The Twisted Mind of Joseph James DeAngelo. Living in California in the 1970’s and 1980’s was fun during the day, but when the sun went down you would have no idea if you were going to be in the house that the unknown killer decided to break into. This man is no longer just a peeping tom or a master burglar. He was an extremely violent and unpredictable man we now know as Joseph James DeAngelo. For many years his identity was unknown and it seemed like there was no rhyme or reason for his attacks, and one day the killings stopped and he disappeared without a trace. Is It Nature or Nurture? Many people think that it is nature over nurture when it comes to how a person turns out, but with Joseph DeAngelo, that belief is challenged. Joseph James
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DeAngelo had an abnormal childhood because his father was in the military. They lived on a military base for a time during the formative years of his life. His father could be described as strict and explosive, and because of these outbursts, there was not a good bond between him and his children. While his family was stationed in Germany, and he was around the age of nine or ten, DeAngelo witnessed his younger sister get raped (Mehrotra). This was his first introduction to the darker side of life. It is also reported that he committed acts of voyeurism, watching naked people or watching them engage in sexual acts, at an early age which most likely stems from witnessing his sister's rape (Taj). When DeAngelo was a junior in high school, his family lived in Rancho Cordova, California. His father was transferred to a different base, but the family stayed behind in Rancho Cordova. After his father left, his mother started seeing a married man, which further fractured the family. DeAngelo started hanging out at a childhood friend's house quite often and this family saw him as one of their kids (St. …show more content…
In May of 1970, when DeAngelo was twenty-five years old, he proposed to Colwell and they got engaged. Shortly after the engagement, she broke it off when DeAngelo asked for her help to cheat in one of their classes (Mehrotra). His heart broken, DeAngelo ruined, he was never the same (SC18). It is thought that this was the cause that flipped the switch in DeAngelo's mind that turned him into the malevolent, manipulative, psychopath that he turned into later in his life (Taj). Three years after the called-off engagement with Colwell in November of 1973, he married Sharon Huddle, with whom he went on to have three daughters (Mehrotra). The next time DeAngelo would be in Colwell’s life would be in 2018 when she was living in Italy and her ex-husband called her to tell her that her college ex-boyfriend was being arrested for being the East Area Rapist. She was stalked by reporters and was told that after one of the attacks that DeAngelo committed, he cried out “I hate you Bonnie, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you”, and that is why investigators believe she is what flipped the switch in his brain to start committing such violent attacks (St.
DeAngelo had an abnormal childhood because his father was in the military. They lived on a military base for a time during the formative years of his life. His father could be described as strict and explosive, and because of these outbursts, there was not a good bond between him and his children. While his family was stationed in Germany, and he was around the age of nine or ten, DeAngelo witnessed his younger sister get raped (Mehrotra). This was his first introduction to the darker side of life. It is also reported that he committed acts of voyeurism, watching naked people or watching them engage in sexual acts, at an early age which most likely stems from witnessing his sister's rape (Taj). When DeAngelo was a junior in high school, his family lived in Rancho Cordova, California. His father was transferred to a different base, but the family stayed behind in Rancho Cordova. After his father left, his mother started seeing a married man, which further fractured the family. DeAngelo started hanging out at a childhood friend's house quite often and this family saw him as one of their kids (St. …show more content…
In May of 1970, when DeAngelo was twenty-five years old, he proposed to Colwell and they got engaged. Shortly after the engagement, she broke it off when DeAngelo asked for her help to cheat in one of their classes (Mehrotra). His heart broken, DeAngelo ruined, he was never the same (SC18). It is thought that this was the cause that flipped the switch in DeAngelo's mind that turned him into the malevolent, manipulative, psychopath that he turned into later in his life (Taj). Three years after the called-off engagement with Colwell in November of 1973, he married Sharon Huddle, with whom he went on to have three daughters (Mehrotra). The next time DeAngelo would be in Colwell’s life would be in 2018 when she was living in Italy and her ex-husband called her to tell her that her college ex-boyfriend was being arrested for being the East Area Rapist. She was stalked by reporters and was told that after one of the attacks that DeAngelo committed, he cried out “I hate you Bonnie, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you”, and that is why investigators believe she is what flipped the switch in his brain to start committing such violent attacks (St.