Connection Details
Holes spent over 20 years investigating the case and was instrumental in identifying DeAngelo through forensic genealogy.
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Paul Holes
person
Paul Holes is a retired Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office investigator who spent over 20 years working the East Area Rapist/Golden State Killer case. Holes was instrumental in pushing for the use of forensic genealogy, working with the FBI and genealogist Barbara Rae-Venter to upload crime scene DNA to GEDmatch. He identified DeAngelo as a suspect through the resulting family tree analysis. Holes retired the day before DeAngelo's arrest was announced — a case he had pursued for most of his career.
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Joseph James DeAngelo
person
Former California police officer who pleaded guilty in 2020 to 13 murders as the Golden State Killer and was sentenced to life without parole after a 2018 arrest based on genetic genealogy.
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Related Connections
Holes' decades-long investigation and advocacy for forensic genealogy directly led to DeAngelo's identification.
Holes worked with Rae-Venter on the forensic genealogy investigation that identified DeAngelo.
DeAngelo committed over 100 burglaries as the Visalia Ransacker while serving as a police officer in nearby Exeter.
DeAngelo committed at least 50 sexual assaults across the Sacramento area from 1976 to 1979.
DeAngelo served as an Exeter police officer from 1973-1976, committing crimes while employed in law enforcement.
DeAngelo committed at least 13 murders in Southern California from 1979 to 1986.
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