02x09 - The Golden State k*ller

[bunniefuu]

- He was a sex offender,
a r*pist.

- They called him
the Golden State k*ller.

- The pressure to catch
this man has been mounting.

Citizens began buying
everything they could think of

to protect themselves.

g*n sales are way up.

- He was extremely
frightening.

He was entering homes in
the middle of the night

when the victims
were sleeping.

He'd ransack their homes

and would sexually as*ault
the female victim.

- He favors quiet,
upper-class suburbs.

Usually works in the
predawn hours, wearing a ski

or stocking mask.

- All told, over 50 women were
r*ped and 13 people m*rder*d.

- But no one could
ever catch him.

None of the sexual as*ault
victims got a look at him.

- We have a composite.
It's a guy wearing a ski mask.

- And that's it.
So how do we identify him?

- By going after their DNA.

- We knew it was
a long shot,

but the FBI
was not going to let this go.

- In the FBI, we make
a lot of headlines--

drug busts, mob stings,

t*rror1st takedowns.

- Get down!

- We understand why people
want to tell stories about us.

- Mark it.
- Freeze!

- fbi.
- fbi!

- Action!
- But they don't know

the half of it.

What really goes down,

we save that for each other,

when we're talking
agent-to-agent.

This is "FBI True."

Kristy Kottis is a 24-year
veteran of the FBI.

She worked gangs,
crimes against children,

as well as human
and drug trafficking.

Kottis was the supervisor
of the FBI's

threat response squad

overseeing the Bureau's
response to terrorism threats

in New York City.

- Julia, why don't you tell me
what your role was in the FBI,

and how did you
get on the case?

- At the time that I
was assigned this case,

I was assigned to the FBI's
Behavioral Analysis Unit.

- Julia Cowley was with
the FBI for over 22 years.

She was selected to
join the Bureau's

Behavioral Analysis Unit.

Cowley was the lead FBI
profiler on this case.

- When I joined the FBI,
this was the kind of case

that I hoped to work on
and to contribute to.

I was still fairly
new in the unit,

and my boss called me in,
and he said,

"Have you ever heard of the
East Area--"

and I said,
"East Area r*pist?"

I had heard about the
case many years before.

I was a younger agent,
and I was on maternity leave,

and I saw a documentary
on the case.

And I became very
interested in the case.

- It was the first
case that was assigned

to me as a homicide detective.

- Larry Pool worked
as an investigator

with the Orange County
Sheriff's Department

for over 15 years.

In 1994, he was the
first law enforcement officer

to spot OJ Simpson fleeing
in the White Ford Bronco.

He's assigned the case of
the East Area r*pist in 1998.

- Julia, what was it about
this case that intrigued you?

- Just how frightening
that this individual was.

- A California
community unhinged.

Every month from 1976 to 1979,

the so-called East Area r*pist
would strike.

Who was he? And was he hiding
in plain sight?

- He was entering homes in
the middle of the night

when the victims
were sleeping.

He threatened to k*ll them,

and then he would sexually
as*ault the female victim.

- Residents are
so horror-stricken,

some women rent motel rooms.

- Just out of fear?

- I believe so.

Yes, I definitely
believe so, yes.

- Which motel are
they going to?

- The one gal that I know
went to Howard Johnson's.

- Citizens began buying
everything they could think of

to protect themselves.

g*n sales are way up.

- I live alone,
and I would like to learn

how to protect myself.

- And, you know,
just to clarify,

he was called
the East Area r*pist

for the series
of sexual assaults.

- By the early '80s,
the East Area r*pist

was now linked
to several murders.

By the 2010s,
he got a new moniker--

the Golden State k*ller.

The relentless
evil was startling.

Over 50 women r*ped,

13 m*rder*d.

- The last homicide that was
attributed to him

was in 1986,
so he had stopped.

So how do we identify him?

How are we going to find him?

So I ended up reviewing
45 sexual as*ault cases

and 13 homicides.

Behaviors
are really important.

How did they
commit their crime?

What steps did they
take or not take?

What did they say?
What words did they choose?

All this stuff can
tell you a lot.

I got involved many years

after Larry had been
on the case.

- Detective Larry Pool
in Santa Ana

is obsessed with finding
a brutal serial m*rder*r

and r*pist who frequently
telephoned his victims

before his attacks.

