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72 Year Old Former Police Office Accused Of Being Golden State Killer, Responsible for 10+ Murders

(Image courtesy Sacramento County District Attorney's Office)
Artists rederings of the suspect in the string of crimes attributed to the Goden State Killer

A former police officer has been arrested in Northern California, and is accused of being the Golden State Killer, responsible for a dozen murders and 50 rapes dating back to the 1970's.

Among the crimes 72 year old Joseph James DeAngelo of Citrus Heights is accused of is the 1980 murders of Lyman and Charlene Smith of Ventura.

Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert says tips led them to DeAngelo.  Detectives set up a stakeout, and gathered DNA evidence which they say positively linked DeAngelo to some of the crimes.

At a Sacramento news conference Wednesday afternoon, Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten said murder charges have been filed against DeAngelo for the killings of the Smiths.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.