Joseph DeAngelo is awaiting trial on murder charges Paul Kitagaki Jr./Sacramento Bee/TNS via Getty Images
THE Golden State Killer terrorised California with a spree of murders, rapes and burglaries between 1974 and 1986. Then the killer went quiet, and the case went cold. But on 24 April 2018, the Sacramento Police Department arrested Joseph James DeAngelo, an ex-police officer, in connection with the killings. His DNA led them to him – and sparked a growing ethical debate.
The detectives identified DeAngelo after uploading DNA evidence from a 1980 Golden State Killer rape case to GEDmatch, a website that lets people…
