48 Hours - The Golden State Killer - Encore

Episode Date: August 23, 2020

Survivors confront the man known as The Golden State Killer, after his 40-year reign of terror. Correspondent Tracy Smith reports for "48 Hours."See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits, and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it.

There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial, and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. What's the first step to growing your business? Getting people to notice you. But how do you do that? Two words. Constant contact. Your struggle with expensive, slow, and unmeasurable approaches to marketing your business is over. With constant contact, get email marketing that helps you create and send the perfect email to every customer. Connect with over 2 billion people on social media

with an all-in-one tool for posting and sharing, and create, promote, and manage your events with ease, all in one place. Join the millions of small businesses that trust Constant Contact with their marketing success. So get going and growing trust Constant Contact with their marketing success. So get going and growing with Constant Contact today. Ready, set, grow. Go to ConstantContact.ca and start your free trial today. Go to ConstantContact.ca for your free trial.

ConstantContact.ca Hello? I'm gonna kill you. I'm to kill you. I'm going to kill you. Victims lined up in a courtroom to confront Joseph DeAngelo, the so-called Golden State killer. My safety was shattered as a masked man, DeAngelo, yielding a knife, told me he would kill me if I didn't do what he demanded. Calling him the devil incarnate and a sick monster. The Golden State Killer is the most prolific serial predator in the nation.

He attacked across the state from Sacramento down to Orange County across 15 different jurisdictions. He was the boogeyman. He was the man in the bushes that we didn't know who he was and we didn't know when he was going to strike again. Standing up in front of me was this man with a ski mask on holding a large butcher knife. It was sheer terror.

My sister was the Golden State Killer's final victim. What's fascinating to me about this case is Rich with so many clues. Michelle McNamara had a passion for true crime. Michelle was hot on the trail of the Golden State Killer. She was writing a book about him. And she was a mom and a wife to a comedian, Patton Oswalt.

My wife is ten times smarter than me. She is thinking and operating on this way elevated level from where I am. She had a mind for the details of true crime the way that other people have for baseball or me for films. She could recall the details of pretty much every late 20th and 21st century crime. It was just in her head.

That's why I just don't think this is like pure sexual sadism. I think there was something else. She had such good insight, and I think it's because other investigators had trusted her. They told her things that weren't in some of the original files. She was tenacious about investigating the case. She thought she was getting real close to finding him. We found the needle in the haystack. D'Angelo, I want you to look at me.

I want you to look at me, D'Angelo. And I want you to remember what I have to say. In the early morning of July 17, 1976, my life was changed forever. I was 15 years old. I was 16 years old at the time. My God, we were just high school kids. He raped me.

He stole my innocence, my security, threatened my life, threatened the lives of my family. I was 13 years old. You hid in plain sight, but 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. Thank you. Oh, Miss Berman. You said you'd call me, you bastard. Patton Oswalt is a comedian and actor known to millions of fans.

She said I was inconsiderate, condescending, that I looked like a lesbian art teacher. And a voice known to millions of kids. Taste check, spoon down. Good. Too much salt? Good. Yet he would tell you it was his first wife, Michelle McNamara, who was the true star of the family, something Patton sensed as soon as they began dating. I've met someone who is so much, so above my punching class in terms of intelligence and wisdom and empathy. I was done for. She took a little bit of convincing. But convince her he did in 2005.

It was just like, oh, this is amazing. But convince her he did in 2005. Patton learned his new bride had some unique interests. You know, Michelle was always a writer. She had published short stories and poetry, but she was also always just fascinated with people and just the messiness of a life. people and just the messiness of a life. Michelle was captivated by true crime stories, especially cold cases. In 2006, she started the blog True Crime Diary, where she profiled both recent and long-forgotten crimes. When she started that blog, you know, she was just off to the races. The pair welcomed daughter Alice in 2009. But even as motherhood took center stage, Michelle hunted for cases and clues. Once everyone was asleep, she was on that laptop. There is a breed of men and women that are just wired to pursue these people and keep going, you know, when other people would have gone, oh, I got to go live

my life. Soon, Michelle's online quest brought her face to face with one of the worst villains she'd never heard of. When you hear Zodiac Killer, you know what it is. You hear Jack the Ripper, you know what it is. Billy Jensen is a true crime journalist in Southern California. You hear East Area Rapist slash Original Night Stalker. Nobody knows what that is. The East Area Rapist, Original Night Stalker, Erons for short, not a very memorable name, but he's one of the most prolific criminals California has ever seen.

