Relative's DNA from genealogy websites cracked East Area Rapist case, DA's office says
Sacramento investigators tracked down East Area Rapist suspect Joseph James DeAngelo using genealogical websites that contained genetic information from a relative, the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office confirmed Thursday.
The effort was part of a painstaking process that began by using DNA from one of the crime scenes from years ago and comparing it to genetic profiles available online through various websites that cater to individuals wanting to know more about their family backgrounds by accepting DNA samples from them, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Grippi.
The investigation was conducted over a long period of time as officials in Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert's office and crime lab explored online family trees that appeared to have matches to DNA samples from the East Area Rapist's crimes, Grippi said. They then followed clues to individuals in the family trees to determine whether they were potential suspects.
The process finally came to fruition last Thursday, when the investigation focused on the possibility that DeAngelo might be a suspect, a suspicion that was bolstered by the fact that he had lived in areas where the attacks occurred and was in the right age range, Grippi said.
That discovery set the investigation into high gear, with Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones' investigators setting up surveillance on DeAngelo in his quiet Citrus Heights neighborhood and obtaining his DNA from something he discarded, Schubert and Jones said at a news conference Wednesday.
Results from comparing that DNA sample to the original crime scene samples were positive for matching DeAngelo to the crimes, Grippi said, but officials wanted the strongest possible link and set out to collect a second, more robust sample.
Those results came back from the D.A.'s crime lab Monday evening, leading to a rush to prepare for an arrest of DeAngelo, an effort that officials said they wanted to make quickly to ensure public safety after a 44-year mystery.
DeAngelo was arrested outside his home Tuesday afternoon and booked into the county jail on two charges of murder in the February 1978 slayings of Katie and Brian Maggiore in Rancho Cordova.
He is expected to face charges in 12 homicide cases in Sacramento, Orange, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties stemming from a rape and slaying spree that authorities say stretched from 1974 through May 1986.
Schubert and Jones have declined to reveal details of how their investigations led them to DeAngelo, but have said that information will be made known publicly soon.
DeAngelo faces arraignment in Sacramento Superior Court on Friday.
http://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article209913514.html
I'm glad they double-checked to match his DNA. There are more than a few newbies on the genealogy web sites who are prone to errors. It's referred to as "hit and run" genealogy research. They get names wrong, link up the wrong relatives with similar names, etc. Another reason why LE and the courts should be very, very cautious when using these online DNA databases.
Even Ancestry.com cautions people that DNA matches Ancestry.com's site ranks as a "Good" or lower may not actually be your relative, just someone with similar DNA. I have hundreds of matches to my DNA there that are probably not related to me. Any good genealogist knows you have to validate everything back to a common ancestor through public records (census, marriage, wills/probate), etc. I recently discovered I'm related to Debbie Reynolds. Going back to validate everything, I came across some fairly atrocious genealogy research people had done in trying to link themselves to her.
Jeez, I hope I don't have any serial killers in my family tree.