He was born November 8, 1945 in Bath, New York to mother Kathleen Louise DeGroat and father Joseph James DeAngelo Sr. He had two older sisters and a younger brother. It was said he was abused by his father while growing up.

He received his GED in 1964, it is reported that while in school he committed burglaries as well as torturing and killing animals. After getting his GED Joseph joined the Navy and served for 22 months during the Vietnam War as a damage controlman. After getting out of the Navy he attended Sierra College in Rocklin, California in 1968 where he got an associate degree in police science. He then went to Sacramento State University in 1971 where he got a bachelor’s in criminal justice. Later he took post-graduate courses and police training at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, then completed a 32-week police internship with the Roseville police department.

Joseph worked in the burglary unit in Exeter from 1973 to 1976 before going to Auburn till 1979 where he was arrested for shoplifting a hammer and dog repellent. He was sentenced to six months of probation and fired from the police force. It is alleged that he threatened and stalked the chief of police.

He had few relationships through the years, the first was his engagement to a nursing student named Bonnie Colwell in 1970, but she ended the relationship in 1971 when he became abusive and manipulative. After the break up he tried to force her to marry him by threatening her with a gun.

In November 1973 he married Sharon Huddle of Citrus Heights. In 1980 they purchased a home there and is the house he was arrested in when he was finally caught. They had three daughters together. They separated in 1991 but never got divorced until 2018 after his arrest. Sharon believed his lies during the marriage and had no idea what he was doing.

During the 1980’s it is unknown what Joseph did for work. From 1990 till he retired in 2017 he worked as a truck mechanic at Save Mart Supermarkets in Roseville. He was arrested in 1996 for failing to pay for gas but the charges were dropped.

Joseph James DeAngelo was known by many names for his crimes, in 1974-1976 he was known as the Visalia Ransacker. It was suspected that this was his training grounds. Over a period of 20 months it is believed that he is responsible for one murder and 120 burglaries. Although the statutes of limitation for the burglaries had expired by the time he was caught he was formally charged for the murder of Claude Snelling in 1975, he pleaded guilty in 2020.

Claude Snelling was a 45 year old journalism professor at the College of the Sequoias. Claude was awakened on September 11, 1975 at 2 am by strange noises. He ran out of his room to find the back door open and a man in a ski mask in his carport attempting to kidnap his daughter, who had been threatened to be shot if she screamed. Claude was then shot twice, he stumbled back into the house to his wife where he died. After the shooting Joseph punched and kicked the daughter before fleeing the scene.

After the murders police set up stakeouts in the areas that were previously prowled. On December 12, 1975 a masked man entered the backyard of a home where Detective William McGowen was on stakeout in the garage. The detective attempted to detain the man who tore off his mask and pretended to surrender after the detective fired a warning shot. He then jumped the fence and pulled out a revolver and fired at the detective hitting his flashlight, while waiting for backup to arrive the suspect escaped.

From 1976-1979 Joseph was known as the East Area Rapist. He moved to Sacramento where his crimes escalated from burglary to rape. His initial MO was to stalk middle-class neighborhoods at night in search of women alone in one story homes. He was spotted numerous times but always got away, on one occasion he shot and wounded a young pursuer. Most victims had heard a prowler before being attacked. It was believed that he would enter the homes of victims beforehand to unlock windows, unload guns and plant ligatures for later. Joseph originally targeted women though it is believed that when the media pointed this out he changed his MO to attacking couples.

He would break into a home through an unlocked window or door, then use a flashlight to wake his victims while threatening them with a handgun. He would force the female victim to tie up the male victim then he would tie her up. Then they would be blindfolded and gagged with towels. He would then separate the couple, often stacking dishes on the male’s back and threatening to kill them if he heard them rattle. He would then take the female into another room and rape her repeatedly. After he would stay in the house ransacking them.

He committed 50 rapes in the area.

A young couple in Sacramento, Brian Keith Maggiore and his wife Katie Lee Maggiore were walking their dog on the night of February 2, 1978 near where five east area rapist attacks had occurred. They were confronted by an attacker and were both shot to death trying to flee. On June 29, 2020 Joseph pleaded guilty to their murders.

From 1979 to 1986 Joseph was known as the Original Night Stalker. He moved to Southern California and started killing his victims, first in Santa Barbara County in October. His attacks lasted until 1981 with one more in 1986 his victims were either killed by gunshot or bludgeoning.

October 1, 1979 he attempted to murder the Goleta’s but they were able to alert the neighbors and he fled.

December 30, 1979 Robert Offerman 44 and Debra Manning 35 were found shot to death in Offerman’s home. Offerman’s binding were untied. there were paw prints found at the scene leading investigators to believe the suspect brought a dog with him.

March 13, 1980 Charlene Smith 33 and Lyman Smith 43 were found murdered in their home. Charlene had been raped and both victims had been bludgeoned with a log that came from their yard. They were tied like the other victims though different knots were used in their case that briefly gave the killer the name Diamond Knot Killer.

August 19, 1980 Keith Eli Harrington 24 and Patrice Briscoe Harrington 27 were found bludgeoned in their home. The couple had been married for three months, Patrice was a nurse and Keith was a medical student. Patrice had been raped before being killed. There were marks on their wrists and ankles but unlike the other scenes there were no ligatures or weapons found at the scene.

February 6, 1981 Manuela Witthuhn 28 was raped and murdered in her home. Similar to the last victims there were signs of Manuela being tied up but no weapon or ligatures were found at the scene.

July 27, 1981 Cheri Domingo 35 and Gregory Sanchez 27 were killed. The suspect entered through the bathroom window. Gregory was not tied up, he was shot in the cheek before being bludgeoned to death with a garden tool. Cheri had been tied up, raped and bludgeoned. The restraints were missing from the scene.

May 4, 1986 Janelle Lisa Cruz was found murdered. She was raped and bludgeoned with what investigators believe was a pipe wrench from the home. Her family had been on vacation at the time.

Identifying Joseph DeAngelo began in December 2017 when officials uploaded the DNA into a genealogy site. They narrowed it down to two suspect but one was ruled out with DNA which left Joseph the main suspect.

On April 18, 2018 a DNA sample was collected from Joseph’s car door handle and another from tissue found in his trash. Both were a match for samples taken from victims.

April 24, 2018 Joseph DeAngelo was arrested by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s he was charged with 8 counts of first degree murder. On May 10 he was charged with 4 additional counts of first degree murder. Joseph tried to claim he had an inner personality named “Jerry” that had committed the crimes.

Due to the statute of limitation he was not charged for the rapes and burglaries but ended up with charges of 13 counts of murder and 13 counts of kidnapping.

Joseph DeAngelo was arraigned in Sacramento on August 23, 2018 in a court proceeding on April 10, 2019 prosecutors announced they would seek the death penalty. On March 4, 2020 Joseph offered to plead guilty if the death penalty was taken off, it was denied. However on June 29 he plead guilty to 13 counts of first degree murder and special circumstances which included murder committed during burglaries and rapes. As well as pleading guilty to 13 counts of kidnapping.

As of February 2021 Joseph is incarcerated in protective custody at California State Prison, Corcoran.

Thank you for reading and stay safe!