Cold case investigator Paul Holes played a major role in ending a decades-long reign of terror by The Golden State Killer.

First known as The East Area Rapist, a masked psychological sadist assaulted 50 women in Northern California between 1976 and 1979.

He progressed from burglaries to vicious sexual assaults in the middle of the night, to bludgeoning his victims to death.

Along the way, he called 911 to taunt the police.

Suddenly it seemed he had disappeared.

But he had moved to a new hunting ground in Southern California where he murdered 13 people and became known as the Original Night Stalker. 

And then in 1986, it stopped.

In 2011, DNA testing revealed that the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker were one in the same man.

True-crime writer Michelle McNamara gave the elusive criminal the moniker the “Golden State Killer.” 

McNamara, the wife of comedian/actor Patton Oswalt, became obsessed with the long-abandoned cold case for six years, focusing attention on it until her untimely death.

Enter investigator Paul Holes.  Holes talked with Robert about his newly released book, Unmasked: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases.

They discuss the “Golden State Killer”, notorious cases in Texas, and breakthroughs in forensic genealogy. 

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