Joseph James DeAngelo: 5 Things To Know About Golden State Killer

SACRAMENTO, CA — Authorities say they've finally caught the notorious Golden State Killer decades after the serial killer terrorized California, killing at least 12 people and raping dozens of others. Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, was identified as the serial killer and rapist, also known as the "East Area Rapist" and the "Original Nightstalker."

DeAngelo is accused of killing at least 12 people, raping 45 others and committing hundreds of burglaries across the state in the 1970s and 1980s. Nearly all of the crimes happened between 1976 and 1978 in the Sacramento area.

Special Agent Marcus Knutson, who was born and raised in Sacramento and headed the FBI's portion of the investigation, said "everyone was afraid" at the time.

“We had people sleeping with shotguns, we had people purchasing dogs. People were concerned, and they had a right to be. This guy was terrorizing the community. He did horrible things," Knutson said, according to the FBI.

Anne Marie Schubert, the district attorney for Sacramento, on Wednesday said it was DNA evidence that eventually linked DeAngelo to the crimes.

“The answer has always been in Sacramento,” she said.

He was arrested at his Citrus Heights home and was booked early Wednesday morning on two murder counts. DeAngelo has lived there since 1983, The Sacramento Bee reported, citing public records.

In 2016, the FBI offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. A March posting on Facebook by Walnut Creek Police tried to jog the memories of those who lived through the serial killer's reign of terror.

Here are five things to know about DeAngelo.

1. DeAngelo was once a police officer for the city of Auburn during the 1970s. This makes sense given the FBI thought the killer had an interest or training in military or law enforcement techniques. He was also proficient with guns. DeAngelo was fired from the Auburn Police Department in 1979 following his arrest for stealing a can of dog repellant and a hammer from a Pay N' Save drug store.

When you read the suspect was once arrested for shoplifting “dog repellant and a hammer” in Sacramento. #goldenstatekiller #michellemcnamara #IllBeGoneInTheDark pic.twitter.com/KjWDbwIboH
— Billy Jensen (@Billyjensen) April 25, 2018

2. DeAngelo once asked his brother-in-law James Huddle what he thought about the Golden State Killer case. According to Oxygen.com, DeAngelo married Huddle's sister. Huddle described the alleged serial killer as a good father and said he remembered that DeAngelo once casually brought up the case in the early 1970s.

"He actually asked me about it once," said Huddle. "He said, 'What do you think of that East Area Rapist? What would you do, Jim?'"

3. DeAngelo enjoyed fishing, model airplanes and guns. Huddle told Oxygen that his brother-in-law enjoyed "normal hobbies." He said he never noticed anything out of the ordinary with DeAngelo. DeAngelo was known to have angry, profanity-laced outbursts that reverberated through the neighborhood if something set him off, such as losing his keys. One neighbor said he used "the F word a lot," but that in the past several years he mellowed out.

"He'd be out on his driveway yelling and screaming, looking for his keys," said neighbor Natalia Bedes-Correnti. "I could hear him from inside my house yelling and screaming. He was very loud."

4. The rapist would put dishes on a man's back as he raped women. The serial killer, armed with a gun, targeted sleeping single women or couples and broke into homes in quiet, upper middle-class neighborhoods. If a man was there, he would tie the man up, put a pile of cups or plates on his back and rape the woman. He threatened to kill them both if he heard the dishes fall.

5. The killer would frequently steal souvenirs. Such items included coins, jewelry and identification. “We know that our guy took items,” Knutson said. “So if for some reason people — whether their family member is deceased or they’re cleaning out a storage unit — come across a weird collection of items such as women’s ID’s, rings, earrings — anything that’s out of the ordinary — it could be significant.”

The case has garnered national attention. Michelle McNamera, a writer and the late wife of comedian and actor Patton Oswalt, spent years researching the case and was writing a book about it when she died two years ago. Oswalt helped finish the book. It is now a bestseller.

The TV documentary "Unmasking a Killer — the Hunt for the Golden State Killer" has also recently aired on HLN. You can watch episodes of the show here.

Photo credit: Booking photo via Sacramento County Sheriff's Department; Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press