Wow.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/25/us/golden-state-killer-development/index.html
Press conference from authorities (local, state, and FBI) any moment. I’m watching on CNN.
Apparently this guy has been called the East Area Rapist, as well as The Original Night Stalker.
I had the recently published book on my TBR list, just went and got in the queue at our library.
From the press conference, the defendant was connected to the 12 murders and 51 rapes through “discarded DNA.”
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article209779364.html has more information.
https://patch.com/california/walnutcreek/joseph-james-deangelo-5-things-know-golden-state-killer has some information on the suspect. He was a police officer for part of the time period that the crimes took place, until he was fired after a shoplifting charge.
I’m interested in this news because I follow Patton Oswalt on Twitter. Much is owed to his late wife for her “amateur” work on the case.
@rosered55 I follow Patton Oswalt on Twitter as well, and that’s how I heard about the book. I finally got it from the library and finished it a few weeks ago after waiting for months, and now I want to re-read - guess I need to get back into the queue. I’m glad for the victims and the victims’ families that they have arrested him. I hope he has a long life ahead of him in jail.
ETA - The back pages of McNamara’s book had some maps showing a triangle in which investigators think it’s most likely that the GSK lived (the theory being that he was generally familiar with the area of the attacks but did not attack directly adjacent to his home because of the risk of being identified by neighbors who could identify him). I wonder if the suspect’s house is within that geographic area.
Also, one of the 3 composite sketches of the suspect looks incredibly similar to one of the photos of the suspect from his HS yearbook.
WOW! Apparently the murderer was found because a relative used one of those DNA kits!
Wow! That’s crazy!
I was reading Websleuths dot com yesterday as soon as the news broke, and MANY people there were theorizing that this is how they found the guy.
It’s not something that ever would have occurred to me. I wonder if there are other possible murder cases that could be solved in this manner.
Michelle McNamara’s book touched on using the commercial DNA databases to search for the killer - and IIRC one chapter mentioned that an investigator submitted partial DNA of the suspect, got a match and then figured out that it was matched to the same sample that another investigator had submitted on the same theory.
But since McNamara passed away a few years ago, I guess a lot more people have submitted their DNA and eventually something came of it.
Fascinating.
@GnocchiB, wow, I didn’t know that about McNamara. I will definitely be reading her book. I saw that her husband had posted something to the effect of “We got him.” That must make him feel better in some way.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it is fabulous that they caught him. But does it make anyone uneasy that they could use your DNA that you sent in to see what your ancestry is against one of your relatives? I guess if your relative is that horrible of a person it is a good thing. Interesting to think about.
I have a huge problem with the commercial DNA registries and would never in a million years voluntarily submit mine to any of the genealogy companies that do that sort of thing.
@tx5athome It DOES bother me. In a previous case in which a young woman didn’t know her identity after being abandoned by the man who probably killed her mother, I thought the use of DNA was entirely appropriate. I thought she had the right to know who she was.
This time? I have doubts. I haven’t decided one way or the other at this point. I’m just not sure…
I do think this and some other recent events are going to make people much more hesitant about taking DNA tests. I am “into” genealogy and have taken one. My adult child has also taken one, but more to find out about genetic illnesses rather than an interest in genealogy.
Supposedly the police used a site where users voluntarily submit their profiles.
Many of them may not want to do this sort of thing, but may be compelled by court order to do so.
^^^Exactly.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article209987599.html
According to article police used open source geneaology GEDmatch database which according to company policy is “to inform users that the database could be used for other users, as set forth in the Site Policy.”