'An opportunity to have some justice': Renowned cold case sleuth visits Wichita Falls

Renowned cold case investigator Paul Holes made a study of the shadowy Golden State Killer for 24 years.

Holes pored over cases featuring the horrific acts of the serial predator who terrorized California, searching for clues to his identity. The criminalist helped uncover pivotal pieces of the puzzle that was GSK in places no one would have looked when Holes started as a young investigator for the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office.

Now retired, the forensic scientist and author of the memoir, "Unmasked: My Life Solving America's Cold Cases," spends his time participating in true-crime podcasts and shows, and helping law-enforcement agencies solve cold cases.

Holes came to Wichita Falls last week to share his expertise on the emerging use of genetic genealogy to catch killers who thought they got away with it a long time ago.

“If we get the families answers to who may have hurt their loved one or killed their loved one . . .," Holes said Thursday, "this enhances public safety, and it also helps the community really understand that law enforcement truly cares about these cases.”

He came to Wichita Falls at the invitation of Wichita County District Attorney John Gillespie.

“Just because a case happened 20 years ago or 30 years ago, that's still a victim with a family and those families still matter," Gillespie said Thursday. “So bringing in somebody like this to give a different perspective like this has just been invaluable.”

Holes donated his time to teach and consult not only on the cutting-edge forensic tool but also share his broad knowledge of solving cold cases, gleaned over 30 years. He gave insights on five to 10 local cold cases to the DA's Office and Wichita Falls Police Department.

Genetic genealogy was the tool that finally snared the Golden State Killer in 2018, along with old-fashioned shoe leather.

GSK committed a series of crimes spanning the years between 1974 and 1986, cases that went unsolved for decades, Holes said.

Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. was a full-time cop while carrying out over 150 crimes, ranging from murder to sexual assault to burglary from 1974 to 1979, Holes said.

“He was working for two different law enforcement agencies as an officer. He gets fired from law enforcement, moves down to Southern California and starts killing people down there," Holes said.

“There is no question that he took advantage of his law-enforcement training in order to help him commit crimes," Holes said.

GSK was called the Visalia Ransacker, East Area Rapist and the Original Nightstalker before investigators came to realize they were all one person who had operated in different parts of California at different times.

Journalist Michelle McNamara, who investigated the crimes until her unexpected death and became Holes' good friend, dubbed the murderer the Golden State Killer. The book she was working on, "I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer," was completed after death.

Holes had recently retired when DeAngelo was arrested, but he and Ken Clark of the Sacramento Sheriff's Department authored the arrest warrant. Holes observed the interview of a tight-lipped DeAngelo.

“He is the ultimate tactician, and he took that opportunity to try to figure out what we knew, as well as to strategize what he was going to do moving forward," Holes said.

DeAngelo had realized his life was dramatically changed, and part of his strategy was to try to generate sympathy from the public. So he showed up in a wheelchair in court, Holes said.

DeAngelo rose from that wheelchair Aug. 21, 2020, in a Sacramento courtroom to give a brief apology to the families of his victims.

DeAngelo was convicted and given 11 consecutive life sentences without parole for 13 murders, as well as another consecutive life sentence for 13 kidnappings and eight years for charges connected to weapons.

Holes made a point of saying getting answers doesn't bring closure for victims' families.

Over the years of working cold cases, he has seen that losing a loved one to murder haunts the family no matter how many decades have passed.

"They're still traumatized by that loss," Holes said. "This is something that sticks with them."

But getting answers may be what they want and need, he said.

"Also, it gives them an opportunity to have some justice, and that's a big thing for some of these families,” Holes said.

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Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news, investigative projects and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Her Twitter handle is @Trishapedia.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Cold case investigator Paul Holes brings knowledge to Wichita Falls