According to a new book by Sacramento DA Thien Ho, a startling physical detail may have played a critical role in identifying Joseph James DeAngelo Jr.—the man known as the Golden State Killer. Page Six reports that DeAngelo’s “extremely small” genitalia was repeatedly mentioned by victims and became a piece of circumstantial evidence investigators relied on.
In the book, titled The People vs. the Golden State Killer, Ho writes that when victims described the perpetrator, they remarked on how “there’s nothing there.” Without DNA linking DeAngelo to certain crime scenes, detectives turned to this unusual physical trait for confirmation.
Law enforcement even assigned a photographer to take custody photos of DeAngelo’s genitalia while he was in detention. According to Ho, when they tried to photograph him, one officer “threw up his hands … ‘There’s nothing there.’” The book reportedly gives a very specific description of the size: “smaller than the circumference of a dime” with “length equal to the tip of your pinky.”
Ho argues that this detail, combined with the victims’ testimonies, provided the “corroborating” evidence necessary to link DeAngelo to crime sets associated with the East Area Rapist.
DeAngelo, who confessed in 2020 to 26 crimes, including murders and rapes, was sentenced to multiple life terms without parole.
