Joseph DeAngelo Jr is accused of killing 12 and raping at least 50 women decades ago
The estranged wife of the accused Golden State Killer has spoken out in a brief statement.
‘My thoughts and prayers are for the victims and their families,’ Sharon Huddle said in a statement issued through the Sacrament County Sheriff’s Department on Friday.
‘The press has relentlessly pursued interviews of me. I will not be giving any interviews for the foreseeable future. I ask the press to please respect my privacy and that of my children,’ the four-sentence statement concluded.
Huddle, a divorce attorney, married accused serial killer Joseph DeAngelo Jr in 1973 and the couple have three daughters together. They split in 1991, but police say the couple is still legally married, though estranged.
Investigators believe that DeAngelo, 72, is the notorious serial killer responsible for 12 murders and at least 50 rapes in California spanning from the early 1970s to around 1986.
DeAngelo appears here in Sacramento Superior Court last week in Sacramento, California
Prior to marrying Huddle, DeAngelo was engaged to Bonnie Jean Colwell, who broke off the engagement. At least one victim of the Golden State Killer reported that her attacker said ‘I hate you Bonnie’ during the assault.
Huddle and DeAngelo’s three daughters are all adults now. The accused serial killer was living with one daughter and a grandchild when he was arrested on April 25.
Last week, it emerged that DNA from a tissue left in a trash can ultimately led authorities to arrest DeAngelo.
Documents released by a judge at the request of news outlets detailed the case investigators pieced together to obtain arrest and search warrants for DeAngelo.
DNA collected from the door handle of a car DeAngelo was seen exiting in Sacramento on April 18, and voluntary submission of DNA to private genetics testing and analysis companies also played a role in DeAngelo’s arrest.
In total, 123 pages of documents were released by Judge Michael Sweet, over the objection of DeAngelo’s defense team.
To crack the investigation that’s been ongoing for 40 years, police zeroed in on DeAngelo by using genealogical websites to identify potential relatives of the killer based on DNA collected at a crime scene.
Cress stands next to his client DeAngelo appears in Sacramento Superior Courtlast week
Investigators used DNA from a semen sample collected at the double murder of Lyman and Charlene Smith in 1980 in Ventura County to find one of DeAngelo’s relatives and eventually the suspect himself, according to the warrants.
The crime scene DNA was entered into private DNA testing and analysis databases that are intended, in part, to find relatives and assess ancestry. Once a distance relative was matched to that DNA, detectives told The Los Angeles Times that they were able to close in on DeAngelo based on his age, employment and close proximity to the location of many of the Golden State Killer’s crimes.
After identifying DeAngelo as a suspect, investigators followed him to a Hobby Lobby located just outside of Sacramento in Roseville, and took a swab from the door handle of a car he exited on April 18.
The door handle sample matched DNA from semen found at a Golden State Killer crime scene, but didn’t immediately lead to an arrest.
The reliability of so-called ‘touch DNA,’ which is how the industry refers to DNA collected when only a few human cells are left behind when someone touches an object, has been an issue of controversy among forensic experts.
Five days after the ‘touch DNA’ was gathered into evidence, investigators collected trash from cans left outside DeAngelo’s home in Citrus Heights, California.
A piece of tissue plucked from the trash on April 23 proved to be the piece of evidence they needed to obtain an arrest warrant, according to the documents.
Sacramento County Sheriff officers take evidence bags out of the home of DeAngelo, in Citrus Heights, California on April 25
Authorities dig in the backyard of DeAngelo’s home in Citrus Heights, California on April 26
DeAngelo was arrested on April 25 and has since been charged with 12 counts of murder in Sacramento, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Orange counties. Prosecutors haven’t yet decided where he’ll be tried.
Following his arrest, investigators began searching DeAngelo’s house, vehicles and storage locker, as well as his computer and cellphone for anything else that may tie him to the dozens of murders and rapes he’s suspected of committing.
Authorities said the Golden State Killer stole dozens of rings, watches, cufflinks and tie pins from his targets over the years that detectives hoped to find, along with an odd assortment of items that included women’s purses, cameras, jewelry made from coins, china, a clock radio and a wooden bowl.
He also took drivers’ licenses, photographs and other identification from his victims, according to the documents.
Detectives also hoped the killer might have kept three blunt objects containing blood, tissue and hair from four victims who were beaten to death. One of the weapons is described as ‘possibly a metal sprinkler head.’
It’s not clear what was recovered from the searches because a judge ruled that those records should remain sealed.
