To Catch a Killer
2011
2017
2020
1973-1986
For 13 years , California communities are terrorized by a series of home invasion rapes and murders , believed to be committed by one man who then seemingly disappears , eventually known as the “ Golden State Killer .”
Recently retired patent lawyer Barbara Rae-Venter ’ 72 , PhD ’ 76 , begins taking genetic genealogy classes and researching her family history .
2016
After volunteering as a “ Search Angel ” with
DNAAdoption , Rae-Venter identifies birth relatives of an abducted child abandoned in
1986 , thereby cracking several cold case serial killings in subsequent years .
Paul Holes , chief of forensics in Contra Costa County , asks Rae-Venter to lend her genetic genealogy skills to the Golden State Killer cases . Public use of DNA-based ancestry databases had by then reached an all-time high .
2018
Rae-Venter builds multiple family trees from the Golden State
Killer ' s crime scene DNA sample to narrow down a list of suspects , including former police officer Joseph DeAngelo . A confirming DNA sample is obtained , and DeAngelo is arrested .
DeAngelo pleads guilty to 13 counts of first-degree murder and admits to multiple uncharged acts . He is convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole .
“ Lisa ’ s abductor — a man of many aliases who abandoned her when she was five years old — had been convicted of murdering his common-law wife in Contra Costa , Calif .,” explains Rae-Venter . “ By utilizing crime scene evidence and DNA profiles uploaded by family members , we were ultimately able to determine the true identity of this man , Terry Peder Rassmussen . We also confirmed that he was a serial killer .”
IN MARCH 2017 , news of Rae-Venter ’ s success in the case reached Paul Holes , chief of forensics in the Contra Costa County D . A .’ s office , who had been trying to crack the notorious “ Golden State Killer ” case for more than two decades . While police had long-suspected that a series of rapes and killings up and down California in the ’ 70s and ’ 80s could have been the work of one man , it wasn ’ t until 2001 that DNA testing confirmed the theory . The man ’ s identity , however , remained a mystery . Rae-Venter agreed to help on the case and uploaded a crime scene DNA sample in GEDmatch , a genetic family tree database . Rae-Venter then guided Holes ’ team in constructing family trees to discover relatives corresponding to the DNA , a painstaking and laborious process that involves tracing lineage back to a common ancestor — greatgreat-great-grandparents , in this
“ I hope my career is a testament to that fact that a solid grounding in the biological sciences can propel you in any number of directions .”
— BARBARA RAE-VENTER ’ 72 , PHD ’ 76
case — then looking forward and building out the many branches of multiple family trees . With additional pieces of evidence , such as ethnicity and key physical features helping to winnow down leads , Rae-Venter was able to confidently identify a likely suspect . Law enforcement obtained a DNA sample , which matched the crime scene DNA and confirmed that former police officer Joseph DeAngelo was the Golden State Killer . Arrested in August 2018 , DeAngelo pled guilty to all crimes — at least 13 murders , 50 rapes and 120 burglaries — and was sentenced to life in prison .
“ It was an extraordinary experience ,” says Rae-Venter . “ Besides the incredible teamwork required , there were two key factors in the positive I . D .— a DNA profile of a cousin of DeAngelo ’ s uploaded to the database , and my ability to determine that the likely suspect was blue-eyed and , by this time , bald .
JUSTICE SERVED Former police officer Joseph DeAngelo evaded law enforcement for more than three decades , until Rae-Venter ' s techniques led to his recent arrest and conviction .
30 TRITON | SPRING 2021