She started looking at the devastation that this guy wrought. You're taunting the police, you're taunting the devastation that this guy wrought. You're taunting the police, you're taunting the population, and you're never caught. Michelle McNamara had found her nemesis. Paul Haynes is a researcher who worked with Michelle. Michelle called herself a citizen sleuth. What does that mean? A private citizen who's not in law enforcement and who's not a private investigator, that is drawn into a crime and does their own investigating based on the tools that are available to them. Michelle started hitting the message boards of fellow online sleuths, hunting for everything she could learn about Irons.

Over one horrific decade, he'd covered a lot of ground, starting as a rapist in the Sacramento area in 1976. His MO typically is to break into a house in the middle of the night and confront a sleeping couple by shining a flashlight into the eyes of the female, insisting that she tie up the male. Then Eron's moved to Southern California, where he used the same M.O. to break in and rape. But now he'd leave no witnesses. All told, over 50 women were raped and 13 people murdered before the attacker stopped in 1986 and seemingly vanished.

And she began working on a feature for Los Angeles Magazine. Michelle wrote an article about Irons in 2013. She had details from bits of information she gleaned online and more explicit details from investigators on the case. The odd acronym Irons was not a name many knew, so Michelle decided to rebrand him, hoping to give him a higher profile. Working with our editor at Los Angeles Magazine, they said, you know what, this Golden State Killer, it shows just the breadth of him having

hit Northern California, Southern California, and then sort of right in the middle. With that, Irons became the Golden State Killer, and Michelle would become a book author, signing a deal to write about him. Patton says they sacrificed family time so Michelle could travel extensively by herself to retrace the steps of the killer. a deal to write about him. Patton says they sacrificed family time so Michelle could travel extensively by herself to retrace the steps of the killer. It's one thing to read it on a piece of paper, but to actually walk it every day and see businesses and houses that were there, that are still there, you know, changes the writing. So I would go out of my way to try to give that to her. So you were really the Watson to her homes?

Yeah, except Watson was way smarter than me. If I was the Watson to her homes, I was the kind of Watson that just went and got like coffee or, can you go get me a turkey burger, please? Fine, I'll get a turkey burger. And even I would get that order wrong. The obsession of hunting a serial killer took its toll on Michelle. And I'd go back in the back office and Michelle would be there just like in tears because some road she had gone down had not panned out. And then it's like, I now have to start back again from zero. And she did, picking up new promising leads in her hunt for the Golden State Killer. By April 2016, Michelle had been driving herself hard, hoping for a breakthrough.

On the night of the 20th, she was exhausted from it all. I just remember this so clearly saying, you know, tomorrow, just sleep till you wake up. The next day, around mid-morning, Patton checked on Michelle. She was snoring. I remember I was laughing like, oh, she's snoring. And then I brought her, I went and got her an Americano, left it on her bedside.

By early afternoon, when Michelle still hadn't gotten up, Patton went to check on her again. She was dead. And I tried reviving her and it was just, you know, and then everything after that to me, I remember it as her, and it was just, you know, and then everything after that, to me, I remember it as like screaming and vomiting and EMT guys and friends. Michelle McNamara had died at the age of 46.

It was April 21st. Spring's coming. It's all good. And then literally within the space of three hours, just annihilation. Like this world that you're seeing in front of you is just... It's cinders. It's just all, it's just cinders. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing.

The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military, and when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn, and it harboured a deep, dark scandal.

There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reached the age of 10 that was still a virgin. It just happens to all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones, and for almost two years, I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn when there's nobody watching nobody going to report it people will get away with what they can get away with in the Pitcairn trials I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique lonely lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction.

Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. I want to talk to her so badly. I miss her so much. And I'm just sad all the time. When Michelle died so suddenly, her husband Patton Oswalt and seven-year-old daughter Alice were devastated. So when Oswalt won an Emmy for writing a variety special,

just five months later, the moment was bittersweet. I'm not trying to say that this is meaningless, but it really does. Everything seems like the lights have been turned down 50% on everything since she's gone. Patton was still waiting for the L.A. coroner's office to find the cause of Michelle's death, but he'd reached an important decision. Her book needed to be finished. It had so consumed her life, and it was so much a part of her. I thought she was one of the nicest people I had ever had the opportunity to meet.

Larry Crompton spent decades with the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department. Michelle met with him in the hope of tapping into his wealth of knowledge about the monster she was chasing. He would walk through the area just like a normal person, so nobody would notice him. Crompton tells the story of a white man of average height and slim athletic build in his early 20s who stalked his victims before striking, though they never knew it.

We'd go in the house when the people weren't there and set that house up. And he would leave a window unlocked or a door unlocked so that We'd go in the house when the people weren't there and set that house up and he would leave a window unlocked or a door unlocked so that he could go in. Michelle learned the rapist would also hide tools for his attack. One thing that the rapist would do is leave shoelaces or whatever to tie the people up with. When the rapist returned to attack, he'd come armed with a knife or gun, wearing a ski mask and gloves. He would blindfold the victims. And after tying them, he would take a towel and tear it up and use that for a blindfold. Within a year, the rapist crisscrossed Northern California, striking at least 22 times.

A few sketches were released based on brief glimpses by eyewitnesses on the street as he got away every time. That knack for avoiding capture haunted Michelle. He struck so often. He hit so many times. It was so frequent. Today, Anne-Marie Schubert is the district attorney of Sacramento County, but back in 1976, she was just a local 12-year-old. I have very vivid memories of what he did to this community. Each night, they patrol the neighborhoods of Sacramento County's east side. You have people who are scared. This is a community where they want to lock their doors. Paul Holes was a cold case investigator with the DA's office in Larry Crompton's Old County. And now they're having locksmiths come out to install deadbolts.

People were going and buying guns. Michelle had flown to meet Holes as well. That first day, we spent probably six hours in the car, between, you know, in the car and getting out and looking at the various scenes that I took her to. To catch him, Michelle had to understand him. For the Golden State Killer, it seemed to be about the notoriety. He had complete control over this community and he thrived off that. He thrived off the media attention. I'm really scared. In fact, he took cues from the press. Initially, he'd only attacked women who were alone. But then... The newspaper mentioned that he had never hit a place with a man in the house. He read that. That was a challenge to him. That was a challenge, and that's when he started with the men. Immediately, the rapist started targeting couples,

and he adjusted his M.O. as he went. After waking the pair, he'd insist the female tie up the male. Then he would bind the female and then reinforce the bindings in the male. He'd lull the couple into thinking he was just there to rob them. He would ask the victims where the money was, where the female's purse was. He would ask the female to the money was, where the female's purse was. He would ask the female to accompany him, to show him where it was. As soon as the couple was separated,

the rapist would set his true and terrifying plan in motion. He would retie the female in the living room of the house. He would return to the male and stack dishes on the male's back. He would tell the male, if you move, I'll hear these dishes rattle and I'll kill everything in the house, he would return to the mail and stack dishes on the mail's back. And he would tell the mail, if you move, I'll hear these dishes rattle and I'll kill everything in the house. Immobilized and emasculated, the man was then forced to lie there, listening to the rape occurring a room away. How a man can deal with that, knowing that he could be the reason for his family to die. And then in his mind, no, but I can't do anything. I have to shut up. I can't save anybody. For him to live with that, very, very, very difficult. The rapist toyed with his victims, often breaking off mid-attack

and wandering into the kitchen. He would go in, he would eat food in the house. He would take things that weren't necessarily worth a lot, but they would be worth something to the individuals. When it was over, the rapist slipped out silently, leaving his victims bound and blindfolded, afraid to move for hours. One victim remembers all too well. What, is he going to murder us? Is he going to kill us? What's he going to do to us?

Find out about Michelle's trips with Paul Holes to the various crime scenes on Facebook at 48 Hours. The identity of the Golden State Killer is a mystery that kept true crime writer and amateur detective Michelle McNamara up all night. You know, she was filled with angst for the survivors, for the families. Michelle had spoken to many survivors. Women like Jane Carson Sandler. She was the rapist's fifth victim. You're always looking over your left shoulder, always.

