Sacramento Serial Killer–What it Took to Bring Down the Golden State Killer
James L'Etoile » Serial Killers
by James L'Etoile
5M ago
The Visalia Ransacker, The Original Nightstalker, The East Area Rapist–these were all names for the man later known as the infamous Golden State Killer. Now in 2023, we’ve discovered Joseph DeAngelo, Jr., was the man responsible for thirteen murders and more than fifty rapes during his decades long crime spree. What took so long to catch this predator? What finally came together to unmask DeAngelo, and why did he stop and disappear? These were among the questions I had when I had the chance to sit down with Paul Holes, the former Contra Costa County cold case investigator who retired after tw ..read more
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Arrest in the Stockton Serial Killer Case
James L'Etoile » Serial Killers
by James L'Etoile
1y ago
Stockton Police made a dramatic arrest in the case that plagued the city in recent weeks. On October 15th, Wesley Brownlee was taken into custody while authorities believe he was out hunting for another victim in the central California city. The city of Stockton is not unfamiliar with gun crime and homicide. The city of 311,000 is ahead of last year’s murder record with 43 homicides this year. At least three of them are now attributed to Brownlee, a suspected serial killer. First Reported Cases: On July 8, 2022, at 12:31 a.m., a 35-year-old man, Paul Yaw, was fatally shot. On Aug. 11 at 9:49 ..read more
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A New California Serial Killer on the Prowl
James L'Etoile » Serial Killers
by James L'Etoile
1y ago
We know California has been a serial killer’s paradise since the 1970’s. More serial killers hunted in the state than all the others combined. While others may have racked up higher body counts, (think Ridgway and Dahmer) we seem to have lived with more than our share. The Sacramento region attracts the most with 15% of the nation’s serial killers having some tie to the area. We’ve talked about that strange but true fact here before. And it seems we have a new serial killer hunting in the region. Stockton, California is a small city, less than fifty miles south of Sacramento. It’s a place with ..read more
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California’s Recently Uncovered Serial Killer
James L'Etoile » Serial Killers
by James L'Etoile
1y ago
Serial killers are creatures of habit. It’s part of what often keeps them undetected for years. That same habit, often turns into a pattern, and patterns are a serial killer hunter’s best friend. Patterns helped to unmask the Golden State KiIler, Joseph DeAngelo, Jr,  and the Toolbox Killers, Bittiker and Norris. These killers sought specific targets, victims who appealed to their darkest tastes. In the case of DeAngelo, his habits included, initially, preying upon single women, before graduating to couples in their homes. There is some evidence to suggest that he watched the victims befo ..read more
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Serial Killer Pair–Bittaker and Norris
James L'Etoile » Serial Killers
by James L'Etoile
1y ago
On December 16, 2019, an inmate housed on condemned row at San Quentin State Prison died while awaiting execution. Lawrence Sigmond Bittaker, known as one of the “Tool Box Killers” was sentenced to death in March of 1981 the kidnapping, murder and sexual assault of five young women. Bittaker and his crime partner, Roy Norris met while they each served a prison term at the California Men’s Colony, near San Luis Obispo. Bittaker was serving a term for attempted murder after stabbing a shopkeeper who tired to stop him from shoplifting. Norris was finishing up his prison sentence for rape and assa ..read more
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Sacramento Serial Killer — Profile of a Second Chance
James L'Etoile » Serial Killers
by James L'Etoile
1y ago
Digging around in Sacramento’s history isn’t for the faint of heart. The Gold Rush town was lawless and bloody with a reputation for quick frontier justice. Yet on a few occasions, the hand of mercy reached out and offered a second chance to a killer. Ida Brewer was a sex worker in the 1850’s who was acquitted of stabbing a rival prostitute. She went on to kill one of her customers a few years later–she was fined and told to leave town. You have to wonder what she knew to warrant such lenient treatment in those harsh times. It wasn’t the last time that a murderer went free only to commit anoth ..read more
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Sacramento Serial Killer – Ted Kaczynksi
James L'Etoile » Serial Killers
by James L'Etoile
1y ago
Depending on the definition used, a serial killer is one who murders two or more victims, in separate instances (FBI Serial Murder Symposium – 2005). Theodore “Ted” Kaczynksi meets this standard as a serial killer in the classic sense–three victims were killed during his sixteen bomb, seventeen-year long domestic terror campaign as the Unabomber. One fact lost in the extensive search for Kaczynski is that two of his three murders took place in Sacramento, making him one of Sacramento’s notorious serial killers. On December 12, 1985, the owner of Rentech Computer Rentals, Hugh Scrutton, age 38 ..read more
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Death Penalty Deception
James L'Etoile » Serial Killers
by James L'Etoile
1y ago
I do solemnly swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the State of California… I took this oath a few times in my career. It’s a responsibility not be to taken lightly. Yet California’s newly minted Governor seems to interpret the oath of office a bit differently. His swearing in must have included some “fine print” that included a provision that he’d only support laws that fit ..read more
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Serial Killers in Sacramento–Why here?
James L'Etoile » Serial Killers
by James L'Etoile
1y ago
News headlines and social media feeds were buzzing after the long-awaited death of notorious serial killer, Charles Manson. His personal role as the mastermind of the 1960’s murder spree in Southern California has been long debated, as he is quoted saying that he didn’t personally commit any of the crimes. Manson and his dysfunctional “family” of followers are credited with nine homicides and ending an era of innocence in America. image by Bill Strain via flickr creative commons Originally sentenced to death, Manson languished in California prisons for nearly fifty years, before dy ..read more
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Solving 40 Year Old Cold Cases
James L'Etoile » Serial Killers
by James L'Etoile
1y ago
The unmasking of the Golden State Killer came by unusual means. Unusual in that Joseph DeAngelo Jr. wasn’t caught through surveillance, or from a tip that came through a jail house snitch, or from an eyewitness account of the crime. The murders and rapes suddenly ended decades ago and the trail went cold. When a case goes cold, investigators work the evidence they have, but need something new–some additional thread to unravel–before they can hone in on a suspect. More often than not, once a case goes cold, it remains unsolved. That was until recent developments in forensic sleight of hand chan ..read more
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