New Documents Paint Picture Of East Area Rapist Suspect Arrest
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — More than 170 pages of heavily redacted documents pertaining to the East Area Rapist case were made public on Friday.
A judge ruled to unseal the search and arrest warrants of Joseph DeAngelo.
"I'm certainly happy that the court recognized the public's first amendment right of access," said Duffy Carolan, the attorney representing several media outlets.
The pages released provide insight into the Joseph DeAngelo case.
Read DeAngelo's redacted arrest warrant
Read the redacted search warrant
"They created a spider web of connections between these assaults based on physical evidence," said legal expert Allen Sawyer.
He reviewed the documents. The warrants reveal investigators connected DNA from crimes in Orange and Ventura counties. A public DNA database was then used to locate a relative with a familial connection to DeAngelo.
"The idea that law enforcement could use that raises some pretty striking privacy concerns," said Sawyer.
Key information about how investigators were able to track the DNA to DeAngelo was left out of the documents.
"Extraordinary efforts were used to apprehend a suspect. And that's where the lines start to get blurred," said Sawyer.
Once authorities zeroed in on the suspect, the documents show investigators followed DeAngelo for four days.
In April, police pulled a DNA sample from his car-door handle while he was inside of a Roseville Hobby Lobby. They later returned to his home to collect another DNA sample from a tissue he threw away.
According to the search warrant, investigators were after photo albums, digital evidence like computers and hard drives, as well as safes inside of DeAngelo's home.
"You look for every connection you can," said Sawyer.
The warrant includes a list of 115 items, like photos, jewelry and fine china, all taken from victim's homes. Noticeably left out of the documents was a list of what police took from DeAngelo's home.
"Is there any stolen property connected to any of the robberies assaults rapes or murders tied to this residence," said Sawyer.
DeAngelo was stoic in court on Friday. His next court date is set for July 12.
