The Golden State Killer: When Evil Wore a Badge

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,160
What if I told you that for decades, one of California's most wanted serial killers

2
00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:09,040
was hiding in plain sight as a suburban grandfather.

3
00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:14,280
Joseph James DiAngelo spent his career as a cop investigating burglaries while committing

4
00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:15,880
them himself.

5
00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:21,240
He fooled his family, his colleagues, and entire communities for 40 years.

6
00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:26,200
Then in 2018, a genealogy website changed everything.

7
00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:31,320
This is the story of how evil wore a badge and how DNA finally brought it all crashing

8
00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:38,920
down.

9
00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:58,640
I'm going to tell you all about Joseph James DiAngelo and this story is going to feel

10
00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:03,760
like watching someone fall down a very long, very dark staircase.

11
00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:10,500
Born in 1945 in Bath, New York, right as World War II was ending, DiAngelo came into this

12
00:01:10,500 --> 00:01:16,120
world during a time when the country was trying to figure out what normal looked like again.

13
00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:21,560
His dad was a career military man, a sergeant in the US Army, and he ran their household

14
00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:22,880
like a boot camp.

15
00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:25,320
Now, military families move around a lot.

16
00:01:25,320 --> 00:01:30,440
I can tell you that from personal experience and the DiAngelo's were no exception.

17
00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:34,360
They bounced around from base to base, never really settling anywhere long enough for

18
00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,120
Joseph to put down any roots.

19
00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:38,800
Here's where things get complicated.

20
00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:43,680
DiAngelo's older sisters would later say that their father's idea of discipline crossed

21
00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:45,720
some pretty serious lines.

22
00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:50,120
When Joseph broke the rules and apparently he did that often, the punishments weren't

23
00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:52,840
your typical "go to your room" situation.

24
00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:59,200
We're talking about abuse that left lasting marks, both physical and psychological.

25
00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:03,960
Like there's another piece to this puzzle that's absolutely crucial to understand.

26
00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:08,520
When the family was stationed in Germany, Joseph's older sister Constance was assaulted

27
00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:10,200
by two airmen.

28
00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:12,160
This wasn't some minor incident.

29
00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:17,200
This was a violent attack that fundamentally changed how this family functioned.

30
00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:21,400
And for Joseph, watching his sister go through that trauma appears to have planted something

31
00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,120
dark in his developing mind.

32
00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:28,880
By the time Joseph hit his teenage years, he was already showing some seriously troubling

33
00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:29,880
behavior.

34
00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:35,200
While the other kids were figuring out dating and driving, Joseph was breaking into neighbor's

35
00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:36,200
houses.

36
00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:41,600
Not for money or valuables, he was taking weird personal stuff, a single earring from a

37
00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:42,600
set.

38
00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:45,520
Random coins from a kid's piggy bank.

39
00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:46,920
Women's underwear.

40
00:02:46,920 --> 00:02:48,600
And then there were the animals.

41
00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:55,000
Joseph started hunting animals, which any psychologist will tell you is a massive red flag.

42
00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:59,280
When someone can't fight back against a larger, stronger person, sometimes they turn around

43
00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:01,880
and hurt something smaller and weaker.

44
00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:05,880
It's a pattern that would define Joseph's entire life.

45
00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:10,480
After high school, Joseph joined the Navy and served during the Vietnam War.

46
00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:13,920
He was stationed on two different ships and saw active duty.

47
00:03:13,920 --> 00:03:17,080
When he came back to the States, he did what a lot of veterans did.

48
00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:19,960
He went to school and then looked for steady work.

49
00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:26,040
Joseph DiAngelo worked for the Auburn Police Department from 1976 to 1979.

50
00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:30,080
A time span when he was allegedly committing dozens of rapes.

51
00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:32,560
The irony here is staggering.

52
00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:37,320
He was working in the burglary unit, investigating the exact crimes he'd been committing since

53
00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:39,320
he was a teenager.

54
00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:40,560
Think about that for a second.

55
00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:45,880
The man spent his days learning exactly how police investigated break ins, what evidence

56
00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:49,280
they looked for, and how to avoid getting caught.

57
00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:52,960
He was literally getting paid to become a better criminal.

58
00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:59,800
He served in Auburn from August 1976 to July 1979 when he was arrested for shoplifting

59
00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,200
a hammer and dog repellent.

60
00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:06,920
He was sentenced to six months of probation and fired that October.

61
00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:11,960
Now you might be thinking why would someone risk their entire career over a hammer and some

62
00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:12,960
dog repellent?

63
00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:18,080
Well, hold that thought, because it's about to make perfect sense.

64
00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:21,280
From Joseph got fired, he didn't go quietly.

65
00:04:21,280 --> 00:04:25,680
During the process of being fired, DiAngelo threatened to kill the chief of police and

66
00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:28,480
allegedly stalk the chief's house.

