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Introduction
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Period: to
The Visalia Ransacker
Around this time, Joseph would break into families' homes and make a mess of them in the process. -
Messy Drawer
Joseph would break into people’s homes and steal items that were not considered valuable. He would tear down the wallpapers and make a mess of the home he was in. He had “warning devices” like dishes nearby the doors, so he would know when to leave. It’s unclear why he would ransack the homes. It’s believed that he was also raping his victims at this time. It took the public a while to realize that the “Visalia Ransacker” and the “East Area Rapist” were the same person. -
Period: to
East Area Rapist
Joseph carried out his first attack on June 18, 1976. Around 1977, he began to attack couples while upping the brutality. -
Police Sketch
This sketch was drawn around the peak of Joseph’s crimes and it was one of many sketches drawn of Joseph. Comparing it to Joseph himself, it’s not an accurate drawing. At the time, the people didn’t know, they were just desperate to capture the killer. The police were willing to take any description, in hopes that it was the correct one. Since Joseph knew that he was nowhere near getting caught, his ego was boosted and continued to terrorize the citizens of California. -
Bay Area Journal
This article described one of Joseph’s attacks and had testimonies from a couple of his victims. The public could get a good look at how Joseph carried out his attacks, as well as, how the victim was impacted. The article contains a drawing of the Golden State Killer in his mask, showing how no one knew who he really was. -
EAR Map
Further down the article, it shows a map. The map displays his attacks, which were in an irregular pattern. Joseph knew what he was doing and made sure that everything has been planned out, including what the news was going to say. He seemed to be a couple of steps ahead of everyone else. -
Period: to
Original Night Stalker
Joseph started killing around this time. His first couple was an accidental kill because they managed to break free from their restraints and fight back. After that, he implemented murder into his routine attacks. -
Capture
32 years after the ending of his killing spree, and 45 years after the beginning of his crimes, DeAngelo was finally arrested. He was living with one of his daughters and a grandchild, at the time. DeAngelo had been identified earlier as the main suspect when DNA from a rape case was uploaded to the personal genomics website. After a DNA sample was surreptitiously collected from the door handle of DeAngelo's car, it was matched with samples related to the Golden State Killer's crimes. -
Bibliography
