News and Commentary

40 Years Later: Golden State Killer Suspect Arrested

   DailyWire.com

[UPDATED]

On Wednesday, authorities in Sacramento announced that they had arrested a former police officer after matching “discarded DNA evidence from his Sacramento area home with genetic evidence” from the crimes committed by the Golden State Killer, reports CNN.

Between 1976 and 1986, the citizens of Californian were in a state of constant fear as a man eventually dubbed the East Area rapist, the Original Night Stalker, and the Golden State Killer committed at least 45 rapes, 12 murders, and more than one hundred burglaries. Despite decades of investigation, data gathering, and publications regarding this prolific serial killer and rapist, his identity has remained a mystery.

During a Wednesday press conference, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said in part:

Over the last few days, as information started to point toward this individual, we started some surveillance. We were able to get some discarded DNA, and we were able to confirm what we thought we already knew — that we had our man.

As to the manner by which authorities found the suspect in the first place, Jones stated:

I can first say that even backing up from the DNA that we would have never got to a DNA sample or ability to compare it without the dogged determination of the detectives on this case. So it’s not like it ultimately would have come to us anyway.

…This was a true convergence of emerging technology and dogged determination by detectives. So once we got information that led us to a general – I mean it’s almost like the DA pointed us east, so we could exclude north, west, and south, but we still had to do a lot of investigate follow-up and drill down from that direction of “east” until we got to this person.

We did a lot of exclusions of other folks – got this person that looked like he might be our guy, and then were able to get at least an initial discarded DNA sample that gave us more confidence that this was our person, and were able to continue and get a better, more workable sample of DNA.

The suspect, who is 72 years old, was arrested on Tuesday in Citrus Heights, California, and is being held without bail. He has been charged with “two counts of murder,” reports USA Today. That charge could change, depending on the evidence.

Just weeks ago, Megyn Kelly spoke with Jane Carson-Sandler, a victim who survived her encounter with the Golden State Killer in 1976:

[WARNING: The Following Video Contains Graphic Content]

Got a tip worth investigating?

Your information could be the missing piece to an important story. Submit your tip today and make a difference.

Submit Tip
The Daily Wire   >  Read   >  40 Years Later: Golden State Killer Suspect Arrested