Dona Ana County investigator worked Golden State Killer case
An investigator in Dona Ana County was overcome with emotion after learning authorities in California arrested a man they believe to be the infamous Golden State Killer.
Kim Stewart was part of a group of about 50 retired police officers and civilians who helped link some of the murders to the Golden State Killer.
The suspect was arrested last month and has been identified as 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo, a former police officer. Authorities say he’s the man wanted for 12 murders and 50 rapes throughout California.
“I cried. There were tears of joy, tears of relief, tears of amazement,” Stewart said. “I’m still greatly moved by this effort. It’s going to take a few years perhaps for it to wear off or to finally hit me that it occurred.”
Stewart was a patrol officer in Santa Barbara County from 1983-1989.
It wasn’t until years later, after she retired and moved to Las Cruces, that she began to work the case of a double homicide that had occurred in Santa Barbara in 1979.
Stewart always believed there was more to the case and she and another detective were able to find a witness who reported seeing the killer the night of a murder.
The witness said the killer was hiding in the bathroom of a vacant condominium next door to the victim’s.
That witness testimony led to the case being reopened in 2010 and authorities would later learn, through DNA evidence, that it was linked to the Golden State Killer.
“He (witness) was pretty pivotal,” Stewart said. “The killer was in the condominium next door. Bindings were found in that unit from the killer.”
Stewart also always believed that killer was somehow tied to law enforcement because of the flashlight he would use to wake up his victims.
A flashlight that was only marketed to a few customers at the time.
“The only people who would have known about that particular light at the time would have been law enforcement,” Stewart said. “That was one of the early things that I thought about of him being in law enforcement.”
Stewart says the case is a true example of community policing. “I think it shows you what we can do when we partner with community, truly partner,” Stewart said.
