The police caught the criminal, whom they had been looking for for 40 years, with the help of a genealogical website
On April 25, Sacramento police announced the capture of the Killer from the Golden State. The criminal, who allegedly committed 45 rapes and 12 murders in California in the 70s and 80s, was searched for 40 years.
72-year-old James DeAngelo, nicknamed the Golden State Killer by the media, allegedly committed 12 murders, 45 rapes and 120 robberies from 1976 to 1986, but for a long time he successfully managed to hide from the police, primarily because he carefully planned crimes. Deangelo operated in a mask and gloves and studied the daily routine of his victims for a long time. In addition, he himself worked as a police officer in two counties of the state of California. But in 1979, Deangelo was removed from office after being caught shoplifting.
For a long time, the police could not find the perpetrator, because DNA samples found at the crime scene did not give matches in any police database. Then the investigators used the services of the US genealogical website Ysearch.org where people can find their relatives and ancestors by DNA. Matches with the samples were found in several family trees, among the members of these families, the police managed to find a person matching the description of the criminal.
At first, the genealogical website led the police on a false trail. Investigators showed up at the house of a 73-year-old seriously ill man. But the DNA test proved that the man had nothing to do with the crime. Then the investigators began searching on another site, GEDmatch, where they managed to find the criminal. The police started tracking James Deangelo, took his DNA samples, and they matched the samples from the crime scene. Six days later, the suspect was arrested.
72-year-old James Deangelo appeared in court, he was charged with two murders: in 1978, he killed 21-year-old Brian Maggiore and his 20—year-old wife Katie - they were shot while walking a dog. The prosecutor's office is confident that additional charges will be brought. The next trial of the Golden State Killer will take place on May 14, 2018. The interests of the defendant will be represented by a free lawyer.