An Almanac of Infamy

We now know, thanks to additional DNA testing, that there is at least one California killing that Joseph James DeAngelo, better known as the Golden State Killer, is not responsible for. Simi Valley Police Chief David Livingstone has revealed that DeAngelo is not a match to DNA left at the double murder of Rhonda Wicht and her son Donald. In 1980, Craig Coley was wrongfully imprisoned for the murders and after his release in November of last year and the arrest of DeAngelo in April of this year, Simi Valley officials were hoping there would be closure of the case through the GSK's DNA. It's one of several cold cases that officials have reopened since DeAngelo's capture, and while he is not the perp, Chief Livingstone says his department is not giving up on finding the real killer. And speaking of DeAngelo and DNA, it appears that two Sutter Health employees in Sacramento have been terminated from the hospital for inappropriately accessing his medical records. While the h...

Ok so we don't know the exact brand of the discarded tissue used to catch the Golden State Killer but it's such a catchy title that I couldn't resist. Unsealed warrants indicate that police waited for the GSK suspect, Joseph James DeAngelo, to wheel his garbage to the curb and then they plucked the tissue from the bin for DNA testing. Officers also took swabs off the handle of his car door while he shopped at a local Hobby Lobby. The warrant also lists nine pages of "trophies" that DeAngelo took from his victims including wedding rings, handbags, a poker chip, clothes and silver dollars. While much of the 171-page warrant was redacted, there were still several disturbing details revealed to the public. Police believe that DeAngelo stalked his victims before attacking them, using drainage ditches to essentially hide in plain sight. He was very bold in his attacks and terrorized entire neighborhoods. DeAngelo has yet to enter pleas to any of the 12 murders th...

As Joseph James DeAngelo made another court appearance on Tuesday, this time in a cage instead of a wheelchair, Judge Michael Sweet indicated that at least part of the court documents detailing how police identified DeAngelo as the GSK will be unsealed. The documents include a list of items, possibly trophies from GSK crime scenes, seized from DeAngelo's property. They also include notes from lead investigators. However, according to the defense, they do not include many details about the genealogical methods used to identify DeAngelo. While many investigative details are expected to be released to the public, both the prosecution and defense teams are reviewing the documents line by line in an effort to determine which parts should be redacted. All sides are reluctant to include names and other details identifying victims of GSK's many sexual assaults. The defense also has concerns about unsealed information affecting their client's chance at receiving a fair trial. How...

Fans of the podcast "My Favorite Murder" got an extra special treat when Paul Holes showed up on this week's episode to discuss the Golden State Killer. Holes, who has gained a lot of admiration in true crime circles because of his work on the case, revealed that a towel caught his attention during a search of the GSK suspect's house. The towel was draped over a computer screen, similar to how GSK would drape a towel over the tv in his victims' homes while he committed his crimes. Holes wonders if Joseph James DeAngelo used the glow from the computer screen to recreate the glow from his crime scenes. He says that the GSK took souvenirs from his victims and that DeAngelo may have been admiring them still in his own home. He also believes that the wheelchair that DeAngelo appeared in during his first few court appearances was just an act and that officers tasked with surveilling him said he was very agile for a 72-year-old. Since DeAngelo's arrest, more detai...

Hello, good readers! I'm back from vacation and it's time to catch up on the major cases that are captivating the nation, starting with the Golden State Killer. While GSK suspect Joseph James DeAngelo's lawyers continue to fight in court to suppress evidence from being brought into trial, police all over California are reviewing old cold cases. In Tulare County , where the "Visalia Ransacker" operated in the 1970s, police are focusing on the 1975 slaying of College of the Sequoias journalism professor Claude Snelling. Snelling was shot while trying to save his 16-year-old daughter from a masked abductor. Police have long suspected that the "Visalia Ransacker" was involved in the homicide and while the burglaries cannot be prosecuted due to the statute of limitations, officials plan to bring the Snelling case before the Tulare County District Attorney to see if a 13th murder charge can be made against DeAngelo. Another possible charge could be brought a...

As more and more details emerge in the Golden State Killer case, one of the most intriguing is that he may have had an accomplice. "It's a possibility," investigator Paul Holes told the crowd at Crimecon on Monday. According to Holes, the possible accomplice didn't aid and abet in any of the murders and only served as a lookout/getaway driver during the infamous killer's "East Area Rapist" phase. The theory stems from at least one rape victim's statement that she heard her attacker talking to someone else but Holes does admit he could have been talking to himself as part of a self-preservation technique. There are other investigators who disagree with the possibility of an accomplice. Joseph James DeAngelo’s Accomplice: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know In other GSK news, prosecutors from Ventura, Sacramento and Santa Barbara counties will be meeting over the next few days to determine where to try Joseph James DeAngelo for his crimes. Since his mu...

A judge ruled today that prosecutors can collect DNA, fingerprints, and body photographs of Joseph James DeAngelo, the Golden State Killer suspect. DeAngelo's attorneys had argued that the search warrant should not be executed because it was issued before DeAngelo's arrest but the judge said there was no basis for stopping the execution of the warrant. Prosecutors had planned to collect the evidence yesterday but were halted by the defense motion. Another hearing is planned for May 14 to determine if the arrest and search warrants should be unsealed and released to the press. Much publicity has been given to the original DNA evidence that was submitted to various genealogy websites in order to catch the GSK. It turns out that Paul Holes, an investigator who spent years tracking down the killer, was inspired by another cold case that was solved using that method. And Holes himself had a previous connection to the case, which involved the brutal murders of women and girls in N...

It looks like Joseph James DeAngelo, better known as the Golden State Killer, is expected to appear in court today as his defense attorneys file a motion to suppress evidence obtained from a search warrant. And speaking of evidence, several privacy and civil rights experts have shown concern over the methods used to catch the GSK. Some of those concerns may be legit as it turns out that police were originally focused on the wrong man after issuing a subpoena to the genealogy website Gene-To-Gene, Ltd. While there's a lot of hype around the killer's capture, it's important to not forget his victims. For living victims and the families of those he murdered, the GSK's capture has brought back a lot of painful memories to the forefront but also, thankfully, some hope for the future . And there may even be more victims than originally suspected. Detectives hope that GSK's arrest leads to clues in other cold cases . They also admit that they can't be sure that h...

To say that the capture of the Golden State opened up a can of worms is an understatement. It's more like an entire worm farm. In addition to the canonical 50 rapes and 12 murders attributed to GSK, police departments across the state of California are looking at other unsolved cold cases to see if they are connected to the infamous killer. Some of these crimes go far beyond the GSK's operating years of 1976 to 1986. In 1964, Johnny Ray and Joyce Swindle were murdered by a sniper on the Ocean Beach Boardwalk. While it's been confirmed that Joseph James DeAngelo was in the area, many experts say the case fits more with the Zodiac Killer's MO than GSK's. And speaking of the Zodiac, there's been a lot of speculation about whether the same DNA techniques used to capture DeAngelo could also capture that other infamous California killer. It isn't just unsolved murders that detectives are hoping to clear now that DeAngelo has been arrested. Unfortunately, som...

Joseph James DeAngelo, better known as the Golden State Killer, was arraigned today and it was pretty standard fare. He was charged on two counts of murder for the deaths of Brian and Katie Maggiore and appointed a public defender and that was that.