Golden State Killer suspect placed on suicide watch; appears in court in wheelchair

The suspected Golden State Killer faced a judge Friday after 40 years on the run and a terrorizing series of rapes and murders that left Californians on edge.

Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, was brought into a Sacramento courtroom in a wheelchair by officers. It was his first time in court since his arrest Tuesday outside his home in Citrus Heights, 20 miles northwest of Sacramento. Police were able to crack the case using decades-old DNA samples and a genealogical website.

Officers wheeled DeAngelo out in an orange jumpsuit as photographers snapped images of the man who is suspected of terrorizing Californians for years. DeAngelo, who was handcuffed to his wheelchair, didn't move or show emotion as the charges and details of his suspected crimes were read against him by Judge Michael Sweet.

He didn't say much besides whispering "yes" in a frail voice when Sweet asked if he was DeAngelo. He also didn't enter a plea Friday but another court hearing was scheduled on May 14. Authorities still must decide on a court date, where he will be tried and whether he faces death penalty prosecutions.

DeAngelo is being housed in the psychiatric ward of the Sacramento County jail and has been placed on suicide watch, according to the Associated Press. 

Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones told AP Friday that DeAngelo has said little but has been talking and mumbling to himself. 

He has been charged in eight murders. Additional charges are expected to come from a half-dozen California counties also terrified by a serial rapist and killer blamed for 12 murders, more than 50 rapes and the ransacking of hundreds of homes from 1974 through 1986.

In a case that has waxed and waned over the years, investigators narrowed down the possible Golden State Killer suspects to DeAngelo by comparing crime-scene DNA with genetic material stored by a distant relative on a genealogical website. 

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After focusing on DeAngelo as a prime suspect, police spent six days tracking his movements to plan how and when to take him into custody. They also took two samples of "discarded DNA" from DeAngelo, apparently from a used straw or cup, to positively identify him as the likely Golden State Killer.

"He was very surprised," Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said of DeAngelo's arrest. "It happened almost instantaneously."

The DNA process used to identify DeAngelo was first reported by The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento's Chief Deputy Steve Grippi confirmed the use of a genealogy website to USA TODAY but declined to elaborate on what website was used. 

Paul Holes,  a cold case expert and retired Contra Costa County District Attorney inspector, said his team’s biggest tool was GEDmatch, a Florida-based website where people publicly share raw genetic profiles, the Mercury News reported. Access to the site's largest database of genetic blueprints is voluntary and does not require a court order.

GEDMatch said on its website it understands that its database was used to help identify the Golden State Killer.

"Although we were not approached by law enforcement or anyone else about this case or about the DNA, it has always been GEDmatch's policy to inform users that the database could be used for other uses, as set forth in the Site Policy," the company said. Those concerned about "non-genealogical" uses of their DNA should not upload it to the database, GEDMatch said.

Police are confident that by capturing DeAngelo they have taken into custody the perpetrator of a series of rapes and killings blamed variously over the years on the Visalia Ransacker, East Area Rapist, Original Night Stalker and Golden State Killer.

It wasn't until the cold cases were re-opened 18 years ago that investigators began to see a pattern in the different crimes in the various local communities. The rapist, for example, often used a "diamond knot" to tie up his victims, indicating he had either been a Boy Scout or in the military.

He also frequently broke in on couples sleeping during the night, tied up the husband while he raped the wife. Often, in a bizarre ritual, he would place cups or saucers on the back of the tied-up husband, warning he would kill them both if any of the items fell off and broke during the ordeal.

Two years ago, the search heated up after Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, who could recall as a child how terrified her community had been, successfully lobbied for a state-wide task force on the Golden State Killer crimes. Investigators were also able to employ new DNA techniques and databases in the search.

DeAngelo, now retired, worked for two police departments over the years, including in the farming town of Exeter, near Visalia, site of the initial string of rapes and break-ins between 1973 to 1976 by the so-called Visalia Ransacker. 

In 1975, community college teacher Claude Snelling was shot and killed while trying to stop a masked intruder from kidnapping his 16-year-old daughter from his home in what police now consider a likely 13th victim of the Golden State Killer.

DeAngelo was a “black sheep” who didn’t joke around with other officers, said Farrel Ward, 75, who served on the Exeter force with DeAngelo.

Ward said it’s possible that DeAngelo helped with the search for Snelling’s killer and the elusive burglar but he doesn’t recall DeAngelo directly investigating the killing.

“I’ve been thinking, but there’s no indication whatsoever that anything was wrong,” Ward said. “How could you just go out and kill somebody and go back and go to work? I don’t understand that.”

DeAngelo also worked as a police officer in Auburn, but was fired following a shoplifting incident.

The suspect and his wife of 45 years — an attorney — raised three daughters, one who is an emergency room physician, another a graduate student at UC Davis, the Los Angeles Times reported.

DeAngelo’s neighbors, relatives and former acquaintances all say they had no inkling that he could be a serial killer. He worked nearly three decades in a Sacramento-area supermarket warehouse as a truck mechanic, retiring last year. As a neighbor, he was known for taking meticulous care of his lawn.

DeAngelo's sister, Becky Thompson, who still lives in Exeter, sobbed on the phone Thursday during an interview with the Los Angeles Times as she tried to comes to terms with the arrest of her brother for such horrendous acts. 

"I'm pretty much in shock," she told the newspaper. "I'm in disbelief. It's difficult to think about." Thompson said she hopes that police are wrong about her brother, whom she regarded as "the kindest, gentlest man with his children."

"I have prayed hard that some of this isn't true," she said.

Contributing: The Associated Press