Suspect arrested in Golden State Killer case lived suburban California life

CITRUS HEIGHTS, Calif. - The man authorities say is among the worst serial killers and rapists in U.S. history is a 72-year-old Vietnam War veteran, former police officer and grandfather who lived quietly in a tidy, suburban California home.

Joseph James DeAngelo was described Wednesday as an odd but decent neighbor in the Sacramento suburb of Citrus Heights.

Neighbors said he kept to himself but was quick to anger and could often be heard loudly cussing in frustration over a landscaping issue or other minor annoyance.

He served as a police officer for six years until the Auburn Police Department fired him in 1979 for shoplifting a hammer and dog repellent.

Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones said DeAngelo's police training may have helped him commit the crimes.

Neighbors say he lived with an adult daughter and granddaughter.

As he committed crimes across the state, authorities called him by different names. He was dubbed the East Area Rapist after his start in Northern California, the Original Night Stalker after a series of Southern California slayings, and the Diamond Knot Killer for using an elaborate binding method on two of his victims.

He was most recently called the Golden State Killer.

Authorities decided to publicize the case again in 2016 in advance of the 40th anniversary of his first known assault in Sacramento County.

Neighbor Kevin Tapia, 36, said when he was a teenager, DeAngelo falsely accused him of throwing things over their shared fence, prompting a heated exchange between DeAngelo and Tapia's father. He said DeAngelo could often be heard cursing in frustration in his backyard.

"No one thinks they live next door to a serial killer," Tapia said. "But at the same time I'm just like, he was a weird guy. He kept to himself. When you start to think about it you're like, I could see him doing something like that but I would never suspect it."