Joseph James DeAngelo has been called a lot of things by law enforcement. He's been called the East Side Rapace.

He's been called the Bicellia Ransacker, the original Night Stalker, and the Golden State Killer.

Today is our pleasure to call him Defender.

Yesterday, April 25, 2018, was a day that many of us in the true crime community have been waiting a lifetime for.

It was a day that the serial offender who went by many names, East Area Rapist, original Night Stalker, Golden State Killer, and even Bicellia Ransacker, was arrested.

Despite not being on the radar of law enforcement more than a week ago, this person of interest found himself under extreme scrutiny.

Ever since this announcement, early yesterday morning, investigators and web sleuths alike have been desperate to learn about this figure who presented himself as a victim.

But was nothing more than a frail old man.

Joseph James DeAngelo stands roughly 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing in at around 205 pounds.

Born on November 8, 1945, he is now 72 years old, and has the type of grandfatherly appearance you'd expect from the neighborhood crank.

DeAngelo graduated from Fulslam Senior High School in June of 1964, and he would join the US Navy later that year in September.

He spent 22 months in combat in Vietnam, which would explain how he collected a vast knowledge of various ties and bindings.

Apparently, during this nearly two-year stint in Vietnam, he lost a finger during combat, or at least he lost part of a finger.

After returning stateside, he attended Sierra College, where he obtained a degree in political science.

He then began working at the Sierra Crane and Boost Company in Newcastle, California, which is about half an hour northeast of Sacramento.

At this point, in the early 1970s, he was engaged to a woman named Bonnie.

I'll leave her last name out of it, because she has very little to do with this story.

However, many have tied this into some of the later attacks by the East Area rapist, when he would frustratingly say the name Bonnie to the people he was harming.

Many at the time believed this to be the word mommy, but it's looking more and more likely that it was the latter.

It sounds like this frustration may have stemmed from the fact that their engagement was called off.

At around the time that DeAngelo was attending California State University in Sacramento, there he would eventually obtain a bachelor's degree in criminal law, with an emphasis on criminal justice.

And his engagement and relationship to this Bonnie would end.

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