Well Morf, myself and every single amateur researcher and police detective on the case was wrong about the POI. Several years ago I identified the enhanced Maggiore suspect sketch is being the best sketch of the ONS, and a couple of years back the FBI agreed with me and used that sketch in their press conference to find the ONS.

Here are a few of the other things that Morf, myself and Traveller1st were correct about:

Suspect had ties to the Rancho Cordova area of Sacramento

Suspect likely attended University of California at Davis

Suspect likely worked in construction

Suspect likely had experience in or connection to the military and / or police

Many researchers had speculated that whoever ONS was, he quite possibly worked in construction and quite possibly had either experience in, training by or connection with the military and/or police. Those speculations proved to be correct.

But there was plenty that was very surprising about this development. Most of the researchers speculated that whoever ONS was, he had moved far away from the Sacramento area. The fact that he was still living in Sacramento is a surprise to many.

The fact that he was married, had kids and lived mostly a seemingly normal life would also be a surprise to most of the researchers in the case. In that sense he is more like a Denis Rader, someone who truly is the man next door, very ordinary, Works in law enforcement, married, unassuming.

Some researchers, quite a few in fact, have the ONS as some kind of super criminal genius, an ex Green Beret, someone who was super fit and athletic. It turns out that he did serve in the Navy and he had a few years experience as a police officer, but he was not an ex-green beret or anything like that. Nor was he really a super criminal mastermind. He got caught shoplifting. He did not seem to be particularly fit or athletic, rather he looked a little on the heavy side and out of shape.

This is the enhanced Maggiore sketch, which is one of the best images of the ONS, and this is a picture of DeAngelo, I believe from the 1960s. He does look like the sketch in my opinion.

But he was a very prolific criminal, and a bold one. He committed over 50 rapes and 12 murders. He was brutal and cruel.

In one of the episodes of Morf’s podcast, I remember something about a suspicious Lincoln sedan being spotted and a resident wrote down its plate number. I think it ended up being traced back to a police impound-registry. I wonder how easy it was for GSK to borrow vehicles from these impound lots.

I hope the police release body cam footage of this A-Hole’s arrest, I’d love to see the look on his face as they descended on him
and slapped the cuffs on, I’ll bet it was "priceless".

I was just reading the book Case Files of the East Area Rapist/Golden State Killer.

Pretty amazing that they caught this guy by DNA – I honestly thought that this one was as cold as it gets or even that there were multiple killers. I wonder why and when he stopped? Very similar to BTK in that respect although this man appears not to have sought publicity/taunted the authorities.

Just listened to Morf and Aaron on Generation Why– very illuminating

If I’m understanding this right, DNA led to family, which led to narrowing down a suspect on family tree, which led to surveillance which led to suspect DNA and a hit. The press conference mentions ‘the latest in DNA technology’ a few times.

Something tells me that there will be court challenges to the methods used, as a matter of course.

LE seems to be holding the method close to the vest.

Is it common to search DNA databases other than Codis?
Is it common to find a DNA route to a suspect through a relative in Codis?

What are ppls thoughts?

I think it is unlikely that he is also Zodiac, but just to play devil’s advocate:

well you have to throw him in the mix i suppose.. he came in at the right age group a killer and mad as a cut snake… but was he ever in san fran, berryessa etc..

I think it is unlikely that he is also Zodiac, but just to play devil’s advocate:

when was that photo taken?

I always knew the GSK was also the Visalia ransacker. the MO and sig is so similar and shows clear escalation.

especially in the last ransacker case when he tried to abduct a girl and the father, Claude Snelling, tried to stop him and got shot to death. then he shows up later north and the EAR crimes start.

taking it further, at the end of that EAR spree before he heads south again, the maggiores interrupt/chase him and they get murdered.

I was surprsed in a recent documentary when Holes said he didnt beleive the ransacker case was connected, based on eyewitness desriptions?!? which as everyone knows can be notoriously different. Holes lost a little credibility to me for that.

how ironic he had a degree in criminal justice and then was a cop during the crimes. talk about a double life.

and then irony of ironies- one of the most elusive serial killers of all time is caught shoplifting by a store clerk?!?

just crazy.

I think it is unlikely that he is also Zodiac, but just to play devil’s advocate:

when was that photo taken?

It’s from the Exeter newspaper story when he became a PO there in ’73.

. but was he ever in san fran, berryessa etc..

I’ve seen nothing showing he was. He was a student in the Sacramento area around the time Zodiac was committing the "known attacks". I hope the police at least check into it though, you never know.

If I’m understanding this right, DNA led to family, which led to narrowing down a suspect on family tree, which led to surveillance which led to suspect DNA and a hit. The press conference mentions ‘the latest in DNA technology’ a few times.

Something tells me that there will be court challenges to the methods used, as a matter of course.

LE seems to be holding the method close to the vest.

Is it common to search DNA databases other than Codis?
Is it common to find a DNA route to a suspect through a relative in Codis?

What are ppls thoughts?

Where did you hear DNA led to family?

I am cautious about anything right now. Rumors are also going around a family member (ex-wife/daughters) found something and turned him in. I think at this point a lot is speculation. Whatever it was, it appeared to happen in 6 days. Fastest DNA test ever. Has to be more to it.

