This seems to be the one of the worst serial rapists and murderers that people know little about. If you haven't been paying attention to it on the news, there have recently been major breaks in the case (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43915187). There was also a recent documentary about the case on HLN.
In the 70s and 80s, a serial rapist known as the East Area Rapist assaulted dozens of women (50+) in the Sacramento and Contra Costa County areas. He would stalk victims for weeks, then break into their houses at night and tie up everyone inside. He was very careful, always wore a mask, and was violent and sadistic. Some accounts of what he did are really horrifying.
Then, the attacks suddenly stopped in Northern California. What they didn't know at the time was that he had started attacking Southern California, this time murdering his victims. He murdered 12 people that they know of. He was known there as the Original Night Stalker. In 1986 it seemed to stop completely.
For years, some investigators believed that these sets of crimes were linked, but they didn't have definitive proof until 2001, after DNA technology had improved. A few years later, he came to be called the Golden State Killer, and although investigators continued working the case, he was never caught.
Until last week, when they arrested a 72 year old man living in Sacramento. He was a police officer at the time that many of the offenses occurred, though he was fired from that job for shoplifting (a hammer and dog deterrent, creepy considering he liked to bludgeon his victims). It appears that he's been living in Sacramento the entire time, and was married with three children.
What's interesting about this case is not just that they actually finally caught the guy, but how they did it. They had a DNA profile from him but never got a match in the criminal databases. Instead, they uploaded the profile to an ancestry site called GEDmatch. Apparently their rules are not as stringent as bigger sites like 23andMe or Ancestry.com, and they allow you to upload a DNA profile (usually that people got from these other sites) instead of providing a sample directly to them. Using this service, the investigators found near relatives, then went through the family tree until they found the right person. Some feel that this use of ancestry DNA services for criminal investigations is alarming (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/27/health/dna-privacy-golden-state-killer-genealogy.html)
What do you think? I still can't believe that they caught him, after 40 years it must have felt like it would never happen. The victims must feel such relief. Up to 2001 he was still calling some victims and threatening to come back and kill them. Technology definitely caught up with him.
In the 70s and 80s, a serial rapist known as the East Area Rapist assaulted dozens of women (50+) in the Sacramento and Contra Costa County areas. He would stalk victims for weeks, then break into their houses at night and tie up everyone inside. He was very careful, always wore a mask, and was violent and sadistic. Some accounts of what he did are really horrifying.
Then, the attacks suddenly stopped in Northern California. What they didn't know at the time was that he had started attacking Southern California, this time murdering his victims. He murdered 12 people that they know of. He was known there as the Original Night Stalker. In 1986 it seemed to stop completely.
For years, some investigators believed that these sets of crimes were linked, but they didn't have definitive proof until 2001, after DNA technology had improved. A few years later, he came to be called the Golden State Killer, and although investigators continued working the case, he was never caught.
Until last week, when they arrested a 72 year old man living in Sacramento. He was a police officer at the time that many of the offenses occurred, though he was fired from that job for shoplifting (a hammer and dog deterrent, creepy considering he liked to bludgeon his victims). It appears that he's been living in Sacramento the entire time, and was married with three children.
What's interesting about this case is not just that they actually finally caught the guy, but how they did it. They had a DNA profile from him but never got a match in the criminal databases. Instead, they uploaded the profile to an ancestry site called GEDmatch. Apparently their rules are not as stringent as bigger sites like 23andMe or Ancestry.com, and they allow you to upload a DNA profile (usually that people got from these other sites) instead of providing a sample directly to them. Using this service, the investigators found near relatives, then went through the family tree until they found the right person. Some feel that this use of ancestry DNA services for criminal investigations is alarming (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/27/health/dna-privacy-golden-state-killer-genealogy.html)
What do you think? I still can't believe that they caught him, after 40 years it must have felt like it would never happen. The victims must feel such relief. Up to 2001 he was still calling some victims and threatening to come back and kill them. Technology definitely caught up with him.