- Not only is the k*ller
terrorizing his victims,

he also taunts
the Sacramento Police.

- Our offender is
one of the most brazen,

if not most brazen,
serial K*llers

of perhaps American history.

There was a lot
of public pressure

to identify the
Golden State k*ller.

We have a composite
for that person.

It's a guy wearing a ski mask.

But it's of no
investigative value.

- But the r*pist
and k*ller does leave

something behind
that could unravel

the mystery of his identity.

Semen was found with several
of his m*rder victims.

- In August 19, 1980,
the m*rder

of Keith and Patrice
Harrington,

and then February of 1981,

Manuela Witthuhn in Irvine.

And then May of 1986,
Janelle Cruz, also in Irvine.

And thankfully,
through our crime lab,

they were able to
extract the perpetrator's DNA

from his semen.

- Why didn't this lead to the
identification of the k*ller?

- There are a lot of
databases that investigators

back in the original homicides
didn't have access to.

The FBI National
DNA databank

didn't come online
until about 1998.

- So even though we have DNA
for the East Area r*pist,

we don't have that
in a database.

- Yes, that's correct.

- That must have
been frustrating.

So now you're back
to square one.

So what are you doing?

Take me through that.

- So it started
with me looking back

through the investigations,

ensure that I had every
document, note,

anything that had ever
been written

pertaining
to each investigation.

What I was thinking was that
when the k*lling stopped,

something interrupted him.

- So one of the studies
that I did is people who

are incarcerated during
that period of time,

and I figure that's probably
where he was--in prison.

So I place a heavy emphasis
on looking at people

who were free up until
July 27th in 1981

and then in custody
at least up until,

let's say, May 4th of 1986,

in that window of time.

There was a time when
I went to death row,

looking at offenders
on death row.

Because I figured, well, we've
got a pretty c*ptive audience

here that we know that
they're committing,

you know, the worst,
worst crimes.

- Pool's hunch about
incarcerated perps

doesn't lead anywhere.

- The case went cold,
so what am I doing wrong?

That's where Julia comes in.

- So we're going to
bring in a profiler

to have access to more
information that potentially

could identify him.

- That's correct.

- Julia, how long did
you work on the case

before you contacted Larry?

- I had been working on
the case about six months

before Larry and I
actually had any contact.

I went out to California
from Quantico.

All the different
jurisdictions were there

all the detectives.

And he looked over
at me and said,

"I'll be very interested to
see what the FBI has to say.

That is, if they're willing
to share their opinion."

And I just said, "I'll
tell you what I think.

I'm not afraid to tell
you what I think."

And he just went, "OK."

- And I wasn't sure

how to take that,
but I took it

as maybe he was skeptical.

But I took it to
heart because

I didn't want
to disappoint him.

I had gone through
all the material,

and I had a pretty good
understanding of the offender.

- What did you come up with?

- In my initial assessment,

I thought he was a very
insecure individual,

that this was the ultimate
overcompensation

for his lack of confidence

and his feelings
of ineffectiveness.

He was very ritualistic
in what he did.

And he did it the same way
almost every single time.

He would put fragile
items on the doorknobs

so that if people came home,
he would hear them,

and he'd be able to escape.

- He usually works
in the pre-dawn hours,

wearing a ski or stocking
mask, and often spends

several hours in the home,

tying up husbands
or male companions.

- Once he had
the victims bound,

he would go ransack the house,

and he was very loud about it.

He would open and close drawers
and slam cabinets.

And he would be gulping food
in their kitchen.

And once he spent
a lot of time doing this,

he'd separate the female
victim from the male,

I think to mitigate any risk
that the male victim

was going to try to intervene.

- Cowley believes the
attacker's motivation

was not just about
his female victims.

- In my opinion,
the victim selection was really

about the male victim.

This is a man who wanted
to dominate other men,

and this was a way that
he could exert his control

and take over--
take over their home,

have sexual access to their
female companions

right in the same home
with them.

And I was very interested
in evidence that really

factored in to this idea

that he was a very insecure
individual.

The majority of
the female victims,

in describing
the offender,

said he had an abnormally
small p*nis.

- Even in the erect state?

- Yes. And they were very
descriptive about its size.

