The lead detective investigating the Golden State Killer has revealed his theory for why there was a five-year break in the crime spree that terrorized California in the 70s and 80s.
Last week 72-year-old former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo was arrested in Sacramento and accused of 12 murders, at least 50 rapes and multiple home burglaries between 1976 and 1986.
Investigators have struggled to understand why there was a gap in the attacks between a 1981 double homicide the last murder attributed to him in 1986 as well as why the spree ultimately came to an end.
In an ABC interview airing Friday retired detective Paul Holes said he believes the killer stopped the attacks after a physical fight with a victim shook his confidence.
Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, was arrested last week in Sacramento, California, on two murder charges. Officials say DNA evidence has confirmed that he is the Golden State Killer
Former lead detective on the case Paul Holes revealed his theories about the killer’s timeline in an interview airing Friday
On April 24, DeAngelo was arrested at his home the Citrus Heights neighborhood of Sacramento, California, after DNA evidence linked the married father-of-three to the Golden State Killer case that had been cold for decades.
‘Finally I got to see the face of the man that I’ve been hunting for 24 years,’ former Contra Costa County cold case detective Holes told ABC.
‘I can now read these case files and visualize Joe DeAngelo committing these acts, as opposed to this nameless masked man.’
The Golden State Killer’s reign of terror began in the summer of 1976 with a series of rapes and burglaries in the cities of Carmichael and Rancho Cordova, California.
Investigators say the masked serial killer would break into homes at night and tie up the victims – raping the female one if present – before pillaging the homes of money, jewelry, identification cards and other valuables.
Some victims even told authorities that attacker would call them up in the aftermath of the crime.
The killer’s crime spree turned deadly in 1978 when Brian and Katie Maggiore were murdered while out walking their dog in Rancho Cordova on February.
Pictured are combination images the FBI released of sketches of the Golden State Killer who committed 12 murders, more than 50 rapes and multiple burglaries between 1976 and 1986
Decades after the Golden State Killer’s reign of terror came to an end, DNA testing linked married father-of-three DeAngelo to several of the crimes
The rampage continued with a series of additional murders and rapes in Modesto, Davis, Stockton and other San Francisco Bay area communities.
However, after the murder of Cheri Domingo and Gregory Sanchez in Goleta on July 27, 1981, the attacks suddenly stopped.
It wasn’t until five years later in 1986 that the killer was tempted to strike again when he came across Jane Lisa Cruz, whom he raped and murdered in Irvine, California.
Cruz was the last victim linked to the Golden State Killer rampage.
Holes said: ‘I believe what ended up happening were two things: In 1981, he ends up going into kill Gregory Sanchez and Cheri Domingo. And he gets in a physical fight with 6-foot-3 Gregory Sanchez.
‘And I think that physical altercation with Sanchez scared him. We don’t have an attack for five years.
‘But then, for some reason, he runs across beautiful 19-year-old Janelle Cruz and can’t help himself. And kills her.’
Holes said it was ‘possible but relatively unlikely’ that the killer continued his spree after Cruz’s death.
‘At this point, he’s an aging offender,’ Holes said of DeAngelo, who would have been 40 years old at the time of Cruz’s murder.
‘He is no longer in that prime where he’s now going out as frequently as he wants, naturally due to his age.’
Multiple pieces of DNA evidence were found at crime scenes, including the fingerprints above
DeAngelo had worked as a police officer in the rural central California town of Exeter from 1973 to 1976, and later for the Auburn, California, Police Department until 1979, when he was fired for shoplifting dog repellent and a hammer
Holes added that the investigators have spent years surveying other cases to see if any more could be linked to the Golden State Killer, but they’ve been unsuccessful.
‘I know we have looked over the years for additional cases because we wanted to try to see if we could find more. And we haven’t,’ he said.
‘So, it’s not just starting that search now. That’s been ongoing for a long time.’
The case is currently being investigated by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, who revealed last week that the suspect DeAngelo had worked as a police officer in the rural central California town of Exeter from 1973 to 1976, and later for the Auburn, California, Police Department until 1979, when he was fired for shoplifting dog repellent and a hammer.
The department has not publicly revealed any theories as to why the killings paused during the five years or stopped after 1986.
On Thursday a judge ruled that prosecutors in the case can collect DNA, fingerprints and take photographs of the DeAngelo’s entire body.
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.