Jane's horrifying ordeal began shortly before dawn in October 1976. Her husband had just left for work, leaving Jane, then a student nurse and Air Force Reserve captain, in their bed. My son, he was three years old, he came and got in bed with me to snuggle. And right after that, I heard the garage door close, so I knew my husband was gone. And within three minutes, I heard someone running down the hall, and they had a flashlight in their hand. I heard someone running down the hall, and they had a flashlight in their hand. A man wearing a ski mask and black leather gloves burst into her room, holding a large butcher knife.

What was going through your head? What's he doing here? Hopefully he's just going to rob us and leave. So I said, take our money, take whatever you want. rob us and leave. So I said, take our money, take whatever you want. And the minute I started to say something, he would say in his clenched teeth, shut up or I will kill you. He then proceeded to take shoelaces and tie our hands, our wrists and our ankles. And then he gagged us and blindfolded us, both of us. Just fear, fear. When the intruder untied her ankles, Jane realized he was going to rape her. But Jane was focused on something else. When I went to lean next to my three-year-old son, he was gone. He was gone. So when the rape took place, I wasn't paying any attention to it

because all I was thinking about is where's my son. After the rape, the attacker kept going in and out of her bedroom. And at one point, I leaned again and my son was back next to me. So we put him back. And that was such a relief because I knew he was alive. But the rapist wasn't gone. Jane could hear him in the kitchen rattling pots and pans. And then he would come back in the bedroom and say,

don't you make a move or I'll come back in here and kill you. Finally, after what seemed to Jane like an eternity, there was silence. And I thought, we've got to get out of here. So hobbled around the backyard to the gate in the front of the house and then just screamed for a neighbor. Jane and her son survived, but the carefree life her family had known did not. I was afraid, is he going to come back? Is he still stalking me? You know, does he live down the street? Did you ever think that it would happen to you?

Never, ever. My mom always said, she's too old, I was too young, we wouldn't be victims. But the rapist would prove them wrong. In November 1977, 13-year-old Margaret Wardlow would become one of the rapist's youngest victims. I woke up to this flashlight in my face. I saw him in a mask. I had my hands tied behind my back. The attacker left Margaret's room, but she soon heard him upstairs in their kitchen. Margaret knew from newspaper accounts that the rapist would use plates as an alarm system, placing them on the backs of household members that were not his intended target. I knew if he came into my room, he was going to rape my mom. And if he went into my mom's room, he was going my mom. And if he went into my mom's room, he was going to rape me.

And he went into my mom's room. The intruder raped Margaret. But in her youthful defiance, she refused to give him what she thought he really wanted. You didn't want to show him you were scared. I didn't want to show him I was scared. I knew he got off on scaring people and having the control of fear. In fact, the rapist would often call his victims after the attack. Investigators recorded one of his bone-chilling phone calls. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you.

Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you.

Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you.

Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you.

Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you.

Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you.

Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you.

Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you.

Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you.

Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you.

Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. If he ever comes to my house, I'll kill him. That he would protect his wife, protect his family. Just months later, that man and his wife were attacked. The rapist was probably at that meeting disguised as just another concerned citizen. Desperate to capture him, investigators literally chased down thousands of leads. Larry Crompton went through the names of 6,000 paroled rapists. Did you feel like you were constantly going down rabbit holes? Oh, yes. There were names that would come up that really looked good, and you would work them and work them and work them, and nothing.

would work them and work them and work them and nothing. The rapes in Northern California stopped abruptly in 1979, with the attackers seemingly vanishing from the area. But the nightmare was about to begin in Southern California. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. But did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, wherever you get your podcasts. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to

all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld and she's informing on them all. I'm Marsha Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop.

Now, through dramatic interviews and access, I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informant's Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad free right now. I definitely think there's something about the housing thing that seems very interesting. And there did seem to be a lot of new houses around where he hit and a lot of houses for sale. In July 1981, a realtor walked into a home in Santa Barbara County and made a grisly discovery.

Inside were the bodies of Sherry Domingo and her boyfriend, Greg Sanchez. Sherry had been bound and bludgeoned. Greg Sanchez had been shot and beaten. I've always had this image in my head of what her last moments were like. The fear, the absolute terror that she had to have been going through. Debbie Domingo, Sherry's daughter, was only 15 at the time. To this day, she lives with that painful image and with regrets. And the last thing I said to her was, why don't you just stay out of my life? And I carried a lot of guilt for a long time because of the last things that I said to her.