I didn't put all the weight--
oh, he's got to be insecure,

he's got a small p*nis.

It was all of the behavior
he exhibited

in front of his victims
when he tried to portray

this big, tough,
scary individual in control.

And from then on out, he's
taken the ultimate control,

which is to m*rder them.

- Larry, when you first
heard Julia's findings

on the profile
of the potential subject,

what were your thoughts?

- My thoughts were
everything that

she described was consistent
with my feelings at the time.

I felt that it was
pretty spot on.

As you take all those
elements into consideration,

it gives you a better chance
of being able

to solve the investigation.

- There was also
evidence he was

very good at entering homes.

- Through either prying a
regular door, a sliding door,

removing screens from windows,
prying windows,

opening windows--

he essentially entered a home
just about every way but,

you know,
coming down the chimney.

- There is also evidence
of the Golden State k*ller's

tactical expertise.

- When he was confronted
with a life or death situation

or with a situation
where he would have to get

into a physical fight with an
able-bodied, competent male,

he immediately
went to deadly force,

and that was with a g*n.

And he was very good at
using a g*n, very accurate,

able to hit his target
in a high-stress situation.

And I ended up telling
the working group

that I thought he had some sort
of formal firearms training.

- What I was thinking was
that, was he prior military?

- Why did you think that?

- Military history was a fairly
common thread to be found

in many serial offenders.

- Right.

- But the other really
interesting part of this case

was his ability to
evade law enforcement.

I mean, at the height of
his attacks in Sacramento,

patrols were everywhere.

And I wondered if he had some
sort of inside information,

if he understood
law enforcement tactics

when it came
to surveillance

and where they would
be sitting.

And I thought he
potentially was

a police officer
at some point in time.

- Larry, what are you thinking?
- It really wasn't a stretch,

especially back
in the '70s and '80s,

to say that a serial offender
could be in law enforcement.

There are other
well-known cases

where police officers were
convicted of serial crimes.

I felt that we should be
putting more information out,

getting things out on
social media, to the media,

informing the public
as much as we can

without actually hindering
the investigation.

- That might help
to identify him.

- Our Top Story At 6:30, the
FBI is making a renewed effort

to find a serial
m*rder*r and r*pist

who struck all around the
Bay Area in the '70s and '80s.

Agents say he's been on
the loose ever since,

and they believe
he can still be found.

- Did the FBI offer
a substantial financial reward

for any information?

- They offered $50,000 reward.

- The unknown suspect
committed more than 45 r*pes

and a dozen homicides
between 1976 and 1986.

- They did this public
information campaign,

put out a lot of
information about the case,

about the offender to try
to get him identified.

- His primary entrance
into a residence

was by prying open
doors or windows.

- The campaign and
the reward failed

to produce any strong leads.

- It was almost becoming
a last chance that we were

going to be able to catch him.

- But fortunately there was
hope due to advancements

in DNA technology.

- By 2018, the DNA analysis
available to law enforcement

has evolved significantly,
with up to 13 million

criminal profiles
in the FBI's DNA databank.

- And with that, we stood
more of an opportunity

to identify the subject.

- So the DNA from semen found
decades earlier was submitted

to the crime lab
to see if it could

lead to some
potential subjects,

possibly a police officer.

- So I had more candidates
than I thought I would.

We had about 1,000.
- Wow.

- But we had some very
talented analysts in Sacramento

at the DA's office that
began to work on that list.

Essentially that
initial list of 1,000

was reverse engineered
back to about a list of 25.

And that 25
was a workable list.

- And this one suspect
really stood out.

- What was it?

- I think the
number one thing is that

he was living in Sacramento,
in Citrus Heights.

- Yeah, he was
a police officer

at Exeter Police Department
from '73 to '76.

In '76, he's resigned.

And then he moved from Exeter
to the Sacramento area

right around the time when our
East Area r*pist occurs.

- And that suspect is?

- Joseph DeAngelo.

- Divorced and a father of
three adult daughters,

DeAngelo becomes
the prime suspect in the case.

- So in 2018, the deputies
at the Sacramento County

Sheriff's Office, they put
him under surveillance

and they obtained a DNA
sample surreptitiously.

- There was DNA that was
lifted from the door handle

of DeAngelo's car,
and additional DNA

material was obtained after
that from a discarded tissue.

- Wow. Amazing.

- I was getting pretty excited,
but at the same time

I learned to not get very
excited over the years.

Because the more
excited you get,

the more let down you are.

- So Paul Holes, who was one of
the investigators on the case

had this idea to submit
one of the samples of DNA

from a crime scene to one
of these online ancestry

companies that track heritage.

- And then that was ingested
into the ancestral databanks

where that
information is pooled.

the genetic profiles
of thousands of users

looking to research
their family trees.

It's a Hail Mary
from investigators,

but if Joseph DeAngelo
or any of his relatives

have entered their
DNA into the site,

it could confirm the
investigators' suspicions.

- That DNA sample was a match.

- I think the initial
list was around 1,000,

but that was culled down,

and people were brought
on board

with the expertise in having
that ability

to reverse engineer
a family tree

until we were whittled down
to a list of 25.

And certainly, on that list,
Mr. DeAngelo bopped.

- That ultimately led
to the identification

of the Golden State k*ller.

That's what solved it.

- And we begin with breaking
news out of California,

where authorities tonight say
they have arrested

a serial k*ller tied
to dozens of murders

and sexual assaults,

72-year-old
Joseph James DeAngelo.

- We all knew as
part of this team

that we were looking for
a needle in a haystack.

We found the needle
in the haystack.

- And what did that feel like?

What are you both thinking?

- I was exhilarated.

- I got the call as
soon as he was arrested,

and I couldn't have
been happier to hear it.

- DeAngelo is
a former police officer,

and DNA led
investigators to him,

police arresting him at
his home in Citrus Heights

near Sacramento,
accused of at least

12 murders, 45 r*pes,
and dozens of burglaries

across the state.

- A tent was set up as FBI
agents collected evidence.

Neighbors looked on, wondering
if they had been living

in close proximity
to the notorious r*pist

and k*ller who spread
fear across the state.

- Joseph James DeAngelo
has been called

the Golden State k*ller.

Today, it's our pleasure
to call him defendant.

- His first appearance
in court,

his eyes were vacant.

- 72-year-old Joseph DeAngelo,
handcuffed to a wheelchair,

looked like he could barely
hold his head up as he made

his first court appearance.

- He looked as though
he was a decrepit, old man,

his posture, his gaze.

He seemed very feeble.

- That's Joe DeAngelo
when all his control

has been taken away.
- Yeah.

- He completely imploded.

- Do you understand,
Mr. DeAngelo, that you'll

be entering guilty pleas
to 13 counts of m*rder

in the first degree, omitting
special circumstances?

- I don't think he could have
sat there and gone through

a trial, and he didn't.

- How do you plead?

- Guilty.

- I heard just the incredible
toll and impact that

it's had on all the victims.

- In the early morning
of July 17, 1976,

my life was changed forever.

I was 15 years old.

- He r*ped me, stole my
innocence, my security,

threatened my life, threatened
the lives of my family.

I was 13 years old.

- DeAngelo,
I want you to look at me.

I want you to look
at me, DeAngelo.

- You hid in plain sight,
and you are now visible

for everyone to despise,
loathe, and abhor.

The devil can keep you
company in your prison cell

as he gnaws away at
whatever soul you have left.

- Everyone is changed forever
by an experience like this.

The far-reaching
impact that this man

had on all of their
families is really

an untold number of people
that this man has affected.

- Today, I am in the room
with the pathetic excuse

of a man who will
now finally be held

accountable for his actions.

- From now on, while he is
withering away in prison,

I will be spending my
days fishing on the river,

enjoying my family
and grandchild,

eating out and relaxing in
the comfort of my home, free.

I will be free of the fear he
put me through for so long.

- I think what's really
alarming is that if you saw

Joseph DeAngelo walking
down the street,

you would never guess
that this normal-looking

old man was capable of
carrying out such evil acts.

- It was an element of closure,
although I think that word is

inadequate to describe
the feeling of satisfaction

that you derive from having an
offender like this identified.

I know that many other
law enforcement officers

who were involved in the
investigation over time

felt the same way.

- I think I was equally as
happy for the detectives that

have spent their entire careers
working on it, as I was,

for the victims and
the victims' families.