67
00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:32,520
His former colleagues got a glimpse of who he really was beneath that badge, but they

68
00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:36,200
had no idea how deep this rabbit hole actually went.

69
00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:37,800
Here's what we need to talk about.

70
00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:41,800
What Joseph was really doing during those years as a police officer.

71
00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,880
The first crime thought to be connected to what they were calling the East Area Rapist

72
00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:52,700
took place on June 18, 1976, when a man broke into a home in Rancho Cordova, a Sacramento

73
00:04:52,700 --> 00:04:55,960
suburb, and assaulted a woman in her home.

74
00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:58,600
But he'd been escalating for a while.

75
00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:04,720
In 1975, he'd been stalking the Snelling family, particularly their 16-year-old daughter.

76
00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:09,480
Her father, Claude Snelling, had already chased off a masked prowler from under her bedroom

77
00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:15,080
window once, but Joseph came back and this time he made it inside their house.

78
00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:19,520
In the early morning hours, Claude heard strange noises and went to investigate.

79
00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:23,040
He found a masked man attempting to kidnap his daughter.

80
00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:27,880
Claude fought back and saved his child, but Joseph was prepared for resistance.

81
00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:31,080
He shot Claude, who died from his injuries.

82
00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:36,320
Joseph had crossed another line, from Berglor and Stonker to killer.

83
00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,640
When Joseph made so terrifying, it wasn't the random violence.

84
00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:42,200
It was the methodical way he operated.

85
00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:47,200
He would stalk potential victims for weeks, sometimes months, learning their routines, their

86
00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:49,440
vulnerabilities, their schedules.

87
00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:54,600
He'd break into homes multiple times before the final attack, leaving behind tools he'd

88
00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:55,960
need later.

89
00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:59,280
Shulases for binding, weapons for threatening.

90
00:05:59,280 --> 00:06:02,880
During his attacks, Joseph would spend hours in his victim's homes.

91
00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:07,720
He'd eat their food, drink their beer, rummage through their personal belongings.

92
00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:12,120
One survivor described thinking he'd left, only to have him reappear and continue the

93
00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:13,120
assault.

94
00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:17,160
It was psychological torture on top of the violence.

95
00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:18,800
And there was something else.

96
00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:23,600
He'd often mumble about someone named Bonnie during these attacks.

97
00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:28,080
Bonnie was a woman he'd been engaged to years earlier who had left him.

98
00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:32,800
He was literally taking out his romantic failures on innocent women.

99
00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:36,960
In 1978, Joseph's violence escalated again.

100
00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:42,080
He encountered Brian and Katie Majuri, a young military couple out walking their dog.

101
00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:45,080
Brian was 21, Katie was 20.

102
00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:49,920
They were killed for the simple crime of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

103
00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:53,160
Joseph had officially become a serial killer.

104
00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:58,040
Police believed that the Golden State Killer, Joseph James DeAngelo, is the man behind a dozen

105
00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:03,280
or more heinous murders and dozens of rapes across California, spanning from the Sacramento

106
00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:10,640
area all the way to Orange County in Southern California between 1976 and 1986.

107
00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:18,760
On June 29, 2020, hearing the 74-year-old former police officer admitted to a total of 161

108
00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:24,400
crimes, involving 48 victims, including dozens of rapes that could not be charged because

109
00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:29,080
of the statute of limitations on prosecuting them had long ago expired.

110
00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:31,040
Let me put that into perspective.

111
00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:38,160
He committed 13 known murders, over 50 rapes and 120 burglaries up and down the state of

112
00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,440
California in 11 different counties.

113
00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:45,440
This was a decades-long reign of terror.

114
00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:49,720
For 40 years, Joseph James DeAngelo thought he'd gotten away with it.

115
00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:54,780
He used his police training to stay ahead of investigators, always wearing gloves, always

116
00:07:54,780 --> 00:08:00,600
planning his escape routes, always knowing exactly what evidence to avoid leaving behind.

117
00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:03,920
But he never counted on science catching up with him.

118
00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:10,480
In 2018, investigators used DNA evidence collected from crime scenes in the 1970s and uploaded it

119
00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:14,320
to GED match, a genealogical database.

120
00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:19,720
The DNA didn't match anyone in the system directly, but it showed family connections.

121
00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:24,360
Investigators built a family tree and narrowed it down to Joseph James DeAngelo.

122
00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:29,440
After 40 years of hiding in plain sight, living as a grandfather in a quiet neighborhood,

123
00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:31,920
his past finally caught up with him.

124
00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:36,520
When Joseph was arrested, something fascinating happened during his interrogation.

125
00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:40,440
He started talking about an alter ego named Jerry.

126
00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:44,040
He claimed that Jerry was the one who made him commit these crimes.

