Imagine wearing a badge to protect the very people you are hunting. Imagine that shield becoming a mask, hiding in plain sight while the community sleeps in terror.

Let’s look closer at what it means to trust the uniform. For decades, California lived with a fear so deep it felt like part of the air we breathed. It wasn’t just a mystery; it was a presence. A shadow that moved through neighborhoods with a quiet, predatory grace. And here is the ache that makes this story so heavy: the person holding that shadow was wearing the same uniform as the people trying to stop him. Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. was not some lurking stranger from the edges of society. He was a man who had sworn an oath. From May 1973 to August 1976, he served as a burglary-unit police officer in Exeter. Then, from August 1976 to July 1979, he worked in Auburn. In both places, he was on the inside. He knew the protocols. He knew how investigations were built. And worst of all, when the crimes began to mount in Visalia, he didn’t hide away. He assisted in the search for himself. He stood shoulder-to-shoulder with his colleagues, looking into their eyes, knowing exactly what they were looking for, and saying nothing. This betrayal cuts deeper than any knife ever could. It shattered the fundamental contract between the public and those sworn to serve. How do you rebuild trust when the protector is the predator? We have to hold space for that devastation. The victims weren’t just attacked by a criminal; they were failed by the system meant to shield them.

Her name matters. Each name represents a life interrupted, a future stolen. DeAngelo’s crimes did not start as murders. They started with intrusion. Between 1974 and 1986, he committed thirteen murders and numerous rapes and burglaries across California. But before the bodies, there were the breaks. In Northern California, specifically the San Joaquin Valley, he committed a minimum of one hundred and twenty burglaries. These were not random acts of theft. They were rehearsals. They were tests of control. He entered homes when families slept. He listened to their breathing. He learned their rhythms. Then, moving to Sacramento County between 1976 and 1979, the violence escalated. At least fifty-one rapes occurred here. Two more murders. The pattern was relentless. He taunted and threatened both victims and police via obscene phone calls and possibly written communications. Can you imagine the terror of receiving that call? Knowing he was close enough to hear your voice, yet far enough to escape? He moved south after 1979, committing serial murders in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Orange counties until 1986. That is over a decade of darkness. Thirteen lives extinguished. Dozens more broken. The sheer volume of his crimes speaks to a monster who operated with impunity for years. But behind every statistic is a human being. A daughter who never grew up. A mother whose children went missing and never returned. We must remember them not as case files, but as souls who deserved safety and dignity.

Truth is slow work. For thirty years, this case remained cold. Decades passed. Families aged. Hope dimmed. During the investigation, several suspects were cleared through DNA evidence, alibis, or other investigative methods. This highlights the frustration of the era. Technology was limited. Connections were missed. In 2001, a breakthrough came: DNA testing indicated that the offenders labeled as the 'East Area Rapist' and the 'Original Night Stalker' were the same person. This resulted in the combined acronym EARONS. Finally, disparate crimes linked together. But even then, the net didn't close. The case became a factor in the establishment of California's DNA database, which collects DNA from all accused and convicted felons in California. It has been called second only to Virginia's in effectiveness in solving cold cases. Yet, DeAngelo remained free. Crime writer Michelle McNamara coined the name 'Golden State Killer' in the 2010s, bringing renewed attention to the nightmare. In 2016, the FBI and local law enforcement held a news conference, offering a $50,000 reward for his capture. The nation watched. The pressure mounted. But justice does not always move at the speed of public interest. It moves at the speed of truth. And sometimes, that truth waits in the dark, patient and silent, until the right moment arrives.

This is where the story shifts from tragedy to triumph, though the cost remains high. On April 24, 2018, California authorities charged 72-year-old DeAngelo with eight counts of first-degree murder. How did they do it? Through forensic genetic genealogy. Investigators had identified members of DeAngelo's family through public genealogy databases. This was a historic moment. It was the first announcement connecting the Visalia Ransacker crimes to DeAngelo. Detectives compared DNA from crime scenes with public genealogy data to find a relative, narrowing the suspect pool to DeAngelo's family line. Surveillance confirmed that DeAngelo, a former police officer, matched the physical description and timeline of the crimes. He was arrested at his home in Citrus Heights, California. One of the longest manhunts in U.S. history ended not with a dramatic chase, but with a quiet knock on a door. He was living a normal life, unaware that the digital footprints of his relatives had led investigators straight to him. This method raised significant ethical concerns regarding the use of consumer genetic data by law enforcement. But for the families waiting thirty-plus years, it was the end of the silence. It was the return of their loved ones’ names to the conversation. It was justice, however late, finally arriving.

On June 29, 2020, DeAngelo pleaded guilty to multiple counts of murder and kidnapping. As part of a plea bargain that spared him the death penalty, he also admitted to numerous crimes with which he had not been formally charged, including rapes. Owing to California's statute of limitations on pre-2017 rape cases, he could not be charged with the rapes he had committed in the 1970s. But he was charged in August 2018 with thirteen related kidnapping and abduction attempts. This admission forced a reckoning. He could no longer hide behind legal technicalities. He had to speak the truth about what he had done. On August 21, 2020, DeAngelo was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. In December 2020, he was sentenced to 13 consecutive life terms. The legal process concluded, but the emotional aftermath continues. For the victims' families, this was closure, but it was not healing. You cannot heal a wound simply by punishing the person who caused it. You can only hope that the pain diminishes over time. DeAngelo’s plea spared the families the trauma of a trial, but it also denied them the catharsis of hearing his confession in open court. They got a verdict, but did they get answers? Perhaps not all of them. Truth is complex. It is layered. And for many, the silence he kept for so long will echo louder than any courtroom declaration.

We often ask why someone becomes a killer. We look for patterns in their past. DeAngelo was born on November 8, 1945, in Bath, New York. His childhood was marked by violence. He was regularly beaten by both parents throughout his childhood. When he was a child, his family lived in West Germany where his father was stationed. There, DeAngelo says he was forced to witness the rape of one of his sisters by two airmen in a U.S. Air Force base warehouse. This trauma shaped him. Between 1959 and 1960, he attended Mills Junior High School in Rancho Cordova, California. Beginning in 1961, he attended Folsom High School, from which he later received a GED certificate in 1964. According to prosecutors, during his teenage years, he committed burglaries, mail theft, and tortured and killed animals. These are warning signs, ignored or unaddressed. He joined the United States Navy in September 1964, serving for 22 months during the Vietnam War. He later earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Sacramento State University in 1971. He even completed a 32-week police internship with the Roseville Police Department. The irony is suffocating. He studied to protect, but chose to destroy. His training gave him the skills to evade detection. His background gave him the motive. It is a grim reminder that systems can fail to intervene when warning signs appear. We must remain vigilant, not just against criminals, but against the failures that allow them to flourish.

Thank you for sitting with me today. Thank you for listening with such care. We carry these stories not to dwell in darkness, but to honor the light that was lost. Let’s look closer at the details, let’s remember the names, and let’s advocate for better systems so that no one else is failed by the badge. This story is drawn from public records and widely reported accounts. Our thoughts are with everyone affected. Until next time, stay gentle with yourself. You’re doing important work by remembering. I’m Jasmine Riley. Goodnight.