The People vs. the Golden State Killer

Written by Thien Ho

Narrated by Thom Sesma

Exclusive 1,500-word excerpt in People magazine

“A riveting behind-the-scenes account about the investigation, capture, and prosecution of the Golden State Killer.”
—Paul Holes, bestselling author of Unmasked

In The People vs. the Golden State Killer, Thien Ho, the current District Attorney of Sacramento, recounts his harrowing and exhilarating experience as the lead prosecutor responsible for capturing and prosecuting Joseph DeAngelo. Referred to at various times by law enforcement and the media as the Visalia Ransacker, the East Bay Rapist, the Original Nightstalker, and finally the Golden State Killer, DeAngelo, a former policeman, is widely considered “one of the most notorious serial predators in American history.”

Ho’s book is the first official account of how the Golden State Killer was apprehended and put behind bars for life. Ho led an elite team of law enforcement from six California prosecutor's offices, using a newly developed tool known as “investigative genetic genealogy” to connect DeAngelo to multiple cold cases stretching back nearly a half century.

Many previous narratives about DeAngelo, including two bestselling books and multiple documentaries, focused largely on the killer and his heinous crimes. This book not only provides hundreds of facts and details never revealed to the public about the Golden State Killer’s crimes, it also presents the real-life story of the people who worked tirelessly to bring DeAngelo to justice. It also offers the unprecedented authorized perspective of three survivors of DeAngelo's crimes who courageously turned their pain into empowerment and activism. A portion of the book’s proceeds will be donated both by the author and Third State Books to Phyllis’s Garden, a nonprofit advocating for victims’ rights begun in honor of a GSK survivor.

The People vs. the Golden State Killer also recounts Ho’s fascinating personal journey, from escaping communist Vietnam with his family as a child to working his way up from an internship to an elite homicide division and eventually becoming one of only ten Asian American district attorneys out of 2,400 nationwide.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Third State Books
• Release date: Dec 30, 2025
• ISBN: 9798890130389

Thien Ho

Thien Ho was elected District Attorney of Sacramento County in 2022, and officially took office in January 2023. Over Thien’s 25-year career as an attorney, he successfully prosecuted sexual assault, gang and homicide cases. He was the supervisor of the Gang and Hate Crime Unit and has personally charged and prosecuted hate crimes. Most notably, he successfully prosecuted Joseph DeAngelo, who committed 13 murders and over 50 sexual assaults in 11 different jurisdictions throughout California. In 2017, he was presented with both the National Asian Pacific Islander Prosecutors Association and Sacramento District Attorney’s Office Prosecutor of the Year Award.