127
00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:47,480
That Jerry was a part of him that he couldn't control.

128
00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:50,400
"I didn't have the strength to push him out.

129
00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:51,400
He made me.

130
00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:52,400
He went with me.

131
00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:53,880
It was like in my head.

132
00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:55,640
I mean, he's a part of me.

133
00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:57,200
I didn't want to do those things.

134
00:08:57,200 --> 00:08:59,720
I pushed Jerry out and had a happy life.

135
00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:00,960
I did all those things.

136
00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:02,640
I destroyed their lives.

137
00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:04,800
So now I've got to pay the price."

138
00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:09,520
Now I'm obviously not a psychologist, but this sounds to me like someone who spent decades

139
00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:14,240
perfecting the art of not taking responsibility for his actions.

140
00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:19,760
The killer was at large for decades until DNA evidence led to the arrest of Joseph DeAngelo

141
00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:23,960
in 2018, who pleaded guilty in June 2020.

142
00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:29,080
By the time he was sentenced, Joseph was 74 years old, an elderly man who had fooled

143
00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:31,520
his own family for decades.

144
00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:35,720
The statute of limitations had run out on most of his sexual assault charges, but he could

145
00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:38,320
still be held accountable for murder.

146
00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:44,160
In August 2020, James Joseph DeAngelo was sentenced to multiple consecutive life sentences

147
00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:46,600
without the possibility of parole.

148
00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:51,840
The Golden State Killer, Joseph James DeAngelo's story, is a reminder that monsters don't

149
00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:53,880
always look like monsters.

150
00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:58,400
They can be your neighbor, your coworker, even the police officer who's supposed to

151
00:09:58,400 --> 00:09:59,760
protect you.

152
00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:04,880
For 40 years, he lived a seemingly normal life while carrying the weight of unimaginable

153
00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:06,080
violence.

154
00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:11,080
The survivors of his crimes showed incredible courage in coming forward and testifying.

155
00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:16,400
Their strength helped ensure that even decades later, justice could still be served.

156
00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:21,240
And thanks to advances in DNA technology, cases that once seemed impossible to solve are

157
00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:23,080
finding resolution.

158
00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:26,920
Joseph James DeAngelo thought he was smarter than everyone else.

159
00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:35,800
In the end, he was wrong.

160
00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:40,120
Thanks for listening to 10 Minute Murder, binge-abull true crime stories.

161
00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:43,400
My name is Joe, I'm the host, it's a pleasure to meet you.

162
00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:47,240
That is, if you're a new listener to the podcast, welcome.

163
00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:51,480
Make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this right now, and also go to 10minute

164
00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:55,920
murder.com, and there you'll find all kinds of information about the podcast.

165
00:10:55,920 --> 00:11:00,120
You can also, if you go to the website, send me a message, send me an email, and this

166
00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:01,440
is one of those.

167
00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:03,440
Subject for the Q&A segment.

168
00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:08,000
Hi Joe, totally random, but I've always wondered, what is your process for picking which

169
00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:09,880
cases to cover?

170
00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:15,720
Like are there cases you won't do because they're too recent, too dark, or just too weird?

171
00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:19,360
Thanks for being my favorite voice in the crime podcast pile.

172
00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:21,000
Jess from Oakland.

173
00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:24,960
Jess thank you for the email, and the answer is, I don't pick the cases anymore.

174
00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:30,440
I used to, at the very beginning of this podcast, in its first initial weeks, I would pick all

175
00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:32,360
the stories that I covered.

176
00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:35,920
The ones that were most interesting to me, and the podcast did okay.

177
00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:36,920
It was fine.

178
00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:42,640
But then when I started doing the cases that you listening suggest to me, that's when it

179
00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:46,360
really started popping off, started doing numbers at that point, and I realized, oh, I suck

180
00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:48,000
at picking cases.

181
00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:50,560
So that's basically what I exclusively do now.

182
00:11:50,560 --> 00:11:53,800
Every now and then I'll add one that I just want to do because I think it's interesting,

183
00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:59,040
but for the most part, 90% of the time, it's something that one of you listening has submitted

184
00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:00,240
to me and asked me to cover it.

185
00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:05,040
In the process of that is, you tell me about the case you want me to talk about, and then

186
00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:08,000
I'll go and see what information is out there and what I can find.

187
00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:12,520
And if it's, I think it's interesting and will add to the podcast and will be something

188
00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:14,720
that I think is interesting to cover on the podcast.

189
00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:20,200
Or more importantly, is there enough information about that story to cover on the podcast?

190
00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:22,120
So that's the normal process of that.

191
00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:26,920
And if you want to suggest a story, you can go to 10minuteMurder.com and do it that way.

192
00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:28,640
Alright, that's going to do it.

193
00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:30,640
Thank you so much for listening to the podcast.

194
00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:31,560
I'll see you next time.