Cold Case: Golden State killer Joseph DeAngelo back in court, linked to Claude Snelling, Jennifer Armour cases

The former Exeter Police officer and accused Golden State Killer Joseph DeAngelo was back in a Sacramento County courtroom Thursday.

DeAngelo, also believed to be the Visalia Ransacker, has already been charged with several murders, and could soon be charged with Claude Snelling’s killing in 1975 – a case under review by the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office.

Back in April, DeAngelo, 72, was arrested after investigators a DNA sample from his home to evidence collected at some of the crimes.

The citizens of California were rampaged between 1976 and 1986, committing at least 45 rapes, 12 murders, and more than one hundred burglaries.

Joseph James DeAngelo

The Visalia Ransacker also was in “close proximity” to the area 15-year-old Jennifer Armour would have been walking in November 1974.
Jennifer left her home on Linwood Street and headed to the annual Cowhide Game. It’s the historic football matchup between arch-rivals Mt. Whitney Pioneers and the Redwood Rangers.

She never arrived at the game.

Witnesses last saw Armour on Demaree Street near Tulare Avenue, Tulare County Detective Chris Dempsie said.

Armour’s mother reported her missing the next day.

Nine days later, Armour’s body was found in the Friant Kern Canal south of Woodlake.

Her case has gone unsolved for four decades.

“As soon as he was arrested and we learned he was a police officer in Exeter that was a red flag,” Tulare County Detective Chris Dempsie said.