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The day after law enforcement officials announced that they had finally arrested the Golden State Killer, the focus turned to the question of “how?”
As my colleague Thomas Fuller put it, “it was technology that got him.” (You can read his article here.)
By the late afternoon on Thursday, officials at the Sacramento district attorney’s office were delving further into exactly how they traced the man they accuse of committing more than 50 rapes and 12 murders. The suspect, Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, was arrested by the police this week.
Investigators, it turned out, had used DNA from crime scenes that had been stored over the decades and plugged the genetic profile of the suspected assailant into an online genealogy database. Eventually, they traced the DNA to the suspect’s front door.
The hideous crimes that follow must haunt them forever, but what is even worse in these following cases is knowing that the killer is sat in a cell somewhere still living and breathing. These are the following ten most prolific serial killers who are still alive today 10. Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. 5 Serial Killer Moments Caught on Video Part 2 A huge thank you to 'SSHD CreepyPasta and Horror' please subscribe to his channel with the link: https://www.y.
Those who had investigated the case for years were ecstatic.
And then there were all the victims to consider.
My colleagues Jennifer Medina and Jose A. Del Real spoke to several victims and members of their families.
As one relative noted: “This not a club anyone really wants to be a member of.”
You can read their article here.
More from The New York Times:
• What do we know about Joseph James DeAngelo? Let us explain. [The New York Times]
• Mr. DeAngelo lived in Citrus Heights — a suburban neighborhood east of Sacramento that one resident called “quiet, sweet,” and “boring.” [The New York Times]
• The Golden State Killer’s barrage of rapes and murders began in 1976 and seemed to have ended by 1986. Why, sometimes, do serial killers just stop? [The New York Times]
Additional coverage:
• Investigators were digging in Mr. DeAngelo’s backyard on Thursday, but by the early evening had not uncovered anything. [The Los Angeles Times]
• One longtime cold case investigator had tracked Mr. DeAngelo to his door. But then he drove home. [The Mercury News]
• “There was nothing really while he was working at the Auburn Police Department that would say he was a mass murderer,” his former boss said. [CBS Sacramento]
• Did military and law enforcement training help the suspect evade capture? [The Sacramento Bee]
• How about a middle-class life? [The Los Angeles Times]
• This audio slide show takes you through the headlines from 1979 to 2018. [The Sacramento Bee]
• Here are a few podcasts, videos and stories that take deep dives into what was, until recently, a cold case. [Vox]
• Mr. DeAngelo’s first court appearance is scheduled for Friday at 1:30 p.m. in Sacramento. [SFGate]
California Online
(Please note: We regularly highlight articles on news sites that have limited access for nonsubscribers.)
• Hundreds of migrants who arrived in Tijuana this week after a month traveling are planning to walk to the border crossing on Sunday. Many believe that now, only President Trump stands in their way. [The New York Times]
• San Joaquin County supervisors have stripped their sheriff of his responsibilities in death investigations after allegations surfaced that he used his political office to shield officers who killed civilians. [KQED]
• California regulators have fined Pacific Gas and Electric Co. $97.5 million for “improper back-channel communications” after the deadly 2010 San Bruno pipeline blast. [The San Francisco Chronicle]
• Conservative groups at the University of California, Berkeley can sue the school over the restrictions officials placed on high-profile speakers, a judge has ruled. [SFGate]
• A $9 billion water bond has enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in November. [Capital Public Radio]
• The N.F.L. Draft began on Thursday. Sam Darnold, of Southern California, was picked third by the Jets; Josh Rosen, of U.C.L.A., went 10th to the Arizona Cardinals. [The New York Times]
• Here’s an analysis of all 32 picks in the first round. [The New York Times]
And Finally ...
For baseball fans in Los Angeles, there are few things better than soaking in a perfect California sunset at Dodger Stadium.
The problem is getting there.
Traffic on Sunset Boulevard at 5:30 p.m. on a game night is the stuff of legend. Buses fill a dedicated lane, drivers flee to side streets, and still, making first pitch can feel nearly impossible.
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Under this kind of duress, it’s likely that at least a few Angelenos have fantasied at the wheel about one day being able to soar over the congestion and float to the front of Chavez Ravine.
Perhaps, by 2022, they will be able to do just that.
On Thursday, Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies announced plans for what is effectively a gondola lift that would send passengers from downtown’s Union Station to Dodger Stadium in about five minutes.
The proposal, which was submitted to Metro’s Office of Extraordinary Innovation this week, was first reported by The Los Angeles Times.
Officials said the system would whisk more than 5,000 riders per hour in each direction, eliminating hundreds of thousands of annual car trips.
![Serial Serial](/uploads/1/2/5/0/125032499/300135223.jpg)
Its price tag? $125 million, funded in part by Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies and in part by other private financing.
In a telephone interview, the mayor of Los Angeles, Eric M. Garcetti, said there would be no cost to taxpayers. He said he expected that rides would cost a “few bucks” — a “single digit” dollar amount.
“I’ve dreamed about this for years,” said Mr. Garcetti, who has lived just blocks from Dodger Stadium. “Traffic is so terrible at Dodgers games. It’s the only bad thing you experience — short of a loss, of course.”
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Officials say public review could begin by the end of this year. In a prepared statement, the Los Angeles Dodgers expressed support for the project, calling it “important and innovative.”
And already on Thursday, Mr. Garcetti was imagining Vin Scully’s voice welcoming fans to the aerial tram.
“People don’t think of L.A. as a romantic city,” he said. “But I think it’s as romantic as Paris or any other city in the world. And this would just kind of cement it.”
California Today goes live at 6 a.m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: [email protected].
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California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from U.C. Berkeley.