Part 1 of 3 This psycho killer made Jack the Ripper look like a choirboy. Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. committed at least 13 murders, 50 rapes, and 120 burglaries across California between 1974 and 1986. Born on 8 November 1945, DeAngelo served in the US Navy during the Vietnam war. Afterwards, he joined the police but was fired for gross misconduct. Before he was unmasked, DeAngelo was known as the Night Stalker, the Original Night Stalker, the Visalia Ransacker, and the East Area Rapist. But the name that stuck was the Golden State Killer. DeAngelo committed his last rape/murder in 1986 and disappeared into the shadows. But the FBI reopened the case in 2016. Two years later, DeAngelo, then aged 72, was charged with eight counts of first-degree murder, based on DNA evidence. This podcast tells the story of the Golden State Killer in the context of advances in forensic science – in particular, the use of familial DNA to solve cold cases.