Joseph DeAngelo — The Golden State Killer

Joseph James DeAngelo, a former police officer, terrorized California as the East Area Rapist and Original Night Stalker between 1976 and 1986, committing at least 50 rapes and 13 murders. The FBI linked the two crime series by DNA in 2001, creating a composite profile of the Golden State Killer, but DeAngelo was not identified until 2018 when forensic genealogy matched DNA from crime scenes to relatives in consumer ancestry databases. DeAngelo was 72 years old when arrested; he pleaded guilty to 13 murders and 13 kidnapping charges in 2020 and was sentenced to life without parole.