The conspiracy issue: The Golden State Killer had an accomplice!

Of the myriad theories swirling since the April 25 arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo, the accused East Area Rapist / Golden State Killer, one of the most interesting is that the serial murderer-rapist may have had help committing the violent crimes that made him one of the most notorious cold-case villains of the 20th century.

Most of the supposition has centered on DeAngelo’s brother. True crime armchair detectives have speculated that John DeAngelo worked in real estate and may have lived in Southern California at the same time GSK waged terror in the area. Also of note: some victims claimed to hear more than one voice during their attacks or helped law enforcement create a police sketch that looked nothing like Joseph DeAngelo.

“Maybe it all started with the brother needing cash to say, support a drug habit or just cash in general and this is how EAR starts,” one sleuth recently posited on the internet forum site ProBoard. “But he gets a real taste for it. He gets goods for his brother to fence to help his brother, and he also gets his rocks off.”

Maybe, sure, but until law enforcement says otherwise, this one remains a theory for the message boards. The DeAngelo with the real estate license has a different middle name than Joseph DeAngelos’s brother and his license was valid between 1978-1982 in National City. The small SoCal burg is located between approximately 70-200 miles from the crimes the GSK committed in Ventura County, Dana Point and Irvine— and even further afield from Sacramento, where GSK was active during that particular time period.

Still, retired Contra Costa County investigator Paul Holes admits he once considered the possibility.

“I’ve entertained the brother as having some involvement but that is just speculation without any facts to support it,” said Holes, who worked on the GSK case for decades and helped write DeAngelo’s arrest warrant.

“[John DeAngelo] does have a fairly lengthy criminal history but mostly low level stuff,” he added. “If DeAngelo had an associate, I think it would have been early on for burglaries—that associate probably was not involved in any of the homicide cases and most of the sexual assault cases.”

Moreover, Holes adds, any accomplices may have encountered an early retirement.

“I would not be surprised that if there was an associate, DeAngelo may have killed that person, male or female, to protect himself,” Holes said.

Conspiracy rating: The government is totally reading your emails!