There’s a terrible perception that police officers will do almost anything to cover up for each other. I’m thinking of movies like the classic “Copland”.

So I actually live in Visalia. This is where Joesph DeAngelo was involved in over a hundred breakins as the Visalia ransacker, while working as a police officer living in Exeter with his mother.

The main point I wanted to connect with today is that there were clear cover ups or at the very least an extreme amount of negligence by the police forces in the Tulare county area. I have a story that clearly illustrates this fact.

My father has a friend who not only lived across the street from the community college professor Claude Snelling during the 70’s but remembers a story that’s never told. Claude Snelling was shot by Joseph Deangelo while trying to protect his daughter from possibly getting raped or worse killed by Joseph DeAngelo. This interaction is well documented by Visalia news papers.

The story I would like to elaborate fuller on is that from the man who lived across the street from the Snellings. I will not use his name, but will reaccount the story I was told a few months ago.

So as a youth , the man remembers Claude Snellings daughter being a beautiful fellow high schooler. He described the family as the stereotypical upper class American family with Claude teaching English at the local community college just down the street.

A few months before Joseph DeAngelo would actually attempt to take Snellings daughter and actually kill Claude, the man who lived across the street remembers his own father capturing Joseph DeAngelo breaking into his pick up truck.

The man’s father was tough old western kind of man, a cattle rancher. A no nonsense man who had a daughter and son himself inside the house heard someone break into his truck. The man remembers his dad having Joesph DeAngelos “dead to rights “. He remembers his father holding a revolver right at Joseph DeAngelo head telling him “ I’ll blow your fucking head off if you move”.

The man’s father then had his wife call the police where he held a gun on DeAngelo until police arrived. When police arrived they took DeAngelo away and that was that. The man’s father being the tough old west type was curious on what had happened to the man who had broken into his truck. He called VPD several times until eventually getting ahold of someone a couple of months later.

This is the story the police told his father. The police stated that DeAngelo was one of their own. A police officer who was drinking at a local bar where police would drink called the lamp lighter inn. So unless you’re familiar with the area , approximately two blocks away from the Snellings resident was a local cop bar the lamplighter.

The police stated that DeAngelo had gotten too drunk at the lamp lighter and had wandered off in a stupor breaking into the truck thinking it was his. And that was the end of the investigation, they had let DeAngelo go. Not too many months after that Claude Snelling who lived across the street was killed trying to protect his daughter.

The cops had the Ransacker before DeAngelo became the night stalker, before the east area rapist, and murder of at least 13 people. This is insane to me! He was a white cop working for Exeter who would receive several passes during his ransacker reign. Thank you for reading. Can’t wait to hear your guys opinion on this not so well known story.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-murder-the-most-shocking-killers/id393525078?i=1000568309643

file:///var/mobile/Library/SMS/Attachments/31/01/691F73D0-DEC0-4971-BC70-E4F8F91F4B32/IMG_4771.jpeg

Why did nobody see the similarity between the EAR sketches and the McGowan one.

I recently spoke to an elderly (80s) gentleman who was with Exeter PD when JJD was hired. He said JJD was a narcotic agent at High School when he was first hired (73). Are there any posters here who can verify?

Going on live RIGHT NOW. Click here.

I’m happy to announce the release of our second book on the VR/EAR/GSK crimes! Secret Origin of the Golden State Killer: Visalia Ransacker.

Before he was the Golden State Killer, he was the Visalia Ransacker: an unholy mix of man and child, a risk-averse tactician with an animalistic impulsiveness, and a violent, sexually motivated monster with an affinity for shiny objects and pocket change. Eventually responsible for over fifty rapes and at least thirteen murders, the Visalia Ransacker went on to become one of the most notorious serial killers in history.

This book examines the fledgling offender before he had the plan, the polish, and the execution. Throughout over 150 incidents, we explore his behaviors, motivations, techniques, and methods as he honed his “craft” on the innocent people of a small agricultural town in Central California. To read this book is to actually witness the birth and evolution of a terrifying and prolific murderer.

