# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/golden-state-killer
# Generated: 2026-08-31T22:26:43.872Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/golden-state-killer"
name: "Golden State Killer"
slug: "golden-state-killer"
description: "Joseph James DeAngelo committed at least thirteen murders, over fifty rapes, and more than a hundred burglaries across California between 1974 and 1986 — then stopped. He was a police officer during part of the rampage. The attention comes from the decades he lived undetected and the forensic genetic genealogy that finally identified him in 2018."
tagline: "American serial killer, rapist, burglar and former police officer"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Golden_State_Killer_police_sketch_vs_mugshot.png"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
profileType:
  name: "Other"
  slug: "other"
birthDate: "1945-11-08"
livingStatus: "LIVING"
scores:
  popularity:           63.71
  momentum:             11.94397685342174
  historical:           26.70767866666667
  currentAttention:     38.16294611119011
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  60
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Historical Figures"
    slug: "historical-figures"
  - name: "Journalist"
    slug: "journalist"
  - name: "United States"
    slug: "united-states"
  - name: "Americas"
    slug: "americas"
  - name: "20th Century"
    slug: "20th-century"
sources:
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4045981"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_State_Killer"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Golden%20State%20Killer"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%9C%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%AB_%E0%A6%9C%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%B8_%E0%A6%A1%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%85%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%9E%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9C%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%8B"
    title: "জোসেফ জেমস ডিঅ্যাঞ্জেলো"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assass%C3%AD_de_Golden_State"
    title: "Assassí de Golden State"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_State_Killer"
    title: "Golden State Killer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_James_DeAngelo_Jr."
    title: "Joseph James DeAngelo Jr."
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A4%CE%B6%CF%8C%CE%B6%CE%B5%CF%86_%CE%A4%CE%B6%CE%AD%CE%B9%CE%BC%CF%82_%CE%9D%CF%84%CE%B5%CE%86%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B6%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%BF"
    title: "Τζόζεφ Τζέιμς ΝτεΆντζελο"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_James_DeAngelo"
    title: "Joseph James DeAngelo"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asesino_de_Golden_State"
    title: "Asesino de Golden State"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D9%88%D8%B2%D9%81_%D8%AC%DB%8C%D9%85%D8%B2_%D8%AF%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AC%D9%84%D9%88"
    title: "جوزف جیمز دی‌انجلو"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_James_DeAngelo"
    title: "Joseph James DeAngelo"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_State_Killer"
    title: "Golden State Killer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%92'%D7%95%D7%96%D7%A3_%D7%92'%D7%99%D7%99%D7%9E%D7%A1_%D7%93%D7%99%D7%90%D7%A0%D7%92'%D7%9C%D7%95"
    title: "ג'וזף ג'יימס דיאנג'לו"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_James_DeAngelo"
    title: "Joseph James DeAngelo"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D5%8B%D5%B8%D5%A6%D5%A5%D6%86_%D5%8B%D5%A5%D5%B5%D5%B4%D5%BD_%D4%B4%D5%A5%D4%B1%D5%B6%D5%BB%D5%A5%D5%AC%D5%B8"
    title: "Ջոզեֆ Ջեյմս ԴեԱնջելո"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_State_Killer"
    title: "Golden State Killer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_James_DeAngelo"
    title: "Joseph James DeAngelo"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%BB%84%E9%87%91%E5%B7%9E%E3%81%AE%E6%AE%BA%E4%BA%BA%E9%AC%BC"
    title: "黄金州の殺人鬼"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_State_Killer"
    title: "Golden State Killer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_James_DeAngelo"
    title: "Joseph James DeAngelo"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_James_DeAngelo"
    title: "Joseph James DeAngelo"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%B5%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%BE%2C_%D0%94%D0%B6%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%B5%D1%84"
    title: "Деанджело, Джозеф"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_James_DeAngelo"
    title: "Joseph James DeAngelo"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_State_Killer"
    title: "Golden State Killer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_James_DeAngelo"
    title: "Joseph James DeAngelo"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%84_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B0%D9%87%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9"
    title: "قاتل الولاية الذهبية"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D9%88%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86_%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%AA_%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%B1"
    title: "جولدين ستات كيلير"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  DeAngelo began in the mid-1970s with burglaries in Visalia before escalating to serial rape in Sacramento, Stockton, Modesto, and Contra Costa County. From 1979 to 1986 he murdered at least ten people in Southern California, taunting victims and police through obscene phone calls. In 2001, DNA linked cases previously thought to involve separate offenders, creating the combined term EARONS. Crime writer Michelle McNamara coined "Golden State Killer" in the 2010s to raise awareness. In April 2018, investigators used forensic genetic genealogy to identify family members and charged the then-72-year-old DeAngelo. California's statute of limitations barred rape charges for crimes committed before 2017, but he was charged with murder and kidnapping. On June 29, 2020, DeAngelo pleaded guilty as part of a deal that spared him execution and admitted to crimes for which he was never formally charged. He was sentenced to life without parole two months later.