This episode of pplpod details the life and criminal history of Joseph James DeAngelo, a former police officer eventually identified as the Golden State Killer. Between 1974 and 1986, DeAngelo perpetrated a horrific series of murders, rapes, and burglaries across California under various aliases like the Visalia Ransacker and the East Area Rapist. The text outlines his personal background, his habit of taunting victims via phone calls, and the decades of investigative frustration that followed his disappearance. A breakthrough occurred in 2018 when investigators used forensic genetic genealogy to link his DNA to the cold cases through a public database. DeAngelo subsequently pleaded guilty to thi ...