A retired police officer who investigators believe is the “Golden State Killer” has been charged with four more counts of murder, bringing the number of slayings he is charged with to 12. Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, is thought to be the killer who terrorized California during the 1970s and the 1980s. He was a police officer in the California towns of Exeter and Auburn during the 70s.
“Violent cold cases never grow cold for their victims or loved ones,” Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley said at a news conference to announce the charges of first-degree murder against DeAngelo, according to NBC News.
DeAngelo was arrested April 24 at his home in the suburb of Sacremento. He has been charged with four killings in Orange County, two in Ventura County and two in Sacramento County. He is scheduled to appear in court in Sacramento on Monday. He had not bee charged in Santa Barbara County, where he is believed to have killed Robert Offerman and Alexandria Manning in December 1979 and Cheri Domingo and Gregory Sanchez in July 1981, until Thursday.
The Golden State Killer wore a mask and raped women who were home alone and women who were with their children, police said. He killed women and men together, according to NBC News. Investigators found DeAngelo after scouring dozens of family trees on genealogy websites for possible DNA and profile matches.
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