Cold Cases Solved

Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., a former police officer, terrorized California as the Golden State Killer (also known as the East Area Rapist and Original Night Stalker) from 1974 to 1986. He committed at least 13 murders, over 50 rapes, and more than 120 burglaries. The case went cold for decades until genetic genealogy led to his 2018 arrest at age 72. In 2020, DeAngelo pleaded guilty and was sentenced to multiple life terms without parole. As of 2025, he remains incarcerated in protective custody.

Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five, was brutally raped and murdered while jogging on the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland, on August 5, 2023. For 10 months, the case went cold despite DNA evidence—until genetic genealogy and a linked Los Angeles crime led investigators to Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, a 23-year-old from El Salvador. Arrested in June 2024, he was convicted in April 2025 of first-degree murder, rape, and kidnapping, receiving life without parole.