Serial Killer Realizes He_s Been Caught 45 Years Later

Close your eyes and let the quiet weight of a 45-year secret settle into your mind. A story of a killer who believed he had escaped justice, only to be undone by the relentless march of science. In 2020, Joseph James DeAngelo, the Golden State Killer, sat in a Sacramento courtroom and finally confessed to 13 murders and dozens of rapes committed between 1975 and 1986. For decades, he had hidden in plain sight as a husband, father, and former police officer. It was investigative genetic genealogy—a revolutionary DNA technique—that finally connected him to the crimes. His confession was quiet, his voice barely a whisper, as he accepted a life sentence without parole. Let this tale of justice delayed but not denied carry you into a deep and restful sleep.