or just too old to keep going. If he was in prison, we'd have his DNA to match up to the killer's, so it seems unlikely he was ever imprisoned for any serious crimes. Unless he gets arrogant and begins taunting police later in life (like BTK did), he won't be caught.

To my knowledge there are no real suspects. Just a sketch that looks like 50% of white males alive in 1976. He could literally be anyone. He was very careful, wore ski-masks and gloves, and left almost no evidence behind (except for DNA, which no one could have known about back then).

Agreed. In other cases in that region where there's a laundry list of possible suspects, a good handful of em have since died which is my inclination here. However, like BTK, it's also quite possible he could still be alive.

I wonder if they were ever able to use this evidence to find a person of interest though? (Given that it's 5 yrs old almost, I kind of doubt it)

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/...red-in-irvine/

[JM]

Originally Posted by Huskerz85

Agreed. In other cases in that region where there's a laundry list of possible suspects, a good handful of em have since died which is my inclination here. However, like BTK, it's also quite possible he could still be alive.

According to Paul Holes, who is one of the lead investigators on the GSK task force, the 7th rape victim received a phone call in 2001. This was two days after the public announcement that the DNA from the EAR crimes had been linked to the ONS crimes. So as recently as 2001 he contacted a previous victim and taunted her. He reportedly said in his clinched teeth voice: "Do you remember when we played?". This victim's name was never made public (obviously) and she was confident it was the EAR.

Originally Posted by Huskerz85

I wonder if they were ever able to use this evidence to find a person of interest though? (Given that it's 5 yrs old almost, I kind of doubt it)

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/...red-in-irvine/

If they have, it hasn't been made public.

People magazine, in their long-form piece last year, was allowed to release some new details from authorities.

People Investigates EARONSGSK - New Evidence

I'll take this opportunity to link the three most well regarded composites here:

[drew790]

Originally Posted by soundandvision

I would never try and talk someone out of their opinions on the case but I have to take issue with this. While I will concede that talking about this case is never "fun" it is endlessly fascinating, to me at least. There's a wealth of case files to sift through and it's very gripping, once it gets its hooks into you. There are a number of suspects that have been raised through the years, naturally all have been cleared. But, among the true obsessives, there absolutely are persons of interest that are still living that very much check all the boxes. This leads to endless debates on these sites (and others):

http://earonsgsk.proboards.com
https://www.reddit.com/r/EARONS/

And as for no real evidence? I mean there are 45-50 rapes and 10-12 murders, depending on who you are asking. There's probably more case files, police reports, etc than most notorious, unsolved crime sprees.

- There's a full DNA profile. Even the Zodiac case doesn't have that.
- There's a full voice recording of him. Maybe three.
- We know he was a non-secretor.
- We have several composites that authorities are very confident about.
- We know he had a small penis.
- He knew how to tie a Diamond Knot. Tying ornate knots is a pretty unique characteristic.

That's just off the top of my head at 3 AM.

This perpetrator was the real life boogeyman. This guy was prolific. And yet, with all of this...it's still 'the little case that could'. Maybe I'm just optimistic but I think science is eventually going solve this case. He may be dead, but we'll know who this son of a bitch was.

Agreed. I find the case fascinating as well, especially with the lack of certain details. (Isn't that why we're all at a board for Unsolved Mysteries? ) None of the Zodiac suspects ever panned out, their biggest one they ruled out with what DNA they had from both, so having suspects doesn't affect my intrigue level.

Regarding the DNA/prison talk earlier, I thought there were legal roadblocks that prevented incarcerated individuals from having to submit DNA. They take them now during active investigations but I could have sworn it came up in one of these cases that there was some kind of injunction or civil rights case that was preventing it from being obtained from individuals already incarcerated that didn't have DNA on file to be used in cold cases? (particularly in California? am I imagining things?)