DeAngelo arrest announcement Charges, DNA and questions

Apr 25, 2018

In this complete April 25, 2018 Sacramento press conference, Anne Marie Schubert says a Sacramento complaint and arrest warrant were issued the previous day for the February 1978 murders of Brian and Katie Maggiore. She describes a DNA breakthrough over the preceding six days. Scott Jones announces the April 24 arrest of 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo in Citrus Heights after surveillance and comparison of discarded DNA. He stresses both technology and investigative work. In questions, he describes waiting outside DeAngelo's residence and an arrest without incident; his suggestion about what DeAngelo might have been planning is expressly speculation. He later distinguishes an initial discarded sample from a better second sample. Schubert and Jones withhold the exact DNA technique because the investigation is active, and Schubert rejects a reported recent tip as the explanation. Greg Totten announces two Ventura first-degree capital murder charges concerning Lyman and Charlene Smith's March 1980 deaths, with multiple-murder, rape and burglary special circumstances, saying they were filed that morning. He says investigation and coordinated prosecution are continuing. Tony Rackauckas identifies DeAngelo as a defendant and outlines Orange County accusations concerning Keith and Patrice Harrington, Manuela Witthuhn and Janelle Cruz. Venue and prosecution arrangements remain undecided; he says the prosecutors' successful 2016 effort to retain and reform the death penalty remains relevant, without announcing a sentencing decision. Speakers recall the June 2016 Sacramento recommitment and subsequent task force. Rackauckas credits victim relative Bruce Harrington's advocacy for Proposition 69 and describes about two million state DNA profiles and 170,000 local Orange County profiles. Harrington recounts his DNA campaign and opposition in Sacramento, praises DNA's uses in solving crimes and exonerating innocent people, and appeals for Keep California Safe petition signatures. His stated goal of 500,000 signatures by mid-June and a November ballot is an appeal and expectation, not an established qualification or election result. Diana Becton credits Paul Holes' long investigation and continued work after retirement. Sean Ragan describes FBI assistance, thousands of public tips since 2016 and the continuing investigation. Nancy O'Malley recalls supporting survivors and a Fremont gunpoint rape and robbery that she dates to April 1978. She advocates mandatory sexual-assault-kit testing through Connie Leyva's pending SB 1449, describes earlier Skinner legislation as occurring in 2015, cites over $179 million in federal testing support and asserts database matches in more than 40 percent of profiles in some settings. These remain her claims. In the complete question period, Jones describes DeAngelo's Exeter and Auburn police employment and 1979 dismissal after shoplifting a hammer and dog repellent; whether those items were used in attacks or crimes occurred while on duty is unresolved. He denies that information in I'll Be Gone in the Dark directly produced the arrest while crediting publicity. He confirms adult children and cooperative family interviews but withholds details. Schubert says DeAngelo's name had not previously surfaced and says she has no information linking him to Australia. All criminal allegations and confident official assertions retain their contemporary attribution; this recording does not report a completed trial.

Nancy O'Malley urges public support for Connie Leyva's pending SB 1449 to require sexual-assault evidence kits to reach crime laboratories for testing. At the April 25 DeAngelo announcement she argues that untested kits harm survivors and impede identification and exoneration, connects the appeal to earlier legislative advocacy, and cites claimed DNA-profile match rates above 40 percent in some settings. She describes the bill as progressing through the legislature; enactment and implementation are not announced.