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Former Police Officer Charged As Infamous Golden State Killer

SACRAMENTO (CBS13/AP/CNN) – A law enforcement official has identified a former police officer living in Citrus Heights as the infamous East Area Rapist, the AP reports.

Law enforcement personnel, including FBI agents, have converged at the home where the suspect, Joseph James DeAngelo, 77, has been living. He arrested and booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail early Wednesday morning on suspicion of two counts of murder in Ventura County, according to jail records.

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Joseph James DeAngelo (CBS)

The home is in the 8000 block of Canyon Oak Drive.

The East Area Rapist has been tied to 12 homicides, 45 rapes, and dozens of burglaries across the state in the 1970s and 1980s.

He has not been granted bail. He was being housed in the psychiatric area of the jail.

Jane Carson-Sandler, one of dozens of women raped by the elusive serial killer, says she received an email Wednesday from a retired detective who worked on the case telling her they identified the man and have him in custody.

According to the Auburn Journal, DeAngelo was fired in 1979 after being accused of shoplifting dog repellant and a hammer from the Pay N' Save drug store off Greenback Lane in Citrus Heights. He didn't answer any of the city's investigations or request a hearing, the Auburn Journal reported.

Auburn City Manager Jack Sausser told the newspaper, "There was justifiable grounds to remove him from the public sector."

Some neighbors say DeAngleo was quiet and some say he raised three children as a single parent. Other say DeAngelo was volatile, lashing out at neighbors over small infractions like getting his car dirty when they were moving their lawn.

"I'm still trying to process everything I'm learning today and wrapping my head around it how it affected to so many people and how violent it was…it makes me think about how better to protect my family," said neighbor Beth Walsh.

DeAngelo, a military veteran, and his wife bought the home in 1980. He graduated from Sac State with a bachelor's degree.

None of the nearby residents we spoke with remember him mentioning he was a police officer or had seen him wearing a law enforcement uniform.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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