A man who seemed to appear and disappear at will. He crept into homes, watched victims for days, terrorized entire communities, and evaded police across multiple counties. He was first known as the Visalia Ransacker, then the East Area Rapist, then the Original Night Stalker — and eventually, the world came to know him as the Golden State Killer.

This episode follows the full evolution of his crimes: the escalation from burglaries to assaults to murder, the fear that gripped neighborhoods, the survivors who refused to stay silent, and the investigative failures that allowed him to continue unchecked. Finally, we trace the scientific breakthrough that changed everything: the use of genetic genealogy to identify Joseph James DeAngelo, a former police officer hiding in plain sight.

Told through detailed research and narrative storytelling, this is the story of how one of America’s most elusive predators was finally unmasked after more than four decades of terror.

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CITED SOURCES McGough, Matthew. “The Hunt for the Golden State Killer.” Los Angeles Times, 2016, https://www.latimes.com/projects/man-in-the-window/.

St. John, Paige. Man in the Window: The Golden State Killer. Wondery, 2019, https://wondery.com/shows/man-in-the-window/.

Earley, Pete. Sudden Terror: The Hunt for the Golden State Killer. Berkley Books, 2018.

Holes, Paul, and Robin Gellman. Unmasked: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases. Celadon Books, 2022.

Sharon, Michallove. “The Golden State Killer: Joseph James DeAngelo and the Power of Genetic Genealogy.” The New York Times, 28 Apr. 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/28/us/golden-state-killer.html.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Golden State Killer Case Files and Timeline.” FBI.gov, 2018, https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/sacramento/news/press-releases/fbi-seeks-information-in-golden-state-killer-case.