DeAngelo was the police. He knew what cops compared what they looked for. He still had an impulse to rape and kill as bad or worse than the need to use drugs. Eventually they screw up, get old or go to jail.
I agree there are no criminal masterminds or evil geniuses. Ted Bundy used his own name and was rejected by one if not more women at Lake Sammanish who didn't buy his boat scam. He kidnapped two women separately that day but still he used his name people could recognize him and his car. He was lucky, and white, not brilliant. I think we tend to think killers are smarter or more clever than us when really they just don't care. They don't have feelings like most people so they aren't riddled with guilt when they do horrible things we can't really understand. Their only advantage is that they are socio/psychopaths.
Israel Keyes drove around the country using his victims credit card and attempted to extort her family. That's the main reason i've always been skeptical of his claims as that was incredibly stupid. And yeah totally agreed with what you said.