Police finally have arrested a suspect in the 'Golden State Killer' case that's been cold for 42 years — and he's a former cop

Michelle McNamara wrote a book on the case, pictured here with husband Patton Oswalt. McNamara died suddenly in 2016 before the book was published.

John Shearer/Getty Images

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A major breakthrough has been made today in one of the country's most infamous serial killer cases.

The FBI has arrested a suspect in the so-called "Golden State Killer" case. The Golden State Killer is someone who authorities believe could be responsible for 12 murders and 45 rapes in California between 1976 and 1986. The suspect is 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo, a former police officer, who was arrested this morning on two counts of murder, according to information provided in a press conference. DeAngelo is ineligible for bail.

During a Wednesday press conference, it was confirmed that DeAngelo had been arrested in Citrus Heights, California, on the charges thanks to DNA evidence against him. He has apparently lived in the area for at least two decades, according to ABC 7.

"We were able to get some discarded DNA," Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schuber said. "We were able to confirm what we thought we already knew — that we had our man."

"We found the needle in the haystack and it was here in Sacramento, " she continued.

The "Golden State Killer" has been known by several aliases including the "East Area Rapist" and "The Original Night Stalker." It has been theorized that he was also responsible for crimes attributed to "The Visalia Ransacker," who was thought to have committed petty crimes and even murder. The Orange County District Attorney acknowledged all of these titles in the press conference relating to DeAngelo's arrest.

"Joseph James DeAngelo has been called a lot of things by law enforcement," he said. "He's been called the Eastside Rapist, he's been called the Visalia Ransacker, the Original Nighstalker, and the Golden State Killer. Today it is our pleasure to call him defendant."

Interest in the case has been recently renewed thanks to "I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer"by true crime journalist Michelle McNamara, which was published posthumously in late February.

Although McNamara died unexpectedly in April 2016, before the book could be finished, it was completed by researcher Paul Haynes and crime journalist Billy Jensen, who helped her investigate the case over the course of nearly a decade.

Her husband, comedian Patton Oswalt, also helped complete the book, which became a No. 1 New York Times best-seller.

Patton Oswalt and his late wife, Michelle McNamara.

AP

Understandably, Oswalt, Jensen, and fans of the book were beyond thrilled by the revelation that there was a breakthrough in the Golden State Killer case.

Oswalt has this Tweet pinned to the top of his feed: "If they've really caught the #GoldenStateKiller I hope I get to visit him. Not to gloat or gawk — to ask him the questions that @TrueCrimeDiary wanted answered in her "Letter To An Old Man" at the end of #IllBeGoneInTheDark."

It seems that Jensen and Oswalt may have been tipped off to the news early. On Tuesday night, Jensen teased that he and Oswalt would have a big announcement today.

"If you've been following the Golden State Killer case, stay tuned," he tweeted. "We will be having a rather large announcement tomorrow."

He has since posted a series of Tweets about the suspect and how certain aspects of his life seem to line up with alleged clues in the case.

"For anyone wondering, Exeter is 11 miles from Visalia. If you know anything about the cases, you know what this could mean," he said.

Best-selling thriller author Brad Meltzer credited McNamara's work with aiding in the investigation and sent a sweet message to Oswalt, too: "I love and believe that Michelle McNamara made this happen. @pattonoswalt, this is the universe hugging you back."

The news struck home for many of McNamara's fans and friends, who expressed their wishes that she could live to see an arrest in the case that she dedicated her life to.

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