Debbie says their relationship had been turbulent in the weeks before the murders. She and I were fighting just like you wouldn't believe. She was doing her best to be a good mom. She had never really dealt with a headstrong teenager. And you were a headstrong teenager. I was. I was pushing the envelope pretty bad. When her mom tried to lay down some house rules, Debbie decided to run away. She'd been gone for about three weeks when she got a call from a neighbor.

And she said, Debbie, you need to come home. What were you told at the time about what happened to your mom and Greg? The best answer I ever got was someone broke into the house and killed them. I resigned myself to never ever knowing what really happened. Debbie Domingo had no way of knowing that her mother and Greg's murders were the latest in a string of unsolved murders across Southern California. Over the span of a year and a half, three other couples and a woman were killed in their homes, all in a strikingly similar, brutal fashion. In December 1979, Dr. Robert Offerman and his girlfriend Deborah Manning had been murdered in Goleta. In March 1980, Lyman and Charlene Smith had been found dead in Ventura.

Five months later, Keith and Patrice Harrington had been killed in Dana Point. And in February 1981, Manuela Whithune was found bludgeoned to death in Irvine. So you had a hunch that the Southern California homicides were related to the East Area Rapist? Yes. When Larry Crompton, who'd investigated the rapes up north, first heard about the murders, he knew almost immediately it was the same suspect. I had no proof, but we looked at the reports and said it is the same. The victims were treated the same way and tied up the same way.

Crompton had always suspected the rapist would escalate to murder. We knew that he wanted to kill. But all he needed was the justification. That came after two couples in a row managed to escape during an attack. The assailant would never let that happen again. The next time he murdered, and that's what he did after that. Even though he was sure that Southern California was now under attack by the same suspect, Crompton couldn't convince the different jurisdictions that their murders were all connected. One of the problems we had back then is that law enforcement agencies did not work

together and very little information went from one to the other. Michelle McNamara believed the suspect used this to his advantage, moving from county to county, killing without mercy. advantage, moving from county to county, killing without mercy. This was a crazed, horrible psychopath. He was just obviously very, very angry. The killer seemed to take a five-year hiatus after 1981. But in May 1986, he resurfaced again in Irvine at another house that was for sale. Everybody always wants to know why, you know, why Janelle? Michelle Cruz's sister, 18-year-old Janelle Cruz, was the killer's youngest and last known murder victim.

I got a phone call and it was one of my girlfriends and she said, your sister was murdered. Michelle learned that Janelle had asked a male friend to keep her company that night. Maybe she was scared because she felt like maybe somebody was watching her. And he said that they heard noises? They heard noises. She said, well, maybe it's just, you know, a cat outside. And they just went back to talking and Voorhe ended up having to leave and go home for the night.

That noise that she heard that night is probably accurate. He probably was in the side yard. Larry Montgomery was the lead investigator on Janelle's case back in 1986. What state was she in? She had been bludgeoned badly on the face. She was on her back in a position that looked like it's possible she had been tied up. It looked like she'd been sexually assaulted. Montgomery's investigation into the murder was intense. Still, it went nowhere. But in 1996,

the advent of DNA technology provided a break in the cold case. They were able to find DNA and discovered that the DNA from Janelle Cruz's case matches the DNA in the Whithune case five years earlier. And then they started getting hits on other DNA in Ventura County, Santa Barbara County. A year later, investigator Paul Holes' testing on the Northern California rape kits connected the rapes to each other. But the most important forensic discovery came in 2001, when the murders were finally connected to the rapes, officially confirming what Larry Crompton had long suspected. What was it like for you to get the confirmation that your hunch was right? like for you to get the confirmation that your hunch was right? It settled a lot in my mind, and I really had a feeling that, yes, now they're going to catch him. What followed was a concerted

effort among all jurisdictions to bring the violent rapist and killer to justice. He could go right up against almost this house here that... Erica Hutchcraft from the Orange County DA's Sex Crimes Unit worked on the case for over a decade. I thought when I first looked into the cases that it was like something you would study in a criminology course. And it was horrifying, but at the same time, you think, oh, I can make a difference and contribute to the solving of the case. Erica became consumed by this case, just like Michelle. I have never been the same since I started working in these cases. It's like an obsession, you know, so it's overwhelming at times, but it does change your life.

And this case has even changed the law in California. Since 2009, largely due to the efforts of Bruce Harrington, the brother of one of the murder victims, all adults arrested or charged with a felony in California must submit a DNA sample for inclusion in the state database. California maintains the third largest DNA database in the world, but investigators got no hits for the Golden State Killer. It seemed he had managed to even elude technology. But in 2018, that would all change. I believe that it's time for his reign of terror to end. I'm going to kill you.

I'm going to kill you. The great tragedy of this case to me is that it's not better known. And frankly, it should be solved. I mean, it just should be. In June 2016, two months after Michelle McNamara's death, the FBI marked the 40th anniversary of the Golden State Killer's first attack by announcing a renewed investigation. Today we're going to launch a national campaign

to help identify the East Area Rapist, Golden State Killer. All this attention now is being placed on this case. Isn't there a piece of you that says, it's been 40 years? Yes. Oh, yes. Why now? Right. Why now? But I'm glad now. After four decades, police felt the pressure of time running out. All the witnesses, all the original investigators, everybody's going to start passing away. It's now or never. They also still believe the killer's DNA profile could be the key to unlocking this mystery.

There is nothing that you can do to change your DNA. It is the greatest tool of identification we've ever had. Thank God they have his DNA. It's a needle in a haystack, but the needle's in there somewhere, and it's our job to find it. We're all so dedicated, and we work so much on this case, and it becomes your life. Sorry. That's okay. Why do you think it gets to you? Because I care. You know, I care.

I don't want to ever stop caring. If you stop caring, then what good are you as a detective or a cop or a human being? Nine months after Michelle McNamara passed away, the Los Angeles County coroner released the cause of her death, a combination of powerful prescription drugs, along with an undiagnosed heart condition. Once she had passed, everything in me was dead, except that was the one spark of life force left in me, of a moving forward life force, is finish her book. In February 2018, Oswalt saw all those years of Michelle's hard work finally come to fruition with the release of her book.

I'm optimistic. I know that it sounds crazy to be optimistic, but I am. In your gut, do you think he'll be caught? In my gut, I think he is going to be caught because of what Michelle did and because of what all the cops did before her. I hope. Then, incredibly, in April 2018, almost two years to the day after Michelle's death, there was stunning news from Sacramento.

Police in California believe they've cracked a 44-year-old serial murder case. The answer has always been in Sacramento. District Attorney Anne-Marie Schubert. For over 40 years, countless victims have waited for justice. Over 40 years, countless victims have waited for justice. Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, a cop in the 1970s, was arrested at his home. He'd been fired from the police force in 1979 after he was accused of shoplifting a hammer and dog repellent. Divorced, his ex-wife is a lawyer. He has three adult daughters.

He was never on any list that I'm aware of. New technology was D'Angelo's downfall. The Golden State Killer's genetic profile had been plugged into the genealogical website GEDmatch.com, and it returned a link to genetic material stored there by one of D'Angelo's relatives. We're dealing with distant relatives and we're literally having to follow trees looking and then find individuals within that pool of people that fit the criteria that we know about the offender

roughly his age geographic locations at certain points in time because we know about the offender, roughly his age, geographic locations at certain points in time because we know where the offender is when he's attacking, physical aspects. After painstaking work, investigators landed on D'Angelo as a likely suspect but still needed his DNA to make a positive match. They hit pay dirt after collecting a sample of D'Angelo's DNA from something he'd discarded in public.

And at that point, we knew we had our man. And it turns out their man had been hiding in plain sight, living in Citrus Heights, the same city where Jane Carson Sandler was attacked in the 1970s. I'm so glad it's over. I mean, it is such a relief to finally, after all this time, know that he's behind bars and that's where he belongs. He needs to pay for his crimes.

He's just destroyed so many families. For Margaret Wardlow, D'Angelo's arrest brought joy after a very long wait. Oh, I was just so happy. I haven't been able to wipe the smile off my face. I called Debbie Domingo and she just couldn't believe it. She was the first voice that told me that they got him. You thought you were so smart, but you were wrong. You're not getting away with this. In June 2020, D'Angelo cut a deal, appearing in court to plead guilty to 13 counts of murder and 13 counts of kidnapping with robbery. Murder in the first degree, how do you plead? Guilty.

Murder in the first degree, how do you plead? Guilty. In order to take the death penalty off the table, he also admitted to over 160 uncharged crimes. A rape of Jane Doe 11, October 13, 1978. Including dozens of rapes. Do you admit or deny, sir? I admit. All rise.

This week, his rape victims and the survivors of those he murdered finally had their day in court. Your Honor, my name is Kristen Reddy. Offering statements at D'Angelo's sentencing hearing. At the evening exam on December 18, 1976, I was a normal 15-year-old kid. He raped me, repeatedly.

At three different times that night, I thought I was going to die. The next morning, December 19, I woke up knowing I would never be a child again. Good morning, Your Honor. My name is Peggy. I woke up knowing I would never be a child again. Good morning, Your Honor. My name is Peggy. I never got over the thoughts that he might return, that he may have kept track of me. After 42 years, I still sleep with two phones and the keys on the bed when my husband is away. I still don't feel safe inside of a locked house.

Your Honor, I'm Gay Hardwick. As the court heard from the women D'Angelo attacked... Joe D'Angelo attacked us while we were sleeping. He kidnapped me from my bed. The men D'Angelo victimized got their turn as well. My name is Robert Hardwick. This is my vehicle, Quiet Gay. He tied me up and got me out of, I could do nothing to the day. And I was a victim because I would have to live for the rest of my life

knowing I was telling a stupid bit of this to the guy. D'Angelo sat stone-faced throughout the statements. My name is Jane Carson Sandler. And D'Angelo, I want you to look at me. Deliberately never glancing in the direction of his victims. I may have been one of your victims, D'Angelo, but you know what? Now I'm a survivor-thriver. And I've had a great life.

I put my fears aside. I finished my nursing degree at Cal State the same year of your attack. And then I spent 30 years in the Air Force, achieving the rank of colonel. Today, I am in the room with the pathetic excuse of a man who will now finally be held accountable for his actions. Forty years in the making, Sherry Domingo's daughter, Debbie, finally got to express her hope for her mother's killer. If I had my way, he would be shivering, blindfolded, naked, and exposed every moment from now on. I'll settle for caged, shackled, humiliated.

Michelle Cruz's sister Janelle was D'Angelo's final murder victim. From now on, while he is littering away in prison, I will be spending my days fishing on the river, enjoying my family and grandchild, eating out, relaxing in the comfort of my home. I'll be free of the fear he put me through for so long. I am Patricia Cosper. Joe raped my mom when I was seven. The daughter of one of D'Angelo's victims had a special mention in her own statement for a certain author who was on a mission until the end.

Michelle McNamara, crime writer, didn't give up. And law enforcement did not give up. I see her as a survivor. Because she got him caught, her spirit survived. After all these weeks' voices had finally fallen silent, D'Angelo himself found his. I've listened to all your statements. Each one of them. And I'm truly sorry to everyone I've hurt. Thank you, Your Honor.

As the book closes on the Golden State Killer, a new chapter begins for the survivors. And now finally, the end of this trauma is here. Today, right now, I start my new journey. Today, the devil loses and justice wins today I am not just a broken survivor of a cold case murder today I am a victor

in the battle between good and evil Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge? Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly? Introducing the best idea yet. A brand new podcast from Wondery and T-Boy about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with and the bolder risk takers who brought them to life. Like, did you know that Super Mario, the best-selling video game character of all time, only exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye? Or Jack, that the idea for the McDonald's Happy Meal first came from a mom in Guatemala? From Pez dispensers to Levi's 501s to Air Jordans,

discover the surprising stories of the most viral products. Plus, we guarantee that after listening, you're going to dominate your next dinner party. So follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. It's just the best idea yet.

We talk about our physical health. She was just a little spitfire. There are 17 intact wounds. It's passionate. It's premeditated. It's cold. Must be some madman out there. 48 Hours, next on CBS. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com

slash survey.