CALIFORNIA 1974–1986 Cold Case Solved After 44 Years — He Was One of Their Own

For forty-four years, a serial rapist and killer operated across California under three different names invented by the press, while working for years as a sworn police officer in the same region. This episode traces the case from the first Visalia burglaries in 1974 through the 2018 arrest that used a public genealogy database for the first time in a case this size, to the 2020 guilty plea and sentencing. Sources: Sacramento County District Attorney's Office, case filings and press statements Death Penalty Information Center, case summary (2025) NPR, CNN, ABC10/KFSN, CBS News — contemporaneous reporting, 2018–2020 Ventura County District Attorney's Office, June 29, 2020 plea summary Wikipedia, "Joseph James DeAngelo" and "Paul Holes" (background verification only) Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 1:45 Visalia, 1974 5:30 The East Area Rapist 11:00 The Original Night Stalker 15:40 Two Decades Cold 18:30 The Genealogy Method 24:00 The Arrest 27:30 The Plea and Sentencing Footage credits: [to be finalized once operator confirms sourced press-conference/court clips per P4 license log] Music and motion graphics: original. This episode is built from court records, law-enforcement releases and news organisations of record, linked above. Convictions and pleas are stated as recorded. Where a case is unresolved, we say so. Nothing here is legal advice.