‘I'll Be Gone In The Dark’ Episode 4: Did the EAR get married or had kids before attacking Janelle Cruz?
The Golden State Killer had been missing for five long years. Where was he? As Michelle McNamara investigates his crime much later, she stumbles upon a room full of 37 boxes and over 15,000 files from EAR cases. ‘I'll Be Gone In The Dark’ then delves deeper into the attack in 1986 after the EAR/ONS took a break for five years. On May 4, 18-year-old Janelle Lisa Cruz was found raped and bludgeoned to death in her Irvine home. Her family was on vacation in Mexico at the time of the attack and the murder weapon was said to be a pipe wrench.
The cases were linked almost entirely by DNA testing, many years later. In the HBO documentary, Michelle wondered: Did the Golden State Killer compartmentalize his personal life? His last murder and rape were five years earlier... Why did he not hunt for so many years? That aspect seems to have caught many viewers' eyes and they can't stop wondering if the EAR/ONS got married.
"The 1981-1986 gap is interesting. Wonder if EAR/ONS had gotten married and/or had kids, needed a "fix" and ended up killing Janelle Cruz. I wonder if he lived in Irvine at the time. I need to look this case up afterward. | #IllBeGoneInTheDark," one tweet read while another said, "I generally avoid true crime stuff but #IllBeGoneInTheDark really centers the survivors and highlights the ripple effect on not just survivors but others like loved ones and investigators of all kinds. Tough but important."
"So, this was bothering me. I had to look into it. If Google is correct, DNA evidence was first used in a criminal investigation in 1986. Did EAR/ONS see this development on the news and stopped killing? He was a cop so knew this was a huge development?" one wondered while another said, "The composite of the ransanker makes me think it maybe wasn't EAR/ONS but idk shit, lol."
One even went on to say: "Damn, was EAR/ONS the Visalia Ransacker as well!? This man was literally terrorizing the entire state of California. SMH."
As per reports, the real person behind the real man behind the Golden State Killer — Joseph James DeAngelo Jr — married Sharon Marie Huddle in November 1973. In 1980. Soon, they purchased the house in Citrus Heights where he was eventually arrested. Two years later, Huddle became an attorney and had three daughters, two of whom were born in Sacramento and one in Los Angeles, before the couple separated in 1991. Huddle filed for divorce from Joseph in 2018 and it was sanctioned in 2019.
However, it is unknown where he was working during the 1980s. His last known employment is as a truck mechanic at a Save Mart Supermarkets distribution center in Roseville and was arrested in 1996 over an incident at a gas station. As more information about the Golden State Killer unleashes in ‘I'll Be Gone In The Dark’, catch more episodes as it airs on Sunday at 10 pm ET on HBO.