Documents violence · sexual violence · domestic violence · crimes against children — written to inform, not to shock.
Illustrative
Between 1974 and 1986, a series of burglaries, rapes, and murders occurred across California under several names — the Visalia Ransacker, the East Area Rapist, and the Original Night Stalker — later determined through DNA evidence to be the work of one man, Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., a former police officer. Crime writer Michelle McNamara later coined the term "Golden State Killer" to describe the combined series of crimes.
DeAngelo's offenses began in the Visalia area of the San Joaquin Valley, where, over roughly 20 months starting in 1974, he committed around 120 burglaries characterized by ransacking homes, stealing low-value items, and displaying possessions in unusual ways. During this period he shot and killed Claude Snelling, a journalism professor, on September 11, 1975, after Snelling confronted him while he attempted to abduct Snelling's daughter. He also shot at Visalia Detective William McGowen during a stakeout in December 1975 without hitting him.
After relocating to the Sacramento area in 1976, DeAngelo's crimes escalated to rape, targeting individuals and later couples in Sacramento, Contra Costa, Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Alameda, Santa Clara, and Yolo counties. He is known to have committed more than 50 rapes during this period, using methods including nighttime break-ins, binding victims with ligatures, and making threatening phone calls to victims and law enforcement. He is also believed responsible for the February 1978 shooting deaths of Brian and Katie Maggiore, a young married couple, in Rancho Cordova.
Beginning in late 1979, DeAngelo moved to Southern California and began committing murders in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Orange counties, killing at least ten people through 1986, including couples Robert Offerman and Debra Manning, Charlene and Lyman Smith, Keith and Patrice Harrington, and Cheri Domingo and Gregory Sanchez, as well as Manuela Witthuhn and Janelle Cruz. Most victims were bound, and several were also raped before being killed.
DNA testing in 2001 established that the East Area Rapist and Original Night Stalker cases were committed by the same person. Investigators pursued and cleared multiple other suspects over the following decades using DNA and other evidence. In 2016, the FBI and local agencies renewed the investigation and offered a $50,000 reward. Using forensic genetic genealogy techniques applied to DNA uploaded to the GEDmatch database, investigators — led by detective Paul Holes and FBI attorney Steve Kramer, with genealogist Barbara Rae-Venter — built family trees that ultimately identified DeAngelo as the sole remaining suspect.
DeAngelo was arrested on April 24, 2018, at his home in Citrus Heights and was charged with eight counts of first-degree murder; additional murder charges followed from Santa Barbara County. Because the statute of limitations had expired on the 1970s rapes, he was instead charged with related kidnapping and abduction counts. On June 29, 2020, DeAngelo pleaded guilty to multiple counts of murder and kidnapping, admitting to numerous additional uncharged crimes, including rapes, as part of a plea agreement that avoided the death penalty. He was sentenced on August 21, 2020, to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Debra Alexandria Manning, Katie Lee Maggiore, Manuela Witthuhn, Brian Keith Maggiore, Cheri Domingo, Patrice Anne Harrington, Keith Eli Harrington, Gregory Sanchez, Claude Snelling, Robert Offerman, Lyman Smith, Janelle Lisa Cruz, Charlene Smith
Date
1970s
Location
Sacramento, California (crimes spanned multiple California counties)
Case status
solved
Case timeline
1974-03-19
First recorded Visalia Ransacker burglary occurs.
1975-09-11
Claude Snelling is shot and killed after confronting an intruder attempting to abduct his daughter in Visalia.
1975-12-12
Visalia Detective William McGowen is shot at and narrowly missed during a stakeout targeting the Ransacker.
1976-12-18
East Area Rapist attacks 15-year-old Kris Pedretti in Rancho Cordova.
1978-02-02
Brian and Katie Maggiore are shot and killed in Rancho Cordova, later attributed to the East Area Rapist.
1979-12-30
Robert Offerman and Debra Manning are found shot to death in Goleta, marking the start of the Original Night Stalker murders.
1980-03-13
Charlene and Lyman Smith are bludgeoned to death in Ventura.
1980-08-19
Keith and Patrice Harrington are found bludgeoned to death in Dana Point.
1981-02-06
Manuela Witthuhn is raped and murdered in Irvine.
1981-07-27
Cheri Domingo and Gregory Sanchez are murdered in Goleta.
1986-05-05
Janelle Cruz is found raped and murdered in Irvine, the final known Original Night Stalker murder.
2001
DNA testing links the East Area Rapist and Original Night Stalker cases as committed by the same person (EARONS).
2016-06-15
FBI and local law enforcement announce a renewed nationwide investigation and $50,000 reward.
2018-04-24
Joseph James DeAngelo is arrested in Citrus Heights and charged with eight counts of first-degree murder.
2018-05-10
Santa Barbara County District Attorney's office charges DeAngelo with four additional counts of first-degree murder.
2018-08-13
DeAngelo is formally charged with the 1975 murder of Claude Snelling.
2018-08
DeAngelo is additionally charged with thirteen counts of kidnapping and abduction attempts.
2020-06-29
DeAngelo pleads guilty to multiple counts of murder and kidnapping, admitting additional uncharged crimes including rapes.
2020-08-21
DeAngelo is sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
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People
Debra Alexandria Manning
VICTIM
Raped and found shot to death with Robert Offerman in Goleta on December 30, 1979.
citation on file
Joseph James DeAngelo Jr.
CONVICTED
Pleaded guilty in 2020 to multiple counts of murder and kidnapping; sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
citation on file
Katie Lee Maggiore
VICTIM
Shot and killed with her husband in Rancho Cordova on February 2, 1978.
citation on file
Manuela Witthuhn
VICTIM
Raped and murdered in her Irvine home on February 6, 1981.
citation on file
Joe Alsip
EXONERATED
Arraigned in 1982 for the Smith murders; charges were dropped and his innocence confirmed by DNA testing in 1997.
citation on file
Brian Keith Maggiore
VICTIM
Shot and killed with his wife in Rancho Cordova on February 2, 1978.
citation on file
Cheri Domingo
VICTIM
Raped and bludgeoned to death in Goleta on July 27, 1981.
citation on file
Patrice Anne Harrington
VICTIM
Raped and bludgeoned to death with her husband Keith Harrington in Dana Point on August 19, 1980.
citation on file
Paul Schneider
EXONERATED
High-ranking Aryan Brotherhood member considered a suspect in Orange County murders; cleared by DNA testing in the 1990s.
citation on file
Keith Eli Harrington
VICTIM
Found bludgeoned to death with his wife Patrice Harrington in Dana Point on August 19, 1980.
citation on file
Gregory Sanchez
VICTIM
Shot and bludgeoned to death alongside Cheri Domingo in Goleta on July 27, 1981.
citation on file
Claude Snelling
VICTIM
Killed on September 11, 1975, in Visalia while confronting an intruder attempting to abduct his daughter.
citation on file
Robert Offerman
VICTIM
Found shot to death with Debra Manning in Goleta on December 30, 1979.
citation on file
William McGowen
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Visalia detective shot at during a stakeout for the Visalia Ransacker in December 1975.
citation on file
Lyman Smith
VICTIM
Bludgeoned to death with his wife Charlene Smith in Ventura on March 13, 1980.
citation on file
Janelle Lisa Cruz
VICTIM
Raped and bludgeoned to death in her Irvine home on May 5, 1986.
citation on file
Paul Holes
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Contra Costa County investigator central to DNA linkage work and the genetic genealogy investigation that identified DeAngelo.
citation on file
Charlene Smith
VICTIM
Raped and bludgeoned to death with her husband Lyman Smith in Ventura on March 13, 1980.
citation on file
Gregory Gonzalez
EXONERATED
Arrested after an informant alleged he confessed to killing Janelle Cruz; charges dropped after a blood test confirmed his innocence.
Joseph James DeAngelo, a former California police officer, committed at least thirteen murders and more than fifty rapes across California between 1974 and 1986 as the Visalia Ransacker, East Area Rapist, and Original Night Stalker. He was identified in 2018 through forensic genetic genealogy and pleaded guilty in 2020 to murder and kidnapping charges.
Where did the murders happen?
Sacramento, California (crimes spanned multiple California counties).
Who was convicted?
Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. (Pleaded guilty in 2020 to multiple counts of murder and kidnapping; sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.).