Law enforcement authorities process evidence at the home of suspected ‘Golden State Killer’ Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, in Citrus Heights, California on April 25
Sheriffs deputies are seen in front of the home of DeAngelo in Citrus Heights on April 25
These ski masks were collected from the home of DeAngelo and are believed to have been worn during many crimes perpetrated by the man suspected of being the Golden State Killer
The documents that were released said that through matching DNA, detectives were able to tie rapes in Northern California to several murders in Southern California, that had otherwise seemed unrelated and had kept authorities guessing for years.
The heavily redacted affidavits recounted chilling behavior by the Golden State Killer. The Sacramento County district attorney’s office noted that the overwhelming majority of the material redacted was blacked out at the request of DeAngelo’s public defenders.
The documents told the story of how neighbors of Brian and Katie Maggiore reported numerous silent or lewd phone calls before the double murder of the Maggiores in Sacramento in 1978.
A 25-year-old woman in the community reported finding shoe prints outside her bedroom window and drawings in what appeared to be bodily fluids, according to the affidavit.
The Maggiores were shot while on a walk one evening. The attacker then fled, running through multiple neighbors’ yards. To one, he said, ‘Excuse me, I’m trespassing,’ the documents state.
Authorities said the Golden State Killer stole dozens of rings, watches, cufflinks and tie pins from his targets over the years that detectives hoped to find
Suspected ‘Golden State Killer’ Joseph James DeAngelo, is seen at right while he was a police officer in 1979
A file photo of DeAngelo while working for the Simi Valley Police Department is seen here
The documents details how another couple was found beaten to death with a fireplace log in Ventura, and another was shot to death while tied up in Santa Barbara County.
The killer was known to be prone to ‘explosive violence’ when cornered, and once confronted by police or neighbors, he tended to never again attack within that same jurisdiction, the documents said.
Descriptions provided by those neighbors helped investigators draw their first composite sketch of the killer.
DeAngelo was a member of the police force for small towns in California until 1979, at which time he was fired for shoplifting a hammer and dog repellent in the city of Auburn. After that he spent decades working as a truck mechanic, living just north of Sacramento in a suburb, amidst the communities that had been rocked by sexual assaults and killings that are now attributed to the Golden State Killer.
DeAngelo has been charged with the fatal shootings of the Maggiores in Sacramento and faces a total of 10 additional counts of murder in Ventura, Santa Barbara and Orange counties.
Detectives also accuse DeAngelo of a 13th killing, the fatal shooting of Claude Snelling in 1975 in Visalia, in the documents, but charges have yet to be filed.
DeAngelo is being held without bail and is next due in court in Sacramento County on July 12.
GOLDEN STATE KILLER’S TWELVE VICTIMS
Brian and Katie Maggiore
February 2, 1978
Brian Maggiore, 21, and his wife Katie, 20, were walking their dog in their Rancho Cordova neighborhood, just outside Sacramento, on February 2, 1978.
The FBI said the couple were chased down before being shot and killed by the Golden State Killer.
Brian and Katie Maggiore: February 2, 1978
Dr Robert Offerman and Alexandria Manning: December 30, 1979
Dr Robert Offerman and Alexandria Manning
December 30, 1979
Dr Robert Offerman, 44, and Alexandria Manning, 35, were killed at a home in Goleta near Santa Barbara.
Offerman, an osteopathic surgeon, and Manning, a clinical psychologist, had their hands bound with twine.
Lyman and Charlene Smith
March 13, 1980
Lyman Smith, 43, and his wife Charlene, 33, were bludgeoned to death with a fireplace log in their Ventura County home.
Smith was an attorney who was just days from being appointed a judge. His wife worked as a court clerk.
Lyman and Charlene Smith (left) and Patrice and Keith Harrington (right)
Patrice and Keith Harrington
August 19, 1980
Patrice Harrington, 28, and her husband Keith, 25, were killed in their home at Dana Point. Police said they were beaten with a blunt instrument.
Patrice was a pediatric nurse and her husband was a medical student at UC Irvine.
Manuela Witthuhn
February 5, 1981
Manuela Witthuhn, 28, was raped and beaten to death in her home in Irvine.
She was home alone at the time because her husband was in the hospital recovering from an illness.
Cheri Domingo and Gregory Sanchez
Manuela Witthuhn (left) and Janelle Lisa Cruz (right)
Cheri Domingo and Gregory Sanchez
July 27, 1981
Cheri Domingo, 35, and Gregory Sanchez, 27, were house sitting in Goleta when they were murdered in bed.
Domingo was found with her hands tied and suffering massive head injuries. Sanchez was shot and bludgeoned.
Janelle Lisa Cruz
May 4, 1986
Janelle Cruz, 18, was bludgeoned to death in her family’s home in Irvine. She was home alone at the time and police found her lying across her bed.
A real estate agent who was selling the family’s home was the first to discover the teen’s body. Blood was found spattered throughout the home and police believe she was beaten with a pipe wrench.