Joseph james dangelo biography

Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. (born November 8, 1945) is an American serial killer who committed at least 13 murders, 51 rapes, and 120 burglaries across.
The Golden State Killer is responsible for a series of burglaries, rapes and murders that took place across California in the 1970s and '80s.
Joseph James DeAngelo has been charged with eight murders, and is suspected in dozens of other crimes.

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The 'Golden State Killer': Inside the timeline of crimes

The notorious "Golden State Killer" was behind serial rapes and murders across California in the 1970s and 1980s -- but decades passed before a suspect was identified.

In 2018, Joseph DeAngelo was arrested. This summer, the 74-year-old former police officer pleaded guilty to 13 counts of first-degree murder. And in August, he was confronted by his victims and their family members in court.

Watch the full story on "20/20" TONIGHT at 9 p.m. ET

Here's a look back at the case:

1973-1976

From 1973 to 1976, DeAngelo was a police officer in Exeter, California, officials said.

1975

On Sept. 11, 1975, DeAngelo, while serving as a police officer, shot and killed professor Claude Snelling in front of his daughter at his Visalia, California, home, according to prosecutors.

DeAngelo kicked the daughter three times in the face and then fled, prosecutors said.

Visalia is 10 miles away from Exeter.

1976-1979

DeAngelo served as a police officer in Auburn, California, from 1976 to 1979.

He wa

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Golden State Killer

(1945-)

Who Is the Golden State Killer?

The Golden State Killer is responsible for a series of burglaries, rapes and murders that took place across California in the 1970s and '80s. From 1976 to 1979, more than 40 rapes in northern California were attributed to an assailant called the East Area Rapist. In southern California between 1979 and 1986, a serial killer who was dubbed the Original Night Stalker took the lives of ten people. In 2001 DNA analysis revealed that these rapes and murders had been committed by the same perpetrator, whom crime writer Michelle McNamara labeled the "Golden State Killer." In 2018 Joseph DeAngelo, a former police officer, was arrested and charged with 13 murders and other crimes linked to the Golden State Killer. In June 2020, DeAngelo pleaded guilty and in August, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Crimes

Before he became a rapist and murderer, the Golden State Killer was responsible for a series of burglaries in the northern California city of Visalia in 1974-75. The Visalia

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Who is Joseph James DeAngelo, the accused Golden State Killer?

Former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo was arrested by Sacramento police Wednesday as the suspected Golden State Killer, accused of a series of rapes and murders that terrorized California communities in the 1970s and 1980s.

The break came after FBI and California officials in 2016 renewed their investigation and offered a $50,000 reward for an arrest and conviction. A task force was set up to crack one of the state's coldest cases.

"For over 40 years, countless victims have waited for justice," Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said at the news conference Wednesday. "We found the needle in the haystack and it was right here in Sacramento. The answer was always going to be in the DNA."

A court hearing was set for Friday. Here is what we know now:

Who is this guy?

DeAngelo was born in Bath, N.Y., but graduated from Folsom High School in suburban Sacramento in June 1964. He enlisted in the Navy during the Vietnam War, returning home a decorated vet to earn an associate's degree in polic