It’s a full examination of the Visalia Ransacker crime series, a resurrection and an overhaul done with a fresh start and a critical eye. Through the countless details that are presented in this book, a comprehensive collection of facts and information is presented, connections are made, incidents are mapped out, and loose ends are tied between his early crimes and his later ones.

Perhaps most significantly, we’re able to unpack the methods and the technology that finally led to an arrest nearly forty-five years later.

Join us as we discover the Secret Origin of the Golden State Killer in the Visalia Ransacker series. The crimes that took decades to untangle still have much more to reveal.

With dozens of maps, some photos of the area, and nearly 500 pages of info, I really hope you find this a worthy addition to your True Crime library.

Available in paperback and on Kindle:

Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Origin-Golden-State-Killer/dp/0999458116/

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Files-Rapist-Golden-State-Killer/dp/0999458108/

A special thank you goes out to everyone who supported our research for this and to everyone who supported our first book. I’m truly grateful and humbled by all of it!

Link to our first book: Case Files of the East Area Rapist / Golden State Killer

Per the latest podcast:

We had other reasons for believing that the VR may have been a poice officer, but we did not include those in the original podcast episodes in an effort to maintain a working relationship with VPD and TCSO Cold Case units.

To be clear here, the interest in police officers and their families is not new or retroactive to the finding of DeAngelo, but it was something that we deliberately kept to ourselves. The mere suggestion of implicating a member of law enforcement makes some people extremely angry and defensive and they stop listening to the rest of the information. There are bad people in every profession, and raising questions about one bad officer does not make you anti-law enforcement or tarnish the entire department or profession. Unfortunately many members of law enforcement do not see it that way if you're talking about someone from their own county, especially someone they may have worked beside.

I'm pretty confident most 'sleuths' with inside access fall into the same trap almost inevitably whenever a crime even potentially implicates LE.

obviously the morning he was arrested we heard from "people in the know" that he had confessed to being vr. at the press conference they linked him to vr without stating how. yesterday paul holes indicated he had not confessed to being vr, wasn't being cooperative, but that they had evidence linking him.

is he likely vr? sure, seems to make sense. he was an exeter cop during the vr period and the vr burglaries stopped when he moved to auburn, but i'm still waiting for better confirmation than the "i heard that someone heard" stuff floating around.

Since the EAR’s “Bonnie” comment now seems to have possibly been somewhat grounded in reality, who, if anyone, was the “Ben” and “Sandy” that the VR mentioned when talking to himself?

It would be very interesting if Joe DeAngelo, apparently formerly of the Exeter Police Department, had any access to anything used to convict Oscar Clifton of Donna Jo Richmond’s murder (I’m guessing no, as it would seem that her body was found just outside the Exeter city limits, therefore technically putting the murder investigation under the Tulare County sheriff’s jurisdiction). But still a thought-provoking situation nonetheless. A Visalia Times-Delta article from today seems to indicate that much ca. 1970s-era paperwork in those parts has been discarded.

Is it possible that based on age of Visalia Ransacker; 20-25 at time of 1st burglaries that you could scout yearbooks of high school in the crime area. 73-75 were the years of crimes! Maybe he robbed homes closest to where he grew up and went to high school. Start w 1967,68, 69,70 of senior year photos and match with composite sketch! Somebody knows who this guy is ! It could be a classmate, teacher or a family member that just needs to speak up! Check all the high schools! Blonde hair, 5’10-6’0 tall, broad shoulders, size 9 shoe size and about 160-185 pounds, athletic!

Now a lot of of the crimes the VR committed were connected by the shoe prints he made(along with MO, ect...) and I read some time ago that the shoes he wore were 'unique'. Has there ever been a photo released of the VR's shoeprints? Also has it been stated what kind of shoes he exactly wore(even if it was more than one pair)?

The podcast, 12-26-75, is an exceptionally well done podcast about the Visalia Ransacker. Look for it online or in the Apple App Store.

This link will let you see the police report with Beth Snelling’s and Officer McGowen’s description of the VR.Edit for typo. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBMPaaTV0AE0iyd.jpg

Does anyone have a list of stolen/discarded items per home the VR targeted? I am looking for a chart. Thanks in advance.