Interesting details in this new People article:

http://people.com/crime/golden-state-ki … by-arrest/

Golden State Killer suspect Joseph James DeAngelo was “very surprised” when he was arrested outside his Citrus Heights home Tuesday, police said.

Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said that before the former police officer was taken into custody at 5 p.m. on April 24 they “developed a plan” to wait for him to come outside.

“And so when he came out of his residence we had a team in place that was able to take him into custody,” Jones said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference. “He was very surprised by that. It looked as though he was searching his mind to execute a particular plan he had in mind… but he was not given the opportunity.”

DeAngelo, 72, worked as a police officer with the Exeter and Auburn police departments from 1973 to 1979. He was fired from the Auburn Police Department for allegedly shoplifting dog repellant and a hammer in 1979.

“Very possibly he was committing crimes during the time he was employed as a peace officer and obviously we are looking into whether he was on the job,” Jones said.

DeAngelo is charged with capital murder in four killings: The February 2, 1978 slayings of Brian and Katie Maggiore in the Sacramento area, and the March 1980 slayings of Lyman and Charlene Smith in Ventura County.

But police say they believe he killed many more people. Over a 10-year-period — from 1976 to 1986 — the Golden State Killer was linked by DNA and method to 12 murders, 45 sexual assaults and more than 120 burglaries from Sacramento to Southern California’s Orange County.

Over the years, the man believed to be responsible for the alleged murder spree has also been known as the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker.

Neighbor Kevin Tapia says DeAngelo mostly kept to himself but had shown odd behavior in the past.

“He would yell a fair amount at people, at his daughters, and he would yell at himself,” Tapia tells PEOPLE. “It was very odd. All of a sudden he would just start screaming and curse words.”

Tapia says DeAngelo yelled at him once when he was a kid. “He thought I threw something over the fence at him and he came out and yelled at me and wanted to speak to my Dad and they got in a verbal altercation,” he says.

“When he was younger, 15 or 20 years ago, he was definitely more aggressive yelling at neighbors, being vocal outside, yelling at himself or his kids. More recently you never saw him or heard him.”

Tapia says DeAngelo “raised three girls by himself.” Police have said DeAngelo has adult children.

“I never ever saw a wife,” Tapia added. “I never knew what happened to her or heard stories about what happened to her.”

Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert says DeAngelo was not identified through a tip but through “innovative DNA technology.”

“If it wasn’t for that DNA his name would never have surfaced period,” she tells PEOPLE. “There was a needle in that haystack and we found that dam needle. I always believed it was a matter of persistence.”

Adding: “I always believed the answer was in Sacramento. I didn’t know the guy was living in Sacramento. That is just surreal. Living right here in the very community. It is crazy.”

• For more on the Golden State Killer, watch People Magazine Investigates: Golden State Killer Caught, airing Friday, April 27 at 10 p.m. and Sunday, April 29 at 8 p.m. on Investigation Discovery

According to jail records, DeAngelo is being held at the Sacramento County Mail Jail. He is 5-feet-11 inches and weighs 205 lbs., according to the records.

The attacks attributed to the Golden State Killer began in Sacramento in 1976 with the June 18 rape of a woman in the Rancho Cordova-Carmichael neighborhood.

The attacker wore a ski mask and would pry open windows and doors of homes of single women or couples. Once inside, he would enter the bedroom and shine a flashlight into his victims’ eyes.

After the arrest, Jane Carson Sandler, who survived a sexual assault by the killer, told PEOPLE, “I am speechless. Almost sick to my stomach because I am so excited. It is a dream come true.”

Michelle Cruz, whose sister Janelle Cruz was killed in 1986, told PEOPLE, “I don’t even know what to think. I am so excited.”

(emphasis mine)

Just to save anyone else from bothering, I’ve been trying to find info on this guy’s whereabouts during the Zodiac timeline and I’ll share what I’ve found.

He was in the Navy from 64-67, so he was back in the Sacramento area before the start of the "known" Zodiac attacks. Can’t find much there other than him attending college in the area.

I did find it curious this guy was a diver and member of the NAUI, a diving instructors organization founded in Los Angeles and based there at the time of Cheri Jo Bates murder. That, and coupled with the fact the ship he was on was stationed in San Diego (which brought to mind the Swindle murders in 64) it seems he had some connection to the Riverside area, though tenuous I decided to look further. I decided I could probably establish his whereabouts when CJB was murdered by the ship’s records and it seem his ship left port in San Diego for Viet Nam on Oct 11 1966. I actually found two different dates for the ship’s departure for Viet Nam, one Sept. of 66 and then the later Oct of 66, but unless it was still in port a month or so later, he could not have killed CJB nor sent the letters.

One thing I noticed in a story about this guy was it said he had lost a finger due to an accident while in the Navy. Was it ever mentioned the EAR/ONS was missing a finger? Seems something that would have been noticed. I’m wondering if maybe he lost that finger later on, maybe it was why he stopped, and told everyone he lost in while in the Navy.

Due to DeAngelo being a sexual predator & home invader, I would bet anything that he had nothing to do with the Zodiac murders. Wouldn’t totally rule him out from murdering CJB but would still bet on that being a long shot.

With the news that EAR turned out to be a cop though, I would hope that Riverside PD would get their head out of their asses and maybe consider the fact that a certain one of their own who worked the case and turned out to be guilty of attacking girls might have had something to do with the CJB murder.