Before He Became the Golden State Killer, Joseph DeAngelo Blew Up a Dog: ‘He Had a Thing About German Shepherds’

As a teenager in the 1960s in Rancho Cordova, California, Joseph James DeAngelo often biked or cruised his Chevy Bel-Air through local neighborhoods, watching for homes that looked like easy burglary targets.

On one occasion, DeAngelo and a friend noticed a garage door standing open. They got off their bikes and headed up the driveway—until a large German Shepherd came toward them, barking.

According to Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho, author of the newly released book The People vs. the Golden State Killer, the dog startled DeAngelo so badly that he backed away, fell, and injured his wrist.

“[DeAngelo] backed up, scared of the dog, and he fell down and hurt his wrist,” Ho says. “And he was so angry that he took out a Cherry Bomb M-80 firecracker, lit it up and threw it underneath the dog and the dog blew up and got caught on fire and died.”

Ho says DeAngelo’s companion pleaded with him to stop.

“He had a thing about German Shepherds,” Ho says. “He abused German Shepherds in other situations. And so, the guy that he was with, the other teenager says, ‘Don’t hurt the dog. Don’t hurt the dog because it’s just doing its job. It’s protecting its home.’ But DeAngelo couldn’t help himself. He blew up the dog.”

Ho adds that DeAngelo’s alleged cruelty to animals began early in life—behavior he notes is often associated with violent offenders.

Ho writes that DeAngelo’s hostility toward dogs appeared to continue into adulthood. After DeAngelo was arrested for multiple murders in 2018, a neighbor told authorities that DeAngelo—also known as the Visalia Ransacker, the East Bay Rapist and the Original Night Stalker—had threatened their family dog.

“He remembered DeAngelo had threatened to kill their family dog for barking too loudly, leaving a message on their answering machine,” Ho wrote in the book. “’Shut that dog up, or I will bring a load of death to your home.’”

DeAngelo was identified through DNA testing and genetic genealogy and arrested on April 24, 2018, at his home in Citrus Heights.

In June 2020, the former police officer and mechanic, then 72, pleaded guilty to 13 counts of first-degree murder and other crimes to avoid the death penalty. He was sentenced two months later to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Today, he is housed in a Protective Housing Unit at a prison in central California.

“That’s where they put child molesters, rapists and snitches and gang dropouts,” Ho says. “He works in the mess hall in the cafeteria and he’s constantly looking over his shoulder, as far as I understand. He’s terrified of getting assaulted.”