The Sacramento DA who prosecuted the Golden State Killer launches a true crime podcast
Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert wants to show people the “behind the scenes” of police work in a new podcast she’s launching called “Inside the Crime Files.”
Schubert, who is running as an independent for California attorney general next year, has centered her campaign around “stopping the chaos” in California, blaming rising crime rates on Democratic leaders’ progressive policies on law and order.
She hopes the podcast will show people the process of solving crime and the repercussions on victims and policies.
The podcast isn’t intended to be political, Schubert told The Sacramento Bee, and the episodes themselves have little to no mention of California politics, but it is funded and promoted by Schubert’s campaign committee.
A promotional email, sent Monday from her campaign, said the stories recounted in the podcast demonstrate ‘just how dangerous it is for politicians to conflate criminals with victims, and political narratives with the truth.”
“I think it’s an opportunity for people to learn about me and my passion, in a non political way ..there’s nothing political about it,” she said. “This is just really to tell the inside stories.”
She has so far released three episodes, which aim to take listeners “inside and behind the scenes of the investigation and prosecution of some of the most horrific and notorious criminal cases in California history.”
The podcast also examines “unique techniques, innovative ideas, and inspirational stories” that have come out of the cases.
“I prosecuted the Golden State Killer, the Second Story Rapist, and hundreds of violent criminals for one purpose: to keep our communities safe,” Schubert said in the campaign email. “Now, I’m sitting down with the prosecutors, detectives, experts, witnesses, and victims who participated in some of the most innovative pursuits of justice shaping the course of criminal justice history.”
In the latest episode, Schubert discusses perhaps her most infamous case: the Golden State Killer.
Schubert’s office in 2018 located and prosecuted Joseph James DeAngelo for a crime spree that spanned across Northern California for 12 years and was unsolved for more than 30 years.
DeAngelo in 2020 pled guilty to 13 counts of first-degree murder and special circumstances as well as 13 counts of kidnapping.
Schubert brought on guests who included Sacramento County authorities and Paul Holes, a retired cold-case investigator turned podcast host.
The episode discusses how law enforcement tracked down the killer using familial DNA, which involves running the killer’s DNA through a larger database to identify family members and narrow down possible suspects. For years Schubert has advocated for laws that make it easier to collect genetic material to solve crimes.
The episode was meant to highlight the “really innovative ideas that that were done in attempts to solve this.”
“For me, when I look back on this case, I consider it a greatest testament to passion and persistence by law enforcement,” she said in the episode.
Running as an independent could spell a tricky primary for Schubert, as the two top vote-getters regardless of party will advance. If she makes it to the general election, she’ll likely run next year against incumbent Attorney General Rob Bonta, one of the more liberal Democrats to ever hold the position.
Bonta has campaigned to end the cash bail system, curtail the use of private prisons and limit the influence of law enforcement unions.
Schubert, by contrast, has opposed popular criminal justice reform propositions backed by former Gov. Jerry Brown and campaigned to expedite the death penalty.
She also declined to bring charges against the Sacramento police officers who shot and killed a young Black man, Stephon Clark, in his grandparents’ backyard three years ago.
This story was originally published November 8, 2021 at 3:32 PM.