Golden State Killer, According to ‘I’ll Be Gone’ Co-Author, Is Arrested

Michelle McNamara's story refocused attention on the unsolved crimes.

golden state killer
(Wikimedia Commons)

A suspect in the notorious Golden State Killer case has been arrested. The Golden State Killer is responsible for 12 homicides, 45 rapes, and 120 home burglaries in California in the 1970s and 80s. Michelle McNamara, who wrote I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, worked with investigators on the case for years. She died before the book could be published, but it was finished by Billy Jensen, researcher Paul Haynes and McNamara’s husband, comedian Patton Oswalt. The book refocused attention on the unsolved crimes and according to Jensen, the suspect who was arrested is named in the book, Joseph James DeAngelo. DeAngelo, 72, was arrested on two counts of murder early Wednesday morning, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department. Authorities plan to announce more information Wednesday afternoon.

According to The Daily Beast, the Golden State Killer, also known as the East Area Rapist, is suspected of carrying out crimes starting in 1976 and continuing until 1986. Jail records show that DeAngelo is 5’11” and now between the ages of 60 and 75 years old, both which fit the killer’s FBI profile.

Jensen, Haynes and Oswalt tweeted on Tuesday night that there would be a “large announcement” in the case.

On Wednesday, Oswalt posted an Instagram story and said that the news was “surreal.” He wrote, “Think you got him, Michelle.”

The Golden State Killer would gain entry into homes by prying open a window or door while they slept, and then would shine a flashlight into the eyes of his victims in order to blind them. He would tie up couples and rape the women, and he would take small, personal items from his victim’s homes. Sometimes he would call them afterward to torment them.

The InsideHook Newsletter.

News, advice and insights for the most interesting person in the room.