Golden State Killer suspect is a former cop: Report

The man authorities believe may be the elusive Golden State Killer is a former police officer who was fired for shoplifting.

Jail records obtained by the San Francisco Gate show that Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, was booked into the Sacramento County Jail early Wednesday morning. A press conference is scheduled for Wednesday at noon Pacific time to address the arrest and the link to the long-cold serial killer case.

The Golden State Killer, also known as the East Area Rapist, is believed to be responsible for 12 murders, nearly 50 rapes, and over 100 home invasions. The rapist and killer reportedly targeted single women in residential areas or women whose husbands were not home.

But if a man was present in the home, the Golden State Killer had a signature method of subduing him: He would bind the man and then place a pile of kitchen plates on his back while he assaulted the woman in the home. He then reportedly threatened his victims that he would kill both of them if he heard a plate break.

The suspect is believed to have last killed someone in 1986, a decade after he began his rampage, and has disappeared since then.

DeAngelo is reportedly a former officer with the Auburn Police Department. According to a 1979 news report in the Auburn Journal located by the San Francisco Gate, DeAngelo was fired from the force that year for stealing a can of dog repellent and a hammer from a drugstore in Sacramento.

 

[Feature image: Golden State Killer suspect sketch/FBI]