Golden State Rapist Murderer Arrested After Almost 40 Years!

Discussion in 'In the News' started by Yvonne Smith, Apr 25, 2018.

  1. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I was just reading this news this morning. This man was apparently raping and killing women (and killed men as well) back in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. It turns out that he was formerly in law enforcement, so that probably helped him to evade being caught.
    They are also crediting a book written by crime blogger Michelle McNamara as helping police to finally catch this suspect. She had written a book about the Folden State Rapist, but it had not yet been published when she died in 2016. Her husband went forward with the business of getting the book published, which probably created a renewed interest in this killer, and might have helped lead to his arrest.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/michel...est-in-golden-state-killer-case/#5a53a1c6378a
     
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  2. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    Although I have always been interested in true crime stories, when I was laid up with an injury, I got really hooked on the true crime TV shows. I remember watching a study on this guy. I remember "the flashlight in the face to disorient" trick that he used. There are still a few of these killers/rapists out there who haven't been caught. I hope they catch them all before they die and fall into anonymity.
     
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  3. Holly Saunders

    Holly Saunders Supreme Member
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    Yes I remember watching that too @Don Alaska . I wondered how he'd got away with it all these years...

    As an ex copper ..he's going to have a hard time in prison, and rightly so... ....
     
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  4. Patsy Faye

    Patsy Faye Supreme Member
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    Seen a few police that have been rapists/murderers, they obviously believe they can outsmart
    Not long ago, saw a docu on a well respected Fireman in California, started so many fires !
    Eventually caught, he loved the thrill of starting them then going out to the scene with a crew
    They think they're invincible - they 'are' the lowest of the low, along with priests and nuns hiding behind their job descriptions
     
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  5. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    I have a friend who is a District Attorney in Georgia. He could make a lot more money in private practice, but he gets areal kick out of putting the bad guys (and gals) where they belong. Anyway, he once said that virtually all criminals think they are smarter than the system and never think they will be caught. There are a few--the REALLY smart ones--who do get away with crime for years and some are never caught. Many who get away with crime for years are apprehended when they start "taunting" the cops, BTK for instance. The Unabomber was another.
     
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  6. Patsy Faye

    Patsy Faye Supreme Member
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    I would 'get a kick outa putting bad guys and gals away too' !
    Criminals think they're smart and those I've quoted above think they're smart too
     
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  7. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Didn't they get a hit on a relative who had submitted his/her DNA to Ancestry.com or one of the other private genetics testing labs? That's what someone said on the radio, although I was only half paying attention.
     
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  8. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    That is what I read, too. Once they found the matching DNA, they pretty much had no problem tracing him down. I think that the book coming out probably played a part because it brought attention back to the cold case again, and with the new DNA evidence that they didn’t have back then, they were able to find him.
    I imagine that by now, he thought that he was pretty safe.
     
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  9. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    Ancestry and 23and You (or something like that) have denied that they were part of the case, so it must have been one of the lesser-known sites. I am glad he was caught, but I still find it a bit spooky.
     
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  10. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Although it seemed clear to me that the private DNA testing labs were sure to be a collection point for the law enforcement DNA database, I don't imagine anyone would like to have that pointed out to everyone.
     
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  11. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    I do not recall the company's name, but it was indeed a DNA collection agency that linked to the capture of the rapist. I definitely do like the idea that the man was captured but I'm now somewhat skeptical concerning the privacy of obtaining one's ancestry via DNA testing.
    According to an article I was reading (before coffee this morning), most of those companies declare that all testing is private with a caveat of when law enforcement is involved.
    So far as my own personal interests go, I don't care because there's nothing to find but I can see a lot of trouble over it brewing if the local police, HS, The FBI or even the CIA are automatically linked to DNA ancestry testing.
     
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  12. Patsy Faye

    Patsy Faye Supreme Member
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    Not sure I have a problem with it as long as people are aware of the process
    If they are clean - no problem for them, maybe for relatives - but I say, so be it
     
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  13. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    Yeah, but it's sort of like the medical privacy issue. A lot of folks are real particular about who can access a medical file so it's a possibility that those same sort of people would be ticked if they found out that their DNA was being revealed to whoever. As far as I'm concerned, I am an open book so whoever really wishes to have a boring read, go for it, no charge.
     
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  14. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I just heard the news report on it and, while they made it clear that it was a DNA testing company, they didn't name it. I had a feeling, from the start, that the result from Ancestry.com and other private DNA testing labs would end up in the government's database, or that they would have ready access to it.
     
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  15. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    GEDmatch is name given to the Wall Street Journal.
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/use-of...te-killer-raises-privacy-questions-1524913201
     
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