I Know Who You Are: How an Amateur DNA Sleuth Unmasked the Golden State Killer and Changed Crime Fighting Forever

Investigative genetic genealogist Rae-Venter debuts with a remarkable account of how law-enforcement tapped into her use of DNA matches “to build family trees and help solve unknown parentage issues.” Upon retirement from her career as a patent attorney, Rae-Venter dove into researching her family tree, using DNA tests to identify relatives. In 2015, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department sought her help identifying the real identity of a 30-something woman, Lisa Jensen, who was abducted as a young child. Rae-Venter’s use of Jensen’s DNA enabled her to establish Jensen’s real name, and in another case identify a serial killer. These successes paved the way for her involvement in the Golden State Killer case; her dogged research revealed ex-cop Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. to be the person responsible for dozens of rapes and murders in California during the 1970s and ’80s, crimes for which he pleaded guilty in 2020. Rae-Venter makes the science accessible and delves into the controversy that forensic genealogy has engendered because of privacy concerns. She is less bothered by those qualms, believing fears of a dystopian future stemming from law-enforcement use of genetic information are overwrought. It’s an eye-opening and thought-provoking contribution to the true crime genre. Agent: Frank Weimann, Folio Literary Management